Help with tig catfish

[JayC74]

I grew a tig up from 4 to 12" within 7 months. I fed it feeder guppies, blood worms and mysis shrimp. Once it got to 8 ", I added it to my main tank, 350 gal with a my other fish. He then started to eat cut squid rings as well. He did great with that and was growing up nicely. Then I aquired a 16" ornate and once I added him, my tig was never the same. He would sit right next to the tig and im sure he basically made the tig uncomfortable and he started to slow down on eating til he basically stopped. I tried saving him, isolated him in his own tank, noting worked and he slowly deteriorated and that was that. Im getting another one in two days that I will do very differently with. That damn bichir is gone and ive gotten rid of some of the less impressive animals so now things will hopefully be better. It sux to loose one that u have watched grow up but s#@t happens. Lesson learned, but as far as seafood gose, Silver sides are a saltwater fish, still seafood. I think if u over do it or dont rinse the food off enough, u have a greater amout of salt in the food. I rinse the crap out of whatever I feed them as far as frozen food gose. IMO... all fish need a variety of foods, we dont eat steak all day every day, we eat a variety of foods so should fish.

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Like us, they need a variety of nutrients..not necessarily foods. Whole wild caught fish (like silversides for young tigs) are loaded with nutrients and provide all that is needed for growth and health. IMO the salt from the fish doesn't hurt them, but that's just my opinion. WC's are key when lots of whole fish is getting consumed in captivity. I'm sure in the wild, it's fish, fish, and more fish for them. So if whole fish is the only item on my menu for him, i don't believe it's a negative thing
But i guess when people are growing big cats of many types on HOTDOGS, seafood of any kind or style seems like a gd & safe option to me. Tigs might have to wait till they reach a foot to eat them maybe

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I grew a tig up from 4 to 12" within 7 months. I fed it feeder guppies, blood worms and mysis shrimp. Once it got to 8 ", I added it to my main tank, 350 gal with a my other fish. He then started to eat cut squid rings as well. He did great with that and was growing up nicely. Then I aquired a 16" ornate and once I added him, my tig was never the same. He would sit right next to the tig and im sure he basically made the tig uncomfortable and he started to slow down on eating til he basically stopped. I tried saving him, isolated him in his own tank, noting worked and he slowly deteriorated and that was that. Im getting another one in two days that I will do very differently with. That damn bichir is gone and ive gotten rid of some of the less impressive animals so now things will hopefully be better. It sux to loose one that u have watched grow up but s#@t happens. Lesson learned, but as far as seafood gose, Silver sides are a saltwater fish, still seafood. I think if u over do it or dont rinse the food off enough, u have a greater amout of salt in the food. I rinse the crap out of whatever I feed them as far as frozen food gose. IMO... all fish need a variety of foods, we dont eat steak all day every day, we eat a variety of foods so should fish.

The most probable cause and effect in this report (thank you Redtail!) looks to be exceptionally well aligned with T1's hypothesis, to my eye. Adding the bichir was likely simply coincidental and inconsequential, barring some mysterious disease brought in with the bichir. Bichir making a tig uncomfortable? I struggle to see this as a deadly effect. A ticklish rain on tig's parade, so to speak, if anything but not thunder and lightning...

I also struggle to rationalize that salt may lie at the heart of T1's hypothesis. Sure, too much salt can kill any living thing but at the levels found in seafood diet - I am quite dubious. Fish osmoregulation is quite efficient. Any excess salt dissipates easy and quickly just as anything else, mineral, that is soluble in water. If it is seafood, it must be something else, I think.

 

[Fighter Fish]

I have had a few Tigs and it never took more then 7 days for them to start eating broken up Massivore. These Tigs were about 3-4" and I had 3 of them. I sold all them once they were about 7-8" and now I have a larger Tig which I got at 15" and is now over 18" the big guy eats everything but his favourite is the Massivore, actually hits it hard. Ive always fed a mix of frozen most of it consisting of tilapia but used to use shrimp to but it much easier and cheaper to use tilipia for me. I have always kept bichirs with my tigs and its never been a problem, they often are piled together. My 7" tig was usually in my pile of 4 bichirs that range from 6-10" and my large tig is always laying on my 16" lapredei bichir.
I wouldn't really agree with the bichir comment other then the fact that it was a 16" ornate and an 8" tig he had. Ornates are bold and small tigs are shy at that size, but I would never has put that size difference together seeing as the ornate could've ate the tig lol (expensive snack lol). If the sizes were the other way around it wouldve been the same situation for the ornate likely.
Best when like most guys have said, lights off late at night drop the massivore or hikari sticks as close as possible. Tigs are more nocturnal feeders.

 

[shookONES]

This tig grew out to be almost 16" in this tank before finding a new home. I don't think the bicher had anything to do with your tig's demise.

 

[T1KARMANN]

The most probable cause and effect in this report (thank you Redtail!) looks to be exceptionally well aligned with T1's hypothesis, to my eye. Adding the bichir was likely simply coincidental and inconsequential, barring some mysterious disease brought in with the bichir. Bichir making a tig uncomfortable? I struggle to see this as a deadly effect. A ticklish rain on tig's parade, so to speak, if anything but not thunder and lightning...

I also struggle to rationalize that salt may lie at the heart of T1's hypothesis. Sure, too much salt can kill any living thing but at the levels found in seafood diet - I am quite dubious. Fish osmoregulation is quite efficient. Any excess salt dissipates easy and quickly just as anything else, mineral, that is soluble in water. If it is seafood, it must be something else, I think.

What you also need to take into account is each fish or creature is different

Try telling a slug or snail a little bit of salt is ok

The size of the TIG can also play a part which is why small baby tigs can't handle or digest sea foods but larger tigs can

All I can share is what happened to me on my 14 year tig journey


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[rlane]

I am in the learning experience now with my first tig, I got him when he was about 2" and he is now around 7" or so. He has been pretty tough to get on pellets and would only eat live food. I was hesitant to starve him at such a small size but for the last few weeks I have cut back the feeders dramatically, only a couple a week at most. He is in his own tank and I threw in some massiviore last night which was gone this morning so hopefully I have gotten over the hump and he will start to eat it with some aggression. From the advice on this thread and others, I will not be feeding him any seafood and will stick to pellets, tilapia and silversides.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

... All I can share is what happened to me on my 14 year tig journey

And we could not be more appreciative. Still, a strive to sort out and deepen what's already learned should be a good thing and a natural consequence.

... From the advice on this thread and others, I will not be feeding him any seafood and will stick to pellets, tilapia and silversides.

Atlantic silverside is a seafood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_silverside I am not saying you should or should not feed it to your tig.

-- T1 and Co would say no from their experience (which I struggle to rationalize but that does not deny or even diminish their finding - it just needs to be explained why).

-- The other camp would say we did it and had no problems, neither should you (the above explanation would ideally explain why these folk's experience possibly differed).

-- My straw man proposal / explanation is that this is about crustaceans, not seafood. Too much crustaceans in a young tig's diet (50%-100%?) and, hence, vitamin B1 deficiency, if the diet is lagging behind in supplying enough B1 or the tigs are particularly sensitive to the thiaminase in crustaceans. Just a hunch. Feel free to shoot it down.

 

[rlane]

And we could not be more appreciative. Still, a strive to sort out and deepen what's already learned should be a good thing and a natural consequence.



Atlantic silverside is a seafood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_silverside I am not saying you should or should not feed it to your tig.

-- T1 and Co would say no from their experience (which I struggle to rationalize but that does not deny or even diminish their finding - it just needs to be explained why).

-- The other camp would say we did it and had no problems, neither should you (the above explanation would ideally explain why these folk's experience possibly differed).

-- My straw man proposal / explanation is that this is about crustaceans, not seafood. Too much crustaceans in a young tig's diet (50%-100%?) and, hence, vitamin B1 deficiency, if the diet is lagging behind in supplying enough B1 or the tigs are particularly sensitive to the thiaminase in crustaceans. Just a hunch. Feel free to shoot it down.

I should have been more specific when I said seafood, I meant crustaceans.

 

[redtail keeper]

It's hard sometimes to get fish to eat when you first get them. When I get a new fish I leave it a few days before bothering it. Start with easy feeds then gradually give it more tricky foods.

 

[rgc54]

I got my 4" tig off ghost shrimp and on pellets in about 3 week just feed them after lights out