Yes, I was doing some reasearch about goonch and it is normal for them to "shed" their skin like that
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New goonch!
- Thread starter Aw3s0m3
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Yes, I was doing some reasearch about goonch and it is normal for them to "shed" their skin like that
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My rutilus will slough off her old skin from time to time as well.
As far as feeding, it is my experience with goonch cats that they will eat a little and be content. I've never had one that would absolutely stuff itself. I know some fish will, but I've never had one would would.
As far as feeding, it is my experience with goonch cats that they will eat a little and be content. I've never had one that would absolutely stuff itself. I know some fish will, but I've never had one would would.
So it turns out that the goonch didn't eat the goldfish. It decided to jump through a tiny hole so I found it on the ground. Since I tried again tonight and it still didn't eat, I'm gonna go to the store tomorrow and buy some live black worms since that's what the store was feeding it. Hopefully those will get it to start eating. When I feed the blackworms, should I turn off the powerheads or would that be too stressful for it? The current in the tank is pretty strong and would just blow all the worms all over the place and eventually into the filters which would be a waste.
You could turn off the powerhead for a few hours when you feed it. You can also use a good air pump with one or two air stone(s) instead of the powerhead, then you don't have to worry about turning off the powerhead during feeding time.
I'd leave the power heads running. Gionch cats are ambush predators who like to wait in the strongest currents in the river to wait for dazed food to be washed by.
You'll know when your fish is ready to ear because it will perk up slightly on its pelvic and pectoral fins, holding its body slightly off the ground. The dorsal fin (which has almost certainly been held flat so far) will be erect. The fish will seem flinchy and somewhat agitated. This is the fish's hunting stance.
If you turn off your powerheads, it will make the food much harder for a freshly wild caught goonch to find. While it is still adapting to tank life, the current bringing it the food makes things more familiar to him. Over time it will learn to feed like any other catfish, but you must keep in mind that these guys are very specialized predators with a very specialized feeding technique.
I wouldn't stress over the fish not eating yet. My girl Dottie will eat like a champ for a while then just randomly stop eating for a couple weeks, then start eating again like nothing happened. I've long since given up on worrying.
Hopefully I've helped to assuage your fears about this a little. Well get through this dry spell. Keep an eye on the signals I mentioned. The fish might be telling you he wants to eat at some random part of the day when you're nit trying to feed him as well. Dottie tells me when she wants fed. If she's not "hunting", I know better than to waste her food by putting it in the tank when she doesn't want it.
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You'll know when your fish is ready to ear because it will perk up slightly on its pelvic and pectoral fins, holding its body slightly off the ground. The dorsal fin (which has almost certainly been held flat so far) will be erect. The fish will seem flinchy and somewhat agitated. This is the fish's hunting stance.
If you turn off your powerheads, it will make the food much harder for a freshly wild caught goonch to find. While it is still adapting to tank life, the current bringing it the food makes things more familiar to him. Over time it will learn to feed like any other catfish, but you must keep in mind that these guys are very specialized predators with a very specialized feeding technique.
I wouldn't stress over the fish not eating yet. My girl Dottie will eat like a champ for a while then just randomly stop eating for a couple weeks, then start eating again like nothing happened. I've long since given up on worrying.
Hopefully I've helped to assuage your fears about this a little. Well get through this dry spell. Keep an eye on the signals I mentioned. The fish might be telling you he wants to eat at some random part of the day when you're nit trying to feed him as well. Dottie tells me when she wants fed. If she's not "hunting", I know better than to waste her food by putting it in the tank when she doesn't want it.
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I just noticed your question about him needing something for grip. The answer is yes. These fish have a very rough bottom side to their stomach, which when combined with their huge upturned pectoral fins gives superb staying power for them in strong current. However, with nothing for his belly to grip on to, hell just slide back and get frustrated.
Take note of where the fish tries to stay and put some flat, thin river rocks there. If you can make a crevice for him to sit in he'll likely never come out of it. If you put it right against the glass, it really helps with viewing the fish.
This is what I made for Dottie:
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Take note of where the fish tries to stay and put some flat, thin river rocks there. If you can make a crevice for him to sit in he'll likely never come out of it. If you put it right against the glass, it really helps with viewing the fish.
This is what I made for Dottie:
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Thank you soo much Rob! Haha I was freakin out a little mainly cuz I paid a pretty penny for this guy, the lack of info online gets pretty frustrating and it's pretty small (5-6") and I know young fish are supposed to eat more often. I will put the flat river rocks in today. I have a perfect piece but I gotta go get more. It's weird cuz during the day, it'll go hide in a cave under this rock with the slowest flow but at night, it'll swim to random areas, last night it wedged itself at the top of the tank in between the side of the powerhead and the tank wall. It seems to like the low flow areas right now. Maybe that'll change once I place the rocks in
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I grabbed some rocks from my other tanks earlier. Unfortunately I only had one flat rock. So far it hasn't gone into it yet but hung out in the current at least. Does this setup look adequate enough or should I grab some more flat rocks tomorrow? I was kinda mad that the chord on the koralia isn't long enough to reach from the bottom of the inside of the tank to the outlet outside if I placed it in front so I was forced to put it in the back. At least I can still see it if I walk around the tank.
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Update!!!!
He ate! I decided to try and feed it goldfish again cuz the lfs won't be gettin live blackworms till this weekend. I didn't actually see it happen because the goldfish got blown into the goonches hiding spot out of view from where I was
But, I heard the insane gulping noise of it sucking the goldfish in and the back half of its body moving. So stoked on this! Next step is to get it on massivore now. Gotta fatten it up a little though cuz it became kinda thin during the week.
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He ate! I decided to try and feed it goldfish again cuz the lfs won't be gettin live blackworms till this weekend. I didn't actually see it happen because the goldfish got blown into the goonches hiding spot out of view from where I was
But, I heard the insane gulping noise of it sucking the goldfish in and the back half of its body moving. So stoked on this! Next step is to get it on massivore now. Gotta fatten it up a little though cuz it became kinda thin during the week. Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
