Hello! We have a gulper catfish, about 1 1/2 years old. Always been a good eater, we feed him frozen silversides. Past 5-7 days has been refusing or spitting out food. We got some minnows into him for 4 or 5 but then I found a few of them on the bottom of tank. His ph was low 6.0 but I got it up to 6.5/7. Nitrates were high 80 but I’ve been doing weekly water changes. Gh 120, Kh 40, nitrites low below 1. He had fin rot about 6 months ago but we treated and his fins are regrowing. I do melafix about 1/month. Any advice? He’s my son’s first fish and first love. Thank you!
Gulper catfish not eating
- Thread starter dianelizcar
- Start date
Keep the water clean and wait it out. Sometimes a fast for a week will help to let it rest and get the hunger back. Also try smaller amounts of food. Larger gulpers can fast a bit between meals and not uncommon.
Yes, welcome to the forum.
The fin rot, low ph and loss of appetite can be signs of poor water quality, and your 80ppm nitrate also confirms that. As
kno4te
mentioned, keep your water tip top with water changes, 80ppm nitrate is letting it slip a bit. What size tank is he in, how often do you feed, and how often do you change your water, and how much?
The fin rot, low ph and loss of appetite can be signs of poor water quality, and your 80ppm nitrate also confirms that. As
kno4te
mentioned, keep your water tip top with water changes, 80ppm nitrate is letting it slip a bit. What size tank is he in, how often do you feed, and how often do you change your water, and how much?Thank you all! He is the only fish in 40 gallons. I change 5 gallons a week. Did slip to every other week once or twice but I’m pretty religious about it. I have biomedia in his filter and exchange half of it every other month. I add bacteria supplement with water changes. I love that guy (or girl) and his cheesy smile!
Would stop changing out 1/2 the bio media every month. It should last till it completely clogged and cleaning won’t fix.
Sorry, forgot the feeding part. He did eat every other day a 3-4 inch frozen silverside. He’s about 7-8 inches.
If your mechanical filtration is adequate you should only need to rinse your bio media once every blue moon, a gentle swish in tank water will suffice. The fact that you have to remove 50% of it once a month because, i'm assuming, it is clogged up, suggests to me you need to have a look at improving your mechanical side, too much gunk is getting through and will result in inefficient bio filtration.
Also, your 5 gallons a week water change equates to about 12%. That is poor really considering that greedy little gulper will be putting out a surprising amount of bio load.
I'd up the % of water changed, and once you've established how much you need to change out to keep your nitrates low, then stick to it. Missing water changes will result in your nitrate spiralling up, as you've discovered.
And if you can have a look at that mechanical side and make it better because, as mentioned, you really shouldn't be removing your bio media because it's clogged.
Also, your 5 gallons a week water change equates to about 12%. That is poor really considering that greedy little gulper will be putting out a surprising amount of bio load.
I'd up the % of water changed, and once you've established how much you need to change out to keep your nitrates low, then stick to it. Missing water changes will result in your nitrate spiralling up, as you've discovered.
And if you can have a look at that mechanical side and make it better because, as mentioned, you really shouldn't be removing your bio media because it's clogged.
Hello! We have a gulper catfish, about 1 1/2 years old. Always been a good eater, we feed him frozen silversides.
No good. Frozen fish, even if wholesome, lacks enough vitamins and minerals etc. that eventually your pet develops a nutrient deficiency. One and a half years is about the right time for specifically gulpers from my experience. Try eating only frozen shrimp for a while. You'll develop scurvy or something else pretty soon. Just for you to relate.
Past 5-7 days has been refusing or spitting out food.
I predict he is having digestion problems due to poor diet.
We got some minnows into him for 4 or 5 but then I found a few of them on the bottom of tank.
Same problem, plus it's a really bad idea to feed live feeders, especially for a beginner.
His ph was low 6.0 but I got it up to 6.5/7.
How? I don't like it. Messing with pH is wrought with potential problems. Gulpers natural range is low, 5.5-7.
Nitrates were high 80 but I’ve been doing weekly water changes.
As Esox said above. You have to aim for at least 50% weekly water change, if not twice a week.
Gh 120, Kh 40,
Good. KH is a bit low, not much buffering ability, this also reflects your way insufficient water changes.
nitrites low below 1.
This doesn't tell us anything. Also need to know the ammonia. Throw away the stick tests, please get liquid test kit such as API freshwater master kit for $20, thousands of tests. https://www.chewy.com/api-freshwater-aquarium-master-test/dp/121955
He had fin rot about 6 months ago but we treated and his fins are regrowing.
This was because of the poor water.
I do melafix about 1/month.
Shouldn't have to do it at all. Fix your water, you won't need this, not that it fixes anything anyway.
He is the only fish in 40 gallons. I change 5 gallons a week. Did slip to every other week once or twice but I’m pretty religious about it.
No good at all. It'd be fine for a dozen or two of neons, not for a relatively huge fish like this, plus a sensitive one to water and care.
I have biomedia in his filter and exchange half of it every other month.
No good. Must rinse gently in tank water, not swap.
I add bacteria supplement with water changes.
Don't need to do this at all if you do WCs as we tel you.
He did eat every other day a 3-4 inch frozen silverside. He’s about 7-8 inches.
You must pre-soak the silversides in the VitaChem supplement solution before feeding them to him https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Enterprises-ABE16708-Freshwater-Vitachem/dp/B00BS96V78 or get him to accept high quality pellets, such as Hikari or NLS for predatory carnivores, or both.
HTH.
I must commend you on keeping the gulper that long. Your case is exceptional. Even experienced keepers, often or mostly, fail to keep these alive for a year or so. Beginners usual track record is a few weeks to a few months.
No good. Frozen fish, even if wholesome, lacks enough vitamins and minerals etc. that eventually your pet develops a nutrient deficiency. One and a half years is about the right time for specifically gulpers from my experience. Try eating only frozen shrimp for a while. You'll develop scurvy or something else pretty soon. Just for you to relate.
Past 5-7 days has been refusing or spitting out food.
I predict he is having digestion problems due to poor diet.
We got some minnows into him for 4 or 5 but then I found a few of them on the bottom of tank.
Same problem, plus it's a really bad idea to feed live feeders, especially for a beginner.
His ph was low 6.0 but I got it up to 6.5/7.
How? I don't like it. Messing with pH is wrought with potential problems. Gulpers natural range is low, 5.5-7.
Nitrates were high 80 but I’ve been doing weekly water changes.
As Esox said above. You have to aim for at least 50% weekly water change, if not twice a week.
Gh 120, Kh 40,
Good. KH is a bit low, not much buffering ability, this also reflects your way insufficient water changes.
nitrites low below 1.
This doesn't tell us anything. Also need to know the ammonia. Throw away the stick tests, please get liquid test kit such as API freshwater master kit for $20, thousands of tests. https://www.chewy.com/api-freshwater-aquarium-master-test/dp/121955
He had fin rot about 6 months ago but we treated and his fins are regrowing.
This was because of the poor water.
I do melafix about 1/month.
Shouldn't have to do it at all. Fix your water, you won't need this, not that it fixes anything anyway.
He is the only fish in 40 gallons. I change 5 gallons a week. Did slip to every other week once or twice but I’m pretty religious about it.
No good at all. It'd be fine for a dozen or two of neons, not for a relatively huge fish like this, plus a sensitive one to water and care.
I have biomedia in his filter and exchange half of it every other month.
No good. Must rinse gently in tank water, not swap.
I add bacteria supplement with water changes.
Don't need to do this at all if you do WCs as we tel you.
He did eat every other day a 3-4 inch frozen silverside. He’s about 7-8 inches.
You must pre-soak the silversides in the VitaChem supplement solution before feeding them to him https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Enterprises-ABE16708-Freshwater-Vitachem/dp/B00BS96V78 or get him to accept high quality pellets, such as Hikari or NLS for predatory carnivores, or both.
HTH.
I must commend you on keeping the gulper that long. Your case is exceptional. Even experienced keepers, often or mostly, fail to keep these alive for a year or so. Beginners usual track record is a few weeks to a few months.
Last edited:
- Dec 2, 2018
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Listen to this man right here. He knows what he's talking about.
I personally have no clue how you kept that gulper alive for 1 1/2 years in such a tiny tank with such poor care. I really wouldn't recommend starting off with a gulper catfish as your first fish. What you really don't want to do is
1. Mess with the pH like Viktor said. That's a no-no for any fish. It can really mess up, well, everything, and is very difficult to do properly.
2. Change out your bio media. If it's getting clogged I'd do what
esoxlucius
said and get a better filter.3. Give it live or frozen food. Like Viktor said this is bad for it nutritionally. Switch it on to something more nutritionally diverse. I would ask someone who has experience with gulpers to help you out here, have no idea what they should eat.
4. Put in melafix all the time?? Why? It's a medication, you wouldn't want to be on antibiotics your whole life.
5. Not have a liquid test kit. We always have to tell people to get the API master kit. Literally every post on the disease forum has had some mention of OP not having the master kit. It's a fishkeeping essential and there is no proper substitute.
6. Let the nitrates get that high. 80 ppm is when the water starts to become toxic. The reason they got that high is because...
7. Get a tank that small for a fish that big. Again, I have no idea how it stayed alive in there for so long. 75 gal is the absolute bare minimum for a gulper I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, but a fish that big no matter what species simply cannot exist in a tank that small).
Fix all these issues and your gulper should be absolutely fine. We all make beginner mistakes, we just don't want them to harm your fish. Starting off with a gulper is an ambitious move, and you've actually done a remarkably good job so far. Just some tips on how to keep your fish happy and healthy.