who did this

[jenny cookie]

well, in my 30 gal, i have 6 guppies, 3 dwarf gouramis, 3 upside-down cats, and a largo apple snail. I just came home to find one of my upsidedown cats missing half of his face. I got my hubby to scoop him out and kill him, but anyone have any guesses to who might have done this? just a thought, my snail, i hold responible for consuming 2 whole fish, and the cats always hang around him, so maybe he started eating the cat but it got away?

[Kasakato]

Imagin how slow a fish will be moving for a snail to get it. Sorry but its not going to happen. What is more likely is that the fish died and the snail was eating it when you got to it.

Now you want to find out what, besides the snail, killed the fish. Plase post your ammoina, nitrite, and nitrate levels.

[TipStylez]

wate your fish got half of its face bitten off and was still alive so then you got your hubbie to scoop it out and kill it?

[jenny cookie]

yes, it was still alive when i found it. He was missing his barbels, most of his "lips" and the on one side of his face he was missing everything inclding his eye

[TipStylez]

!!!!....

[FishSeller]

There is a pretty nasty bacterial infection that can get ahold of African fish, namely cichlids that does what you are describing. I haven't heard of it happening with Af. Catfish, but it is certainly not beyond the scope of reason.
Actually, I had a very nice tank of Af. Cichlids die from it. Once it's started, it's almost impossible to stop.

[jenny cookie]

a disease? there hasnt been any new additions to that tank in months. How long does it take for diseases like that to actually cause that amout of damage, because the fish were fine a few hours before. They are also fine today.

[FishSeller]

Jenny,
That's what is so weird about this critter. It can come on like a freight train, rot off half of your fishe's faces, then disappear. The good news is it's being researched pretty heavily.
To tell you the truth though, I wouldn't panic too much about it. I would seriously doubt that you have the same deal in your tank. I would, though, do a 50% water change, raise your temp to something around 81 degrees, add about 1/4 cup salt per 10 gallons (providing you're not dealing with salt-sensitive fish), and add a decent broad-spectrum anti-bacterial/anti-parasitic medication. Just to be safe, I would move your apple snail to another container while you're treating your water.
All of this is suggested under the assumption that your water is in good shape, you're not using an under gravel filter that is so clogged it's anerobic, and there isn't anything in there that would try to eat your fish. Aside from that, it should clear up pretty quickly.

[happychem]

add about 1/4 cup salt per 10 gallons
:eek: That's a lot of salt! You sure you don't mean tbsp.?

[Raskolnikov]

Actually, that only works out to about 1.2 tsp / gallon, which is less than the recommended dose for ICH treatment. Doesn't seem like a lot of salt by any stretch if used temporarily.

(48 tsp/cup)
http://tinypic.com/6sb60p.gif

[Kasakato]

Its ok. HC is not as high as it looks.