Redtail catfish not eating

[Poseidonfernandes]

Hi everyone, just wanted some help
I have a redtail catfish who has stopped eating every since i moved him to a bigger tank. He was in a 120 gal aquarium for 9months then i shifted him to a 1600gal pond. After shifting him he didnt eat for 1month, so i thought he might not be eating because of the change in water. He used to be in normal tap water but when i shifted him to the pond he was in well water so i changed the pond water to tap water but still not eating. So i moved him back inside the house in a 300gal aquarium with normal tap water, still not eating. Water parameters are ok i have 2 canister filter running on the 300gal rated 200gal each. Then suddenly he started eating but not as aggressively as he used to eat earlier. Then again he stopped, what can be the problem, he is all alone. And another thing is he has genetic gill curl but that never troubled him even when he was 2inch till now at 2.2ft. He only stopped eating ever since i moved him from his 120gal. Now its been 2weeks since last meal. Please help me on this. Thanks

 

[Matteus]

thebiggerthebetter headbanger_jib

 

[moe214]

keep moving him you'll only make it worse, he could've been settling still, not common for etc but depends on the specimen, also not uncommon for larger fish to fast. 1 month isn't hurting a fish that size, they can go months and months. I'd suggest putting him in whatever tank you plan on keeping him in, I assume the 1600g, and figure it out there to cause less stress down the road and also rule out things such as settling. No need to move to a smaller tank unless medicating to make it easier and cheaper dosage wise, but nothing was diagnosed. Maybe the guys notice something I don't.

 

[Poseidonfernandes]

Ok ill put him in the 1600gal

 

[headbanger_jib]

As mentioned above, the cat is just stressed out by the move, the more you keep moving it, the longer it's gonna fast.

I recently moved my big cats, they are still not eating any frozen foods, but are going after the other live fish that are there in the new pond.

Big fish can go for weeks without food.

 

[dazzapolypterusweeksii]

I also moved my redtail recently and he took 10 weeks to eat again.as long as your water is ok just let him be and offer food and if dont eat try again in few days and so on but remove the food if he dont eat. Lovely looking redtail i like the ones where the bottom half is almost all white but its a shame about his gill curl.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I am glad you followed my advice off YouTube. See, the community is already telling you more than I could from only my experience.

I agree that big catfish and other big fish can sometimes take a move hard. They also can go on without feed for months, even half a year, albeit the latter is dire and extreme but it's been known to happen. I'd make sure that the 1600 gal is totally suitable by testing for ammonia, nitrite, pH, nitrate, temp and gotta know or have some indication of hardness, KH and GH. It should have vigorous agitation and aeration. All these tests are rather cheap and very much worth owning, rather a must have, when keeping such serious fish.

I also hope you have had other fish in that 1600 gal before and they thrived. That would mean no funny business, like chemicals leaching into the pond from construction materials, what not, or wild pathogens being brought into the pond with wildlife - aquatic insects, frogs, birds, racoons, etc. whatever you got there in your part of India. If you never had fish n that pond, it might be worth testing it out with cheap fish and not with your RTC.

The RTC looks a bit malformed, to me it obviously has received inferior, mutated genetics. Obviously the double gill curl is from genetics. The strong dip in the cranial shield behind the head, the overall crookedness, almost looks like a missing link between a short body RTC and the norm. So, what I am saying is that mutations do not occur alone but in bunches. It is plausible that this fish possesses deviations in the internal organs and some other biochemistry too, and it is plausible that its lifespan might be far shorter than the usual 20-40 years expected in captivity. How much shorter, no one knows. What I am saying, I'd not be surprised if it does not live to 5-10 years. Its digestive system might be messed up too.

So you might be dealing with the fish-specific problem here and not your water or fish tank specific problem, but could be both.

 

[Poseidonfernandes]

Thankyou all for your advise, was just getting worked up as i have never seen it not eating and that to for soo long. I just hope it lives a long and healthy life with no complications. Ill check all water parameters of the pond. There were fish in the pond so no leaching of chemicals. Ill keep you all updated.

 

[Poseidonfernandes]

Hi everyone atlast my redtail catfish is eating normally. The water was the problem. I got that sorted and he is back to normal. Thanks for all the help and advise.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Hi everyone atlast my redtail catfish is eating normally. The water was the problem. I got that sorted and he is back to normal. Thanks for all the help and advise.

Great news. What do you mean by water? Please, tell us more.