Gulper Cat hasn't eaten in 3 weeks..

[Abyss]

I have two Gulper Cats.

I've had them for around 4 years now.

They are both around 12".

One has stopped eating 3 weeks ago.

It takes the food and then spits it out.

The other fish eats the same food fine.

I mainly feed King Prawns. I feed once a week.

I've read on various sites that other people tend to have these problems with Gulpers. I have checked my water parameters and everything is fine, Nitrate could be lower, but it comes out the tap high, I compensate with large weekly water changes.

The Gulper is fat and seems fine otherwise. Just looking for some more advice. I hear some people only feed once a month as they get older? Is this true?

Thank you.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Crustaceans contain high amounts of thiaminase - an enzyme that decomposes vitamin B1. That's why diets of exclusively or high in crustaceans need to be mitigated with a good supply of the B vitamins. This could be one possibility.

 

[bezza83]

wow 12 inch!!!! That's a decent size. I have had many a problems with gulpers. They are far from easy to keep IMO. I have constantly experienced the same problem, being a decrease in appetite over a prolonged period.
I have 4 atm and they ate like pigs originally. Now they eat still but weeks can go imbetween and only small portions whereas before they would gauge themselves.
Recently I have converted to a high quality HMA 3 way filter. Although this has been over a month I have not noticed any change to their feeding patterns.
My water changes are 3 x 25- 30 % per week ph 8.4 gh 14
My tank is 700 litres.
I believe the problem is the hard water and high ph.
Apart from this they all look very healthy.
There has been 2 fish they could eat in my tank for a long time now but, they seem to have gone over live food. They still eat frozen sprats just few and far between.
I would like to lower the ph and gh, but believe i would need to go ro and thats a lot of waste water for my tank size.

 

[Abyss]

Crustaceans contain high amounts of thiaminase - an enzyme that decomposes vitamin B1. That's why diets of exclusively or high in crustaceans need to be mitigated with a good supply of the B vitamins. This could be one possibility.

Yes, I am aware of this, unfortunately they won't take anything but the prawns consistently. I have tried a multitude of different fish and rarely do they take it.

I had most success with whitefish early on, but after a couple of weeks they just didn't touch it.

bezza83 - I have read on quite a few different forums that their appetites do decrease with age. As I said, I've had my two for around 4 years and have noticed this. They have also got less active with age.

My tap water is around 7 on the PH scale.

I do a 35% 1 week, and then a 70% change ever other week.

Our issues kind of sound the same and perhaps this is just the way Gulpers are? It's hard to find any real info on them from other keepers, and not people just regurgitating what others have said, or what applies to other similar cats.



I keep them with an ever growing colony of Platies (which they have never bothered, too small I guess). So if there was anything wrong tank wise, I think I'd notice it in the Platies first. Tests suggest nothing wrong tank wise anyway.

 

[bezza83]

I would love to find out more about these cats but there is little in the way of literature available on them. Personal experience goes a lot further with me too, however, this is unfortunately not in abundance.
Where are you based in the U.K.? I'm in Kent near Dover.

I think these catfish are sensitive to water parameters and easily susceptible to diseases etc.
I have had a few and when first purchased they have all been the savages that earned them the reputation and high price tag. Now they don't really have the same appeal as they have filled out and their appetite somewhat suppressed.
If you look at the prices of these, they have plummeted, as they have proven not to be the easiest of fishes to upkeep.

 

[bezza83]

Mine are also mates with a 6 inch green terror that they should be able to eat with ease. Why have they gone off live food? They are still eating frozen.
I have a tank with 30 odd green terror growing out to be used as live, but, this one has been in here for 6 weeks plus now.
If I knew where I was going wrong for sure I 'd try and correct it. I can't believe in the space of a 6 months they would go off live completely??

 

[Abyss]

Although mine have never shown any interest in smaller fish, I once had to house an extremely large Silver Dollar with them for one night.

I assumed since they never went for the smaller fish, they'd gone off live food.

I was wrong. They stalked the silver dollar and went for it within a few hours, luckily I was in the room at the time and managed to startle them to release their grasp. Thankfully, minus a few scales, the SD is still happily alive years later.

Nearly 4 weeks now though and the smaller of my 2 cats still hasn't eaten.

It's strange how different my pair are...one is very long and a bit thinner, one is much fatter but shorter. I assume now since I've had them so long, they are fully grown at around 12".

I am UK based, and yes, there is next to nothing on them. Be wary of people giving their opinion on them who don't actually own them, I too believe personal experience is best with these cats. When I purchased mine I think they were going for around £200+ each in the UK, but since I've seen them for around £50.

Agree as well, as they've got older they've become so much more lazier.