Dead Catfish

[Shelia Hoyt]

    

     Does anyone know what would cause a catfish to suddenly die?  I just came back from a three day trip.   The water test  for ammonia and nitrites were normal a week ago - I was out of town for three days and I just returned. A month ago  the same thing happened. I have attached a few pictures.  Could walnut leaves falling in the tank cause a problem? I know walnut leaves have a negative effect on most plants.

  Thanks,

        Shelia

[wes]

You hit the nail right on the head the walnut tree is bad bad for fish, horses and the like. Go here and read what is know about using walnuts to stun and kill fish.

 

http://primitiveways.com/fish_poison.html

[TCLynx]

Need to know more about the system and situation.

All water tests

pH

Ammonia

Nitrite

Nitrate

Temperature

What are the actual numbers because saying it's "normal" doesn't actually tell me what your "normal" is.  I hope normal means 0 ppm.

Tell us more about the system?  How big is it, how many fish, how much filtration, how much water is being pumped around per hour, and how much aeration is there?  What materials are in the system?

Were the fish being fed while you were gone, How.

Now my experience with catfish is that scrapes on their skin and anything stressing them out and/or any poor water quality spikes can cause an outbreak of disease especailly when the water is a bit cooler.

I don't expect that leaves falling in the tank are poisoning your fish though I have never studied the affects of walnut leaves on channel catfish.  However, if you are getting an abundance of leaves in your tank, they could clog up plumbing or clog the pump causing water flow issues which could then cause water quality issues and large amounts of decomposing matter in the bottom of a fish tank getting stirred up can cause brief but sometimes deadly water quality issues.  If anything in your tank is causing an accumulation of feed, fish poo, leaves or other detritus that accumulation can become a pocket of anaerobic decomposition that when disturbed could cause issues enough to weaken fish and even cause death from opportunistic infections in a matter of only a few days.  I've had it happen to me.

[wes]

Here is a better site about the walnut issue. Man I would of never know walnut trees could be so deadly???

http://www.bonniesplants.com/poisonous_plants_to_fish.html

 

confirmed reports of death means I have confirmed reports that pond fish died

Allamanda – all parts Aloe - leaves Alocasia - leaves and stems Allspice- leaves, seeds Amaryllis - bulbs Anemone – all parts Anthurium all parts Apricot - leaves Azalea – all parts Baneberry - berries, roots Bird of Paradise - seeds Black Locust Bark - sprouts, foliage Black walnut all parts confirmed reports of death

[TCLynx]

Interesting.  I suppose I would be making a good cover for the tank to keep the black walnut leaves out.

However, they don't seem to make a distinction about the type of Aloe.  I have actually used aloe vera gel harvested fresh from my aloe leaves as part of a bath for my fish when moving them.  Aloe vera juice is the primary ingredient in some aquarium products.

[Shelia Hoyt]

Yes, normal meant PH 7.2. Ammonia 0, Nitrites, 0 Nitrates between 1-5. It is a 300 Gallon tank with flood and drain with expanded shale.

The pump and pipes were clear of debris all the leaves were on the opposite side of the tank-  it rained while I was gone.

No, the fish were not fed while I was gone there is algae in the tank and the weather is cooling off so I have slowed down on feeding.

I have had the catfish in the same tank since July. I moved from the city and only put 4 catfish in this tank- ( the rest were released into our large  pond- over 10 ft deep) because I was waiting until my hoop house was built to set up the system  up again and I was going to add bigger grow beds.  The grow bed that I use now is small only 3 foot long  and 10 inches deep- I only use it to grow lettuce and green beans. Plants are healthy.

My hoop house is up now I just need to put the plastic on, the stove in, and dig a hole to put the tank partially in the ground and then transfer the water; unfortunately I only have 2 catfish left...

  If it is a disease what do you think it is? I there were white  marks on it's side and  back and I did not know if that was from the other fish trying to eat it or it was a disease.

Thanks Shelia

TCLynx said:

Need to know more about the system and situation.

All water tests

pH

Ammonia

Nitrite

Nitrate

Temperature

What are the actual numbers because saying it's "normal" doesn't actually tell me what your "normal" is.  I hope normal means 0 ppm.

Tell us more about the system?  How big is it, how many fish, how much filtration, how much water is being pumped around per hour, and how much aeration is there?  What materials are in the system?

Were the fish being fed while you were gone, How.

Now my experience with catfish is that scrapes on their skin and anything stressing them out and/or any poor water quality spikes can cause an outbreak of disease especailly when the water is a bit cooler.

I don't expect that leaves falling in the tank are poisoning your fish though I have never studied the affects of walnut leaves on channel catfish.  However, if you are getting an abundance of leaves in your tank, they could clog up plumbing or clog the pump causing water flow issues which could then cause water quality issues and large amounts of decomposing matter in the bottom of a fish tank getting stirred up can cause brief but sometimes deadly water quality issues.  If anything in your tank is causing an accumulation of feed, fish poo, leaves or other detritus that accumulation can become a pocket of anaerobic decomposition that when disturbed could cause issues enough to weaken fish and even cause death from opportunistic infections in a matter of only a few days.  I've had it happen to me.

[Shelia Hoyt]

Thanks Wes,  I had no idea that so many plants were toxic to fish.

wes said:

Here is a better site about the walnut issue. Man I would of never know walnut trees could be so deadly???

http://www.bonniesplants.com/poisonous_plants_to_fish.html

 

confirmed reports of death means I have confirmed reports that pond fish died

Allamanda – all parts Aloe - leaves Alocasia - leaves and stems Allspice- leaves, seeds Amaryllis - bulbs Anemone – all parts Anthurium all parts Apricot - leaves Azalea – all parts Baneberry - berries, roots Bird of Paradise - seeds Black Locust Bark - sprouts, foliage Black walnut all parts confirmed reports of death

[TCLynx]

If it is a disease what do you think it is? I there were white  marks on it's side and  back and I did not know if that was from the other fish trying to eat it or it was a disease.

Thanks Shelia

 

The patch on the dead fish made me think of columnaris disease.  It is a very common disease of channel catfish and tends to strike whenever the fish are stressed in the fashion of many opportunistic infections.  I'm not really an expert in it but I have had my share of catfish deaths to it.  Handling and netting of channel catfish can cause scrapes and abrasions to their skin that can leave them prone to getting infections and any other stress or poor water quality at the same time can make it worse.  One of my batches of small new catfish are having a rough time lately and I've lost more than a sixth of that batch so far but the ones that are surviving are still growing fast.

Good Luck with the fish you have left.  Now I know when I got down to only a few large 2-4 year old channel catfish left in a tank in my first system, I had some problems with them fighting and injuring each other.  I guess it was the onset of mature territorial behavior or something.  We finally harvested all but the one which we kept several more months before harvesting her (she turned out to be the 10 lb catfish.)

[Bob Campbell]

I used to work with walnut wood. It was extremely irritating to my skin and lungs.

I would wear long sleeve shirts and my skin would still get burned.

Yes, it's very likely that this could have killed your fish.