New 19" Zebra shovelnose won't eat for 2 weeks

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Sasha Isles

Sasha Isles

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jan 9, 2020
11
41
16
Thailand
fishingudonthanithailand.com
I have now had my Zebra Shovelnose Catfish over 2 weeks and he still has not fed,, up to now I have tried prawn (which the fish seller used to feed with) strips of dead fish and live bait... I am trying worms tonight.. he is 19 inches long and just sits on the bottom.. he looks healthy but I am now getting worried.. how long can they go without food?
 
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Welcome to the MFK!

One of mine once fasted for 6 months with one or two bites in that time. But this is rather irrelevant, because you first need to make sure your fish is stress-free and comfortable. If it is neither, it turns off the appetite.

Please, follow these routines to give us as much info as possible, so we, in turn, could help you as best as possible:

Fish Health Diagnostics (Read before posting.)

I have observed countless number of threads lacking details that are required to make a proper diagnosis involving fish health. For this, I am building up this thread with diagnostics for you to determine what is wrong with your fish. More details of other health issues can be found here...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com

or

To Help You We Need A Little Help, Please...

In my 50+ years of helping hobbyists in keeping their fish healthy and happy it's often not easy after hearing input like; "My fish died. What happened? No, I didn't take the 2 seconds needed to check the temperature. I've thought of buying a test kit but never got around to it. But, I know...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Health and appetite questions are some of the hardest in our field and without much info, chances are we wouldn't be able to suggest anything helpful.

Pictures can help greatly.

Describe your fish-keeping experience and knowledge too so we don't insult you / waste your time with too simple or obvious advices.
 
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Sasha Isles said:
thebiggerthebetter thank you so much for your advise and the very helpful links, I will update everybody soon with my progress...
Click to expand...

Apologies for my slow update, all of a sudden but after a full 7 weeks wait my Zebra now eats quite well, a daily full fresh prawn is his favorite diet... he is eating well but only seems to get longer and not fill out! I have read max size is about 24 inches and he is near to that now But I have seen some larger specimens on the net which had been caught out of rivers.. the advice on here has been great and I am hoping in my next posts I can help some others with my findings with some other exotic species..
 
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Fishman Dave said:
Not sure I would trust that wallago with a smaller tig. Great the tig is eating, just hope he doesn’t become the meal.
Click to expand...

Yes, you could be right Dave... Mr Grumpy as I call him is getting a tad large now but he seems docile enough if he gets his daily feed of pellets... if anything the tiger is the aggressive one.. hoping to split them and move to larger tanks soon :)
 
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