# Help! Sick and discolored fish!



## tranr (May 20, 2009)

Hi everyone,
I've kept a Mystus leucophasis (black asian upside-down catfish) for several months now without any problems. He usually just comes out at night to feed, so I give him his bloodworms and/or pellets in the late evening/night when the tank lights go off. He hides during the day, so I don't see him that often.

Anyway, today I just managed to glance at him in his tank and he looks terrible! He's typically a deep black color with white flecks on his body, but right now, he looks listless and his head is gray (the rest of his body is still black). I have no idea what to do. The rest of the fish in the tank look absolutely fine. I know for a fact that last weekend, he still looked completely fine because I pointed him out to my family when they came to visit.

If anyone has suggestions or possible diagnostics, that would be great. I'm so worried - I've never seen him look like this before. It's awful! Thanks for reading... and I hope someone can provide some help or insight. I really adore this fish and don't want to lose him.

Here's a link to a photograph of one so that you can see what they typically look like when they're healthy and well:

http://www.nowus.co.uk/viewfile.php/2189/DSCF0402.jpg


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I suppose this situation really brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "the fish went belly up."

Perhaps you could take a picture of what he looks like now? A picture is worth a thousand words as they say. For now, I'd do several large water changes over the next few days until we get a picture of the fish to examine and give a better diagnosis.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

Hi Zapins,
It's actually quite difficult to photograph this fish. I've tried to do it before when he was healthier and moving around in the dark. He sees the reddish night light and immediately hides.

We located some websites last night which suggested that his discoloration could have originated from a bacterial infection, so I dosed the tank with some antibacterial meds (furan 2 and erythromycin), adding aeration to the tank.

Today, I just checked on him and he looks MUCH better. The black coloration has returned to his head and his is looking more active. I'm planning to change the water later today and applying another dose of antibacterial meds - hopefully, that will take care of it. I'll continue to monitor him closely to make sure he doesn't have a relapse.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Good news indeed! Make sure to keep dosing the antibacterial medication exactly as the directions say to. Don't stop early just because the fish looks better!


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

So glad the medicines have helped. If you have a UV you might want to run it for a while so that whatever it was/is it will not spread. 

I always think that what I see happening to my catsfish is a warning to the others. The catfish I keep typically come from fast moving waters and they are the first to show distress if I have something coming down the pike. If I can keep them healthy the rest are usually fine.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

Tex Gal, that sounds like an excellent idea. Thank you for suggesting it. I would rather take all of the precautionary measures than to skimp around in this case. He looked absolutely terrible last night with his greyish white head (the eyes were still black and not opaque though), and he seemed a bit gaunt but it might have just been the coloring.

He's definitely looking better now. As I mentioned to Zapins, I'm going to continue to dose the tank and follow through to make sure that whatever it was doesn't come back to hit the other fish in the tank.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I think you are very lucky!

Sick fish respond good to medicine about 20% of the cases. Even if you know for sure what the disease it and treat it accordingly.

Do follow through with the treatment - many medicines need to be gradually added to the tank over several days until the final concentration is reached. It's not a matter of having the sympthoms disappear and stopping the treatment.

Also it's very common certain species of fish to get sick but the other species to be completely fine. In the last 4 or so days during quarantine I lost about 600 P. simulans (Green Neon Tetra) but the 4 Hemigrammus hyanuary that came mixed with the simulans are completely fine. So don't worry too much about your other fish getting the upside-down catfish thing.

--Nikolay


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

My M. leucophasis continues to look better today. I've been trying to monitor his movements at night (when the lights are out) as well, and he seems to have returned to his normal self as far as I can tell. I'm still following through with the recommendations for the API brand furan 2 and erythromycin antibacterial meds though.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! =)


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Glad to hear it!


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