Red Tail Catfish Not Feeding

Silent_Revelation

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Hello,
A recent rescue Red Tail Catfish (20 inches) was added to my tank about 2 weeks ago, however, he’s not been feeding since I’ve put him in the 1000 gallon tank, where he’s on holdover before he goes into the 7000 gallon tank. The tank parameters are currently at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and ~20 nitrates. When I got him he was being fed tilapia, which was the first thing I offered and he promptly rejected it. I offered it three times and he rejected it each time. I’ve been offering him shrimp since then and he seems to be ignoring it. Apart from that, his behavior seems normal, his appearance is great, no fin rot, just swimming in the current at the bottom of the tank.
Is my fish okay? If not, what can I do to help him?

Thanks.
 
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kno4te

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Hello,
A recent rescue Red Tail Catfish (20 inches) was added to my tank about 2 weeks ago, however, he’s not been feeding since I’ve put him in the 1000 gallon tank, where he’s on holdover before he goes into the 7000 gallon tank. The tank parameters are currently at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and ~20 nitrates. When I got him he was being fed tilapia, which was the first thing I offered and he promptly rejected it. I offered it three times and he rejected it each time. I’ve been offering him shrimp since then and he seems to be ignoring it. Apart from that, his behavior seems normal, his appearance is great, no fin rot, just swimming in the current at the bottom of the tank.
Is my fish okay? If not, what can I do to help him?

Thanks.
Wait it out. Keep the water pristine. It’ll eventually eat. Suspect it’s fine just needs to settle in. Will happen again when it goes into the larger tank.
 

tlindsey

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Hello,
A recent rescue Red Tail Catfish (20 inches) was added to my tank about 2 weeks ago, however, he’s not been feeding since I’ve put him in the 1000 gallon tank, where he’s on holdover before he goes into the 7000 gallon tank. The tank parameters are currently at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and ~20 nitrates. When I got him he was being fed tilapia, which was the first thing I offered and he promptly rejected it. I offered it three times and he rejected it each time. I’ve been offering him shrimp since then and he seems to be ignoring it. Apart from that, his behavior seems normal, his appearance is great, no fin rot, just swimming in the current at the bottom of the tank.
Is my fish okay? If not, what can I do to help him?

Thanks.
.
Give Redtail a little more time Probably still adjusting.
 
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thebiggerthebetter

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RTC that size can fast for months with seemingly no ill effects.

At the face value of the little info given, I'd agree with the guys above that the RTC is probably just adjusting and is not comfortable yet and hence no appetite. (Maybe your water is not so hospitable to the fish, too hard, or too soft, wrong pH or TDS, too cold, or too hot, or there are pH or temp swings, or too little DO, or it is bullied, or there is too much light, etc. etc.) Please consult these guidelines for asking a more complete question if you cared:





Sometimes it takes that long for a large and not very active fish to adjust to new water and tank etc.

It is not uncommon for a fish to also refuse to feed for even longer periods due to working out an immunity to the new host of pathogens, which vary from tank to tank, parasites, bacteria, and viruses, that is it may be going through a latent (mini) illness contracted in the new tank.

Moving fish is always risky, many things can go wrong with their health condition. Stress alone is a huge factor.

Is this the same RTC as this one with the gill curl: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/red-tail-catfish-gill-curl.726546/#post-8195411 If so, it would make sense to unite the threads.
 
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Silent_Revelation

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RTC that size can fast for months with seemingly no ill effects.

At the face value of the little info given, I'd agree with the guys above that the RTC is probably just adjusting and is not comfortable yet and hence no appetite. (Maybe your water is not so hospitable to the fish, too hard, or too soft, wrong pH or TDS, too cold, or too hot, or there are pH or temp swings, or too little DO, or it is bullied, or there is too much light, etc. etc.) Please consult these guidelines for asking a more complete question if you cared:





Sometimes it takes that long for a large and not very active fish to adjust to new water and tank etc.

It is not uncommon for a fish to also refuse to feed for even longer periods due to working out an immunity to the new host of pathogens, which vary from tank to tank, parasites, bacteria, and viruses, that is it may be going through a latent (mini) illness contracted in the new tank.

Moving fish is always risky, many things can go wrong with their health condition. Stress alone is a huge factor.

Is this the same RTC as this one with the gill curl: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/red-tail-catfish-gill-curl.726546/#post-8195411 If so, it would make sense to unite the threads.
To answer everything, yes, it is the same fish that had gill curl, regarding light level, the lights are intentionally dim, he’s not being bullied as he is in the tank with a slightly smaller koi, there’s a strong current going through the tank and thus I’m not very worried about DO, pH is at 7, never changes, mineral hardness is around 120, temperature stays around 20-21 Celsius only fluctuating at water changes, water changes happen at ~30% every three to four days, tank has been running for about 3 months, no live plants, filtration is a Oase Pond filter intended for 5000 gallons, it flows into a large bucket containing several sponges intended for bacteria, it is behind a curtained window, and thus receives a very small amount of sunlight each day from roughly 10-4, I use bare bottom tank, no symptoms other then not eating and extremely slight lighter color, ammonia 0, nitrites had a small spike of 1.00 ppm, fixed after massive water change, nitrates 5. Water is from municipal.

Let me know if you need any more information.
 

thebiggerthebetter

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What test kit do you use? I hope a liquid API or some such?

20-21 C = 68-70 F is a pretty low temp for an RTC. I'd probably not even feed my RTCs at temps below 70 F for the fear of indigestion and clogging, to which they are prone even at normal temps because of their greedy feeding.
 
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Silent_Revelation

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What test kit do you use? I hope a liquid API or some such?

20-21 C = 68-70 F is a pretty low temp for an RTC. I'd probably not even feed my RTCs at temps below 70 F for the fear of indigestion and clogging, to which they are prone even at normal temps because of their greedy feeding.
I use the freshwater API Master Test Kit. I held it at that temp because I heard that that was acceptable, evidently not. I’ll put a heater in to boost it. What temperature do you advise?
 

Fishman Dave

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My pond through winter is unheated but in an insulated building. It spends 3-4 months at 22 with occasions it goes as low as 20. My fish including the red tail still feed ok but I put this down to the large volume of water, the slow changes in temperature and the seasonal setup I run, warm through summer (26) cool through winter (22). The tanks I run for grow on fish however are set to various temps from 24 to 29 but I would suggest around 78 (24) for a young red tail for acclimatizing and eating unless his final home is also going to be colder. Then I would run at 78 until feeding well and then drop the temperature a degree a week until back down to cooler, and hopefully still eating. Although i would either keep the heater out of the main tank or make sure it is firmly attached in a corner of the tank with flow and with a heater guard as redtail love to eat them or dismantle them when bored.
 
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thebiggerthebetter

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As Dave points out, younger fish benefit from warmer water. Juvies start out in the warm shallows of flooded plains and rivers.

Mature RTCs tend to live in deep colder main streams of rivers which likely don't exceed 75 F year round.

Anyhow, I can't advise you from experience much as I keep our RTCs at 76 F (occasionally down to 72) for the cold half a year and at 85 F for the other half in the summers.

At some point I test-tried to keep RTCs in a natural pond here in SW Florida where the water got down into the mid-60-ies. I didn't feed them then. I believe they would perish in the low-60-ies or high 50-ies.

I had a hose of well water in the pond pumping 75 F water 24/7 into the cold pond (55 F - 65 F) and the RTCs were hanging by the hose all the time because the water was warmer there. They were smart enough that way, which couldn't be said of silver arowana, who swam everywhere and perished eventually.
 
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