So I have a 10 inch tiger shovel nose/ redtail catfish hybrid in a 55 gal grow out. He used to have two pacu with him and he ate every day but when I moved to pacu to my 1100 gallon he just stopped. After about a week of him not eating I moved my 4 inch albino oscar With him and later a 5 inch koi, as someone suggested move more peaceful fish on with him to get him to eat.( This Oscar is not aggressive at all btw) now it has been 3 weeks and he still hasn't eaten. Water is at 79F. Any suggestions would be very helpful. He is very healthy and shows no signs of sickness
catfish hasn't eaten in 3 weeks!
- Thread starter Keagan Mast
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- redtail catfish
I’m thinking it’s water ... 55g is pretty much too small for a 10 inch Tsn alone and when you add a Oscar and (bizarrely because they don’t belong in 79f water
What is the filtration? water change regime? Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate readings and Ph ?
What is the filtration? water change regime? Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate readings and Ph ?
I’d be getting test kits ASAP and doing at least 30% water changes 2-3 times a week minimum
Hello; At 10% you may not be keeping up with evaporation or just barely staying ahead of it. As water vapor evaporates it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals, salts and such. I agree with taksan in that you likely should up the amount and frequency of WC.
Add to the dissolved minerals there will be emissions from the fish which build up in the water.
A note of caution. Since you have not been doing regular large WC perhaps you should move up to the larger WC gradually. Not gradually over weeks but over say three days. Do 15% today. Do 20% tomorrow. Do 25% the third day. By the fourth day you should be able to do 30% or more three times a week.
Hello; taksan also has a point about the tank being too small for such fish. This is one reason I am on board for more WC.
Ok, I will try the wc. I am waiting for him to eat before moving him to a completely new environment, as that would cause him more stress. I will move him to my 1100 gal soon after he eats
Hard to say. Without pictures or any metrics on the water, it's a guess. Not eating by itself is a symptom of many things.
Foul water would do it. A 10-inch catfish in a 55 gallon getting 10% WC per week, will top 300 nitrates in about 8 weeks. If other fish were in the same water (as in pacus, clown knife, aro, koi, oscars), that figure could be far higher.
Internal parasites or disease could also do it. Was this fish in the same tank that the other fish died in recently? Do you know how the other fish died?
Foul water would do it. A 10-inch catfish in a 55 gallon getting 10% WC per week, will top 300 nitrates in about 8 weeks. If other fish were in the same water (as in pacus, clown knife, aro, koi, oscars), that figure could be far higher.
Internal parasites or disease could also do it. Was this fish in the same tank that the other fish died in recently? Do you know how the other fish died?