Cyst On Pictus Catfish- Ich on goldfish? Identification

[veiledfox]

I am posting in regards to my dad's 75 gallon tank. He has a pictus catfish that is not doing so well, it has a large cyst on its front left pectoral fin. There are also white dots scattered all over its body.. maybe ich. I have 4 tanks myself and I've never had any run ins with ich so I'm not sure what it looks like. Still wouldnt explain the cyst though. I was thinking maybe lymphocystis, but from what I've read, catfish cannot get this disease. Any help identifying whats going on would be much appreciated, or even just general advice. Should I quarantine this guy or will it just stress him out more?

This catfish also shares a tank with fantail goldfish. I am aware that its best to house goldfish in species only tanks but my dad was persistent on owning both because of nostalgia from his childhood. The goldfish have been acting weird lately as well: erratic swimming, running into things, laying on the gravel. One of the goldfish has the same white spots as the catfish on its tail (ich?) And coincidentally this goldfish was nipping at the sick catfish.

This tank has been running for about a month now. Its also important to note that when he first stocked the fish, he got 4 pictus catfish. They were doing great for about a week, and then one day there was a problem out of nowhere. 3 of the catfish were dying, i ended up reviving one of them, another was doing okay throughout but still visibly struggling. 2 ended up dying. We thought it was an oxygen issue as they were struggling to breath and the goldfish were gasping for air at the surface. All test parameters were fine during this time. My dad ended up installing an air pump a few days later

** current tank parameters:
Ammonia: 0.50 ppm : i will tell him to do a water change as soon as he gets home. He uses ro/di for all of his changes.
pH: 7.4 : too high for these species in my opinion, but I'm also not very familiar with freshwater tanks
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Temperature: 73 farenheit

**Stock:
4 fantail goldfish
2 pictus catfish
5 otos

I think there might definitely be some ich going on, but in conjunction with something else as well. All help is appreciated. Photos attatched below..

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Catfish looks like it has a fungal infection, it's eaten away the flesh of its fin (you can see its bone sticking out)
Temp is too low (shoot for 76-78) and using RO water for a freshwater tank isn't a great idea unless you're reconstituting the water with the elements stripped out by the RO unit. And at that point, why go through all that instead of just using dechlorinated tap water? 7.4 PH is fine. Keep an eye on the goldfish, if the spots multiply then treat the tank with Ich-X. Ich takes a long time to kill fish (in FW anyway) so you have time to make sure you're treating the right thing.
What are you using to test your water? Unless the tank wasn't cycled, .5 ammonia with no trace of nitrite or nitrate is most likely a false reading

 

[iamahab]

That looks like ick but I can't reaally tell, can you post more pics of it? I'd try raising the temp a bit. the interwebs says between 70 n 80 but the recommended temp is between 75 to 80.

 

[veiledfox]

Catfish looks like it has a fungal infection, it's eaten away the flesh of its fin (you can see its bone sticking out)
Temp is too low (shoot for 76-78) and using RO water for a freshwater tank isn't a great idea unless you're reconstituting the water with the elements stripped out by the RO unit. And at that point, why go through all that instead of just using dechlorinated tap water? 7.4 PH is fine. Keep an eye on the goldfish, if the spots multiply then treat the tank with Ich-X. Ich takes a long time to kill fish (in FW anyway) so you have time to make sure you're treating the right thing.
What are you using to test your water? Unless the tank wasn't cycled, .5 ammonia with no trace of nitrite or nitrate is most likely a false reading

Thank you. I will be sure to pass the message along. Will raising the temperature affect the goldfish though? They tend to like it a bit colder. Is there anything I can do for the catfish right now? Should I try to treat it in any way?

 

[veiledfox]

That looks like ick but I can't reaally tell, can you post more pics of it? I'd try raising the temp a bit. the interwebs says between 70 n 80 but the recommended temp is between 75 to 80.

Yeah that makes sense. Would 75 be too hot for the goldfish though? I can try to get more pictures of the suspected ich spots but the goldfish doesnt wanna stay still for a picture. Theres only a few spots on either side of its tail, but they definitely werent there before. You can definitely see them on the catfish pictures, theres white speckles all over the poor guy. It kind of looks like part of his pattern, but again, they definitely werent there before

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

The goldfish will be fine, they can go colder but they don't require it. As for the catfish, it will need to be treated with an anti-fungal like Maracyn (made by Fritz Aquatics). Just stay away from API's treatments, they're pretty garbage. Do you have a smaller tank you can use to treat the catfish? The meds are typically dosed per 10 gallons, so a smaller hospital tank will prevent you from spending a ton of $$ on meds

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Yeah that makes sense. Would 75 be too hot for the goldfish though? I can try to get more pictures of the suspected ich spots but the goldfish doesnt wanna stay still for a picture. Theres only a few spots on either side of its tail, but they definitely werent there before. You can definitely see them on the catfish pictures, theres white speckles all over the poor guy. It kind of looks like part of his pattern, but again, they definitely werent there before

There is a condition known as "stress ich" and that may be whats showing on the catfish. Being eaten alive is pretty stressful

 

[veiledfox]

Catfish looks like it has a fungal infection, it's eaten away the flesh of its fin (you can see its bone sticking out)
Temp is too low (shoot for 76-78) and using RO water for a freshwater tank isn't a great idea unless you're reconstituting the water with the elements stripped out by the RO unit. And at that point, why go through all that instead of just using dechlorinated tap water? 7.4 PH is fine. Keep an eye on the goldfish, if the spots multiply then treat the tank with Ich-X. Ich takes a long time to kill fish (in FW anyway) so you have time to make sure you're treating the right thing.
What are you using to test your water? Unless the tank wasn't cycled, .5 ammonia with no trace of nitrite or nitrate is most likely a false reading

Also forgot to add that im using an api liquid master kit. Ive heard that these can be a bit accurate due to interpretation of color.

 

[veiledfox]

The goldfish will be fine, they can go colder but they don't require it. As for the catfish, it will need to be treated with an anti-fungal like Maracyn (made by Fritz Aquatics). Just stay away from API's treatments, they're pretty garbage. Do you have a smaller tank you can use to treat the catfish? The meds are typically dosed per 10 gallons, so a smaller hospital tank will prevent you from spending a ton of $$ on meds

My extra tank is currently in temporary use, but i can probably put him in a bin or something. I have an extra filter i can use for it as well.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Also forgot to add that im using an api liquid master kit. Ive heard that these can be a bit accurate due to interpretation of color.

They're notorious for showing false ammonia readings, I'm willing to bet you're @ 0 ammonia

 

[iamahab]

Also forgot to add that im using an api liquid master kit. Ive heard that these can be a bit accurate due to interpretation of color.

I use api test kits on all of my tanks it works fine

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Here's some good info on treating fungal infections: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-fungus

 

[iamahab]

I use api test kits on all of my tanks it works fine

Livefreeandreef is correct about the api ammonia test ( I use red sea for that)

 

[veiledfox]

Thank you both for the advice. Ive transferred the cat to a bin and put a filter in there on low flow. Unfortunately i dont know if its still alive. Earlier I could see him struggling to breath, but now im not sure if hes still breathing. Iveseen him twitch a few times so im still gonna try to treat it

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Thank you both for the advice. Ive transferred the cat to a bin and put a filter in there on low flow. Unfortunately i dont know if its still alive. Earlier I could see him struggling to breath, but now im not sure if hes still breathing. Iveseen him twitch a few times so im still gonna try to treat it

Hope it pulls through for you guys

 

[veiledfox]

Hope it pulls through for you guys

Thank you!

 

[veiledfox]

Update: the catfish ended up passing away, poor little guy. We still have one pictus catfish left. It came out of hiding a bit ago and there were ich spots all over it, so we're going to treat the whole tank. We also went to our local pet store and they tested a water sample, there is a bit of ammonia present so we changed out some of the water. The tank temperature is also set at 75 now.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Update: the catfish ended up passing away, poor little guy. We still have one pictus catfish left. It came out of hiding a bit ago and there were ich spots all over it, so we're going to treat the whole tank. We also went to our local pet store and they tested a water sample, there is a bit of ammonia present so we changed out some of the water. The tank temperature is also set at 75 now.

ICH-X is the best treatment, as long as you follow their directions (dose, water change, dose, water change, etc) it'll have the Ich cleared up in a few days

 

[iamahab]

Update: the catfish ended up passing away, poor little guy. We still have one pictus catfish left. It came out of hiding a bit ago and there were ich spots all over it, so we're going to treat the whole tank. We also went to our local pet store and they tested a water sample, there is a bit of ammonia present so we changed out some of the water. The tank temperature is also set at 75 now.

I'm sorry to hear this. I've had a couple pictus cats die on me over the years.They are my all time favorite fish. I love how active they are.