Sick Channel Catfish

Hi all:

Well, my monster albino channel cat is sick again (he's now about 28 inches
long, and over 7 lbs). He apears to have ESC (enteric septicemia). I had to
remove him from the pond (always a fun chore in a 45" deep pond, but I managed
to move him safely), and isolate him in a 50 gallon tub. I've got him on
Maracyn and maracyn 2, and have added stress coat and epsom salts to the water,
and will treat him for the next seven days, and see how he responds. This is
the second time in two years he's come down with it. The above treatment is
what I used last year, and it seemed to work. The other fish don't seem to be
affected (goldfish, shubukans, and Koi), but I understand that channel cats are
especially susceptible to this disease. I'll have to watch the others carefully
over the next few days. I'm using the above treatment because he is past the
point where he has stopped eating. This is a rather difficult disease since the
catfish tends to stop eating if he gets spooked (such as when we had a really
ferocious storm last month), so it can be hard to tell when he is spooked and
when he is sick. I had assumed that something had spooked him, but then noticed
that he was darting around, and swimming abnormally, and of course, he had
stopped eating. When I got him in the tub and was able to get a good look at
him, he had a few red patches on his skin (like ruptured blood vessels that
remind me of varicose veins), and his fins were red and frayed. He probably is
having problems with his gills as well since when I put the airstone in the
water, he hovered around it for at least an hour (he was even passing the
bubbles through his gill slits, but they could just have a soothing effect for
him). Does anyone know what I can do to prevent a recurrence? I've checked the
water quality and everything seems normal. When I've had problems like this in
the past, it was usually due to something missing (like not high enough
alkalinity), or a parameter like pH which was off and causing the fish to become
susceptible to disease. I'd hate to lose this beauty:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/catfish.htm

Not a great picture, I know, but it gives a good indication of his size (this
was taken last spring). The measuring tape is pulled out 2 feet for comparison.

In article , George
wrote:

Hi all:

Well, my monster albino channel cat is sick again (he's now about 28 inches
long, and over 7 lbs). He apears to have ESC (enteric septicemia).

Sorry to hear this, tough diagnosis... sounds like it might need
injectables.

Much as I don't mix them w/ koi, they do make good pets... for awhile
;-)

Good luck !

jay
Wed Aug 11, 2004











I had to
remove him from the pond (always a fun chore in a 45" deep pond, but I
managed
to move him safely), and isolate him in a 50 gallon tub. I've got him on
Maracyn and maracyn 2, and have added stress coat and epsom salts to the
water,
and will treat him for the next seven days, and see how he responds. This is
the second time in two years he's come down with it. The above treatment is
what I used last year, and it seemed to work. The other fish don't seem to
be
affected (goldfish, shubukans, and Koi), but I understand that channel cats
are
especially susceptible to this disease. I'll have to watch the others
carefully
over the next few days. I'm using the above treatment because he is past the
point where he has stopped eating. This is a rather difficult disease since
the
catfish tends to stop eating if he gets spooked (such as when we had a really
ferocious storm last month), so it can be hard to tell when he is spooked and
when he is sick. I had assumed that something had spooked him, but then
noticed
that he was darting around, and swimming abnormally, and of course, he had
stopped eating. When I got him in the tub and was able to get a good look at
him, he had a few red patches on his skin (like ruptured blood vessels that
remind me of varicose veins), and his fins were red and frayed. He probably
is
having problems with his gills as well since when I put the airstone in the
water, he hovered around it for at least an hour (he was even passing the
bubbles through his gill slits, but they could just have a soothing effect
for
him). Does anyone know what I can do to prevent a recurrence? I've checked
the
water quality and everything seems normal. When I've had problems like this
in
the past, it was usually due to something missing (like not high enough
alkalinity), or a parameter like pH which was off and causing the fish to
become
susceptible to disease. I'd hate to lose this beauty:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/catfish.htm

Not a great picture, I know, but it gives a good indication of his size (this
was taken last spring). The measuring tape is pulled out 2 feet for comparison.

"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , George
wrote:

Hi all:

Well, my monster albino channel cat is sick again (he's now about 28 inches
long, and over 7 lbs). He apears to have ESC (enteric septicemia).

Sorry to hear this, tough diagnosis... sounds like it might need
injectables.

Much as I don't mix them w/ koi, they do make good pets... for awhile
;-)

Good luck !

jay
Wed Aug 11, 2004



Thanks. He gets along fine with the Koi and the goldfish. In fact, I have
seven juvenile goldfish (about 2 - 2.5 inches in length) in the pond from this
season's breeding, and he hasn't bothered them at all. He was raised with the
Koi as a wee little one. He's not so far gone that he needs injectables, yet.
The problem I have right now is with my air pump. I need a new airstone, and a
new tee. The tee leaks, and the airstone is clogged. I tried soaking it in
vinegar with no good results. So I will be visiting the pet shop tomorrow
morning. Meanwhile, I have the tube submerged pumping air straight into the
water - not very effective because of the bubble size, but it's better than
nothing until I can remedy the situation. If he isn't any better by the time I
finish this treatment, I'll have to consider more drastic measures, like
injections. I think he will come out of it. He's still young (no more than two
or three years old).

give Jo Ann Burke a call 251-649-4790
buy one of aquatic ecosystems sintered glass air stones. clean them in muriatic
acid. Ingrid

"George" wrote:
Thanks. He gets along fine with the Koi and the goldfish. In fact, I have
seven juvenile goldfish (about 2 - 2.5 inches in length) in the pond from this
season's breeding, and he hasn't bothered them at all. He was raised with the
Koi as a wee little one. He's not so far gone that he needs injectables, yet.
The problem I have right now is with my air pump. I need a new airstone, and a
new tee. The tee leaks, and the airstone is clogged. I tried soaking it in
vinegar with no good results. So I will be visiting the pet shop tomorrow
morning. Meanwhile, I have the tube submerged pumping air straight into the
water - not very effective because of the bubble size, but it's better than
nothing until I can remedy the situation. If he isn't any better by the time I
finish this treatment, I'll have to consider more drastic measures, like
injections. I think he will come out of it. He's still young (no more than two
or three years old).




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wrote in message
...
give Jo Ann Burke a call 251-649-4790
buy one of aquatic ecosystems sintered glass air stones. clean them in
muriatic
acid. Ingrid

That is what I have. I tried vinegar, but it didn't work so good. I bought a
new one today. I'll try using muriatic acid (being a geologist, I just happen
to have some around), and maybe keep it as a reserve. Thanks.

"George" wrote:
Thanks. He gets along fine with the Koi and the goldfish. In fact, I have
seven juvenile goldfish (about 2 - 2.5 inches in length) in the pond from this
season's breeding, and he hasn't bothered them at all. He was raised with the
Koi as a wee little one. He's not so far gone that he needs injectables, yet.
The problem I have right now is with my air pump. I need a new airstone, and
a
new tee. The tee leaks, and the airstone is clogged. I tried soaking it in
vinegar with no good results. So I will be visiting the pet shop tomorrow
morning. Meanwhile, I have the tube submerged pumping air straight into the
water - not very effective because of the bubble size, but it's better than
nothing until I can remedy the situation. If he isn't any better by the time
I
finish this treatment, I'll have to consider more drastic measures, like
injections. I think he will come out of it. He's still young (no more than
two
or three years old).




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.