Do Catfish Feelers grow back?

spidartankss

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 5, 2007
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London, Ontario
I have a 20" Red Tail Catafish and today i looked in his tank to see that one of his 2 longer feelers (not sure if thats what they are called) was cut short?? perhaps from being caught under a rock or something?

i was just wondering if they will grow back to original length? i' think that they will grow back because in the wild they would use them to survive?

anywyas can anyone give me an answer?
 

Tokis-Phoenix

Feeder Fish
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Jun 9, 2007
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The catfishes barbels/feelers could have a bacterial infection.
How many gallons is the tank you are keeping him in plus its measurements? What other fish are you keeping him with plus what do you feed the fish and how much/often on average? How often do you do water changes on the tank and how much do you take out on average? What sort of filtration does the tank have and how many gallons does it claim to filter up to?

More info on your situation would be very handy to know.
 

Wolf3101

Feeder Fish
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Apr 26, 2007
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I've never had this problem with any of my cats but from what I've read...they do grow back. We'll have to cast this one out to the catfish gods...

Necro?
 

spidartankss

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 5, 2007
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London, Ontario
the feeler is sort of cut of half way, it is a little red but it doesnt seem to be that bad.
the tank is 100 gallons (i will be getting a larger tank once i buy a new house in the next little while)
he is in the tank with 1 Jaguar cichlid and 1 midas cichlid right now..
the cichlids i feed pellets and the RTC gets fed fish fillets, salmon, tilapia, catfish, shrimp and whatever else i can find.
i do water changes weekly and take out 70% or sometimes a bit more.
filter ihave just 2 aquaclear 500's and a powerhead.

can a better answer be given based on this info?

thanks again
 

frnchjeep

Fire Eel
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Aug 24, 2006
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I have a marbled pim that has broken them before. They always grow back, but there will be a little lump where it broke. As with any open wound, you should treat with Melafix before it gets infected.
 

Wolf3101

Feeder Fish
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Apr 26, 2007
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Sounds more like an injory than a water quality issue but test your water to be on the safe side.
 

rallysman

Polypterus
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Aug 7, 2005
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I had an albino channel cat who broke his, and it grew back in 2 pieces. Kind of like a fork in the feeler:)
 

TLkmDN

Polypterus
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Jul 11, 2007
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dont even worry about it. red tail catfish are hardass fishes. i mean if the rest of its body looks good and his colouration is perfect then he will be fine. regarding the red sore he has on his barbel, just put sum extra salt in the tank. shud heal naturally.
 

Tokis-Phoenix

Feeder Fish
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Jun 9, 2007
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Salt is bad for red tail catfishes as they come from the Amazon, where salt is pretty much absolutely absent from their natural habitat. Thus they haven't evolved to cope with it well, and it can put quite a strain on their internal organs. Generally speaking, you should avoid using salt as a medicine on fish which come from the Amazon in general.
Treating the fish with a med like Melafix would be a much less stressful way to treat the fish to help prevent secondary infection setting into its wounds.
 

necrocanis

Catfish God
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Oct 10, 2005
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I have used salt on all my amazon catfish with no ill-effect on the catfish what-so-ever. In fact they always heal much faster stay free of desiese and grow faster than they ever did before I used salt. Granted you don't want brackish conditions, but a lil salt works wonders. To answer your questions the feeler (aka) barbells, or whiskers are an appendage of the maxillae in whichs is housed thousands of nerve endings and taste buds. Each one has more taste buds than an entire human tongue. They do grow back and this can go quickly or slowly depending on your tank's water parameters. Melafix has always seemed to help mine heal quickly. If you do use salt and heat treatment ensure that you have extra aireation in the water because it can be harder for difused oxygen to be asorbed through the gills. I would suggest a salt treatment over medication any day. It is a more natural treatment, and all bodys of freshwater have salt in them to some degree or another. A general rule of thumb is to use 1 tbsp per 5 gals of water. Slowly increase the salinity of your tanks over time and once you hit this mark keep your tanks their always and you'll notice more healthy and desiese free fish. Only use evaporated sea salt, never iodized salt, because it contains iodine which can be lethal to fish, esp scaless fish. I've had catfish loss whiskers and when they start to grow back you will notice the end of the injury will for a round or ball like end. Then a tiny whisker that looks out of place will start to grow out from there. Usually takes 5 days to about 2 weeks for them to grow back completely. I would also make that larger tank a priority. 100 gals is kinda small for a 20" rtc. Might wish to cut back on feedings a bit until you can get a bigger tank. This will help with water quality, and I would suggest 2 %50 water changes per week until the barbell is completly healed!
 
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