Jaguar catfish shyness questions

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Chefken

Chefken

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2010
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Harwinton CT
Two weeks a ago I added two 5-5.5" Jaguar cats from jeff rapps to my 180 gallon....I expected reclusive catfish and I have a massive pc of Mangrove in the tank that now houses 5 catfish.....one 6" Sydont hybrid and two 3.5" Bristlenose Plecos....I did expect the new Jags to eat!! The other cats all emmerge to eat. The Jags are visable in the wood but almost never move at all. i have tried to target feed with no luck. I have Geos and Chocolate Cichlids that are not aggressive but are enthusiastic feeders. Not much left in tank after feedings if anything.

How long can they go without feeding? Will hunger drive them out eventually?? TY Ken
 
I think this means they are not relaxed yet, not quite comfortable. I trust you tried feeding with lights off and also leaving the feed overnight as well as diverse feed.

Ask Jeff what they had been fed.

If they started from good health and their tummies are not sunken, I'd think a fast of a month or a bit longer won't hurt them.

When hungry, they are known to come out even in daylight to feed, when the feed is thrown in.
 
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thebiggerthebetter said:
I think this means they are not relaxed yet, not quite comfortable. I trust you tried feeding with lights off and also leaving the feed overnight as well as diverse feed.

Ask Jeff what they had been fed.

If they started from good health and their tummies are not sunken, I'd think a fast of a month or a bit longer won't hurt them.

When hungry, they are known to come out even in daylight to feed, when the feed is thrown in.
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Thank you....they are still plump. I figure hunger will force them out eventually. So far they have barely budged!! Test of wills I guess! I hate leaving food out in the tank but I will try tonight. Problem is I will never know if they eat it!
 
They'll eat when they're ready. Only thing I'd say to look out for is make sure they aren't stuck, mine almost died that way. I was thinking the same as you, every time I turned the light on it would wiggle in more so I thought it was fine, tossing it up to it not being settled it'll eat when it's ready. During a wc i take the dw out to clean under it since it has a slate of rock under it which traps debris. I tried to push the jag by its head out and it wiggled but couldn't get out. I had to take the whole piece out and push it pretty hard to get it out, I thought I was going to crush its head honestly, it was so thin, started eating right away, took that dw out the tank after that, added it back after the cat grew, tries hiding in the same spot but can't get stuck anymore. Lol.
 
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Chefken said:
Thank you....they are still plump. I figure hunger will force them out eventually. So far they have barely budged!! Test of wills I guess! I hate leaving food out in the tank but I will try tonight. Problem is I will never know if they eat it!
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If they are plump, you probably have nothing to worry about yet. You don't have to leave the feed in the tank and could save this as a hailmary for later if needed. Of course a fish must feed well to see a difference in its tummy appearance. Better to start from flat.

J jaws7777 Yours came in plump too, right? Were they too from Rapps? How long have they taken to start feeding?

You might want to look through Jaws' threads on his jags:

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7874575

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7770997
 
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Yup got mine from rapps as well. Give them time they'll be fine. Mine would push 18 inch polys around to get to the food.

Try feeding them chopped tilapia they love it
 
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