HI there

Hopefully some one can supply some suggestions as to death causes.

Have bred several batches of these delightful catfish. I seem to have not trouble keeping them alive but have heard back from one chap I sold several to that he has lost most of them and has had fish from the last two batches.

He says that the stomachs are very white when they die.

Mine have a very basic diet of cellulose, flake, pleco pellets etc and of course there is always wood in the tank. Temperature around 24-25 in my tanks and not too sure about ph though. I have these in most of my tanks without any issues although I did lose a couple of older ones (about 1.5 years old) since Xmas. They are about 3 months when he got them (each time) and I have kept a couple from the first batch and still have them and my tanks don't get any special treatment.

He takes very good care of his fish and I cannot fault his feeding, housing etc of them except perhaps being in with his discus may be way too hot for them.

any suggestions would be gratefully recevied as while there is some of the last batch left he is very reluctant to get any more without getting some answers to this.

Many thanks

hi there to me sounds parasitic but they are a few other suggestions but i need more info ..

how old are yr breeding pair

the last two batches are they from the same parents as previous or is this a new pairing or second generation pairing

discus high temp around thirty are tolerable for these guys thou not recommended may be a factor in speeding up whatever is happening but dosent sound like the cause as you are losing them aswell

could be worms ?

my major thoughts are with genetics at this stage or parasitic have a good look round yr tank for anything unusual

is yr tank barebottom or gravel ?

whats yr stocking ratio /waterchange regieme

where are you sourcing yr cellelouse ?(sp)

mr pleco

It only seems to be one person who is losing fish (apart from go4itgirl's couple of older ones) so I suspect something in his tanks, rather than something with the fish themselves.

My BNs don't seem to like higher temps.

What else does he have in the tank? Any ornaments or things that may be toxic and the fish are grazing on? Does he have any other bottom dwellers? He may have a problem in his substrate.