Red Tail Cat Fish Not Eating

[sizzlinbetta]

So I bought a RTC from a local pet store it was being housed in a betta tank to keep it from eating the danios in tank. I know disaster so i brought it home unexpectedly and threw it into an empty tank about 3inches at the time...I went out and bought a 50 gallon tote from walmart and placed him in there waiting to find an outdoor used pond. Currently is about 5 inches i fed him frozen shrimp which he was hand feeding from me. Then like the 7-10th time i fed him i fed him larger piece of shrimp and he seemed to regurgitated it. I cleaned it out but since that point I can not get him to eat. I keep offering shrimp and taking it out and we're on day 5? and was eating small amounts daily so quite concerning. I moved him into the larger tote after he didn't eat first two days, and recently put some sort of goldfish sold to me same store for discount after explaining situation because they don't have live feeders. He went after it but couldn't catch it and apparently gave up or its too larger which also might be a problem. I was thinking of breeding guppies to feed him but not sure how great of an idea this would be long term, as i feel once i get him on live food probably hard to change back? This has been the case for some other fish i've owned but maybe because they normally have a heavy appetite i can do it short term or?

Also is there anything specifically i should be looking for?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

First do water change and check tempature, after that parasites come to mind or he swallowed something he shouldn't of

 

[Hendre]

Make sure the water is of acceptable quality and reduce stress. If there are not hiding spots provide some and dont disturb it too much. Internal parasites dont always reduce appetite to the point of no return.

I think an RTC will stick to live food, they have a good reputation for eating anything

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

*Check your water conditions.
*Don't hand feed because you might get your tank water contaminated.
*Don't ever feed your RTC live feeders, it's more happily accept market prawns and it's much more nutrition and safer.
*RTC can go without food for weeks and even month so don't worry about it as long you keep your water in good condition.
*RTC regurgitated food when you're overfed or water is in poor condition.

 

[sizzlinbetta]

First do water change and check tempature, after that parasites come to mind or he swallowed something he shouldn't of

Can get a water testing kit Monday, obviously the water quality isn't very good in Mexico so I filled the 50 gallon tote about 80-85% filled and let it sit there for a couple days and added chlorine drops. The way I refill galofonds here i can get cleaner water but it is quite the task, also was in the same water and eating for a bit.

 

[sizzlinbetta]

Make sure the water is of acceptable quality and reduce stress. If there are not hiding spots provide some and dont disturb it too much. Internal parasites dont always reduce appetite to the point of no return.

I think an RTC will stick to live food, they have a good reputation for eating anything

totally made me forget i was soaking for weeks small driftwood in that tank and he did seemed annoyed when i moved them, those same pieces are in his larger tank and he does try to hide under them...
any way of telling if he has parasites I don't see any skin lesions on top of him in the tote hard to see his underbelly i could put him in tank which is smaller just for observation at a point for pictures if you's want to specifically see anything

 

[sizzlinbetta]

*Check your water conditions.
*Don't hand feed because you might get your tank water contaminated.
*Don't ever feed your RTC live feeders, it's more happily accept market prawns and it's much more nutrition and safer.
*RTC can go without food for weeks and even month so don't worry about it as long you keep your water in good condition.
*RTC regurgitated food when you're overfed or water is in poor condition.

Didn't think about that because there's so few fish you can own that might be able to hand feed, obviously saw on youtube in ponds and thought that was a cool pattern to start. I really do not want to swap to live feeders because the diseases. I do have an empty tank where i could make it happen though. I had no idea they could go that long with out food. Even at such a small size?

He was clearly over fed but when you're breaking apart pieces of small shrimp its hard to gauge exactly when he'll eat. Because when they are healthy they just do not stop eating

 

[sizzlinbetta]

update got some new shrimp put in smaller size about 1/2 size of his mouth ate was so happy, then this morning i find the piece from last night thrown up...not sure when...today seems not to be eating again...really getting frustrating was 100% down to over eat first 10 days get a larger set up, let water sit same filter and just won't eat...will be upgrading filter size but considering it's rated for 40 gallons and he's only 5 inches or so and only fish it should not be the issue i don't believe...

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

My two quick thoughts are

- crustaceans-only diet for an RTC would cause a vitamin B1 deficiency (I'd suggest reading up about thiaminase issues)

- new totes have machine oil, lubricants, may have harmful dust etc.

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Knowing water parameters goes without saying. That's always the first thing to check.