RTC Barbels

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Oscarboyz

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2006
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In the fish section LOL
Hey guys have not posted in a while and kind of took a break from fish keeping but I am slowly getting back into it. Right now I have the RTC in a 150 along with a common pl*co. I bought the fish at the LFS common size (about 2") and he is now around 6" Up until 2 days ago everything with fine, although still prone to hide he was eating normally and active in dim light. I go to feed him the next afternoon and see that two of his barbels (on the chin, not the skull) are bent. Not curling (due to bad water) but actually bent at an angle one upwards, almost in his mouth and the other bent under his body. I have no had any aggression issues in the tank so I am wondering if he broke them against something? Not really sure. I did a water change last night and got my water levels back up to normal (What they were before this happened) to rule out bad water quality and barbel deterioration.

Some notes:
There is still some barbel left before the "bend" and he has partial control of both damaged barbels (I see him trying to move them when searching the tank).
He is eating normally although because of the bent barbels he has a little trouble recognizing what to swallow
The rest of his body is in good health, no fin or tail rot, thick bodied healthy fish.

I am not looking to cut the barbels, I saw this in some other threads during my search and thats just not for me. Will these barbels fall off in time and regrow? Should I try to net the fish and straighten them out? Just looking for some information for reassurance.

Thanks,
Oscaryboyz
 
Here are some pictures for reference:
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I don't think they will just fall off and grow back but I would think they are more likely to end up getting caught on something and either damaged more or breaking off.
 
If I had to guess with the info given, he might have tried to taste the pleco or they fought for a hiding spot.

Barbels, just like fins and skin, get damaged all the time in catfish in the wild and in captivity. All usually heals fast and without a problem in a healthy fish and good water. It's hard to tell from the pics what the problem really is. The barbel may heal bent and break off later. When it breaks off, seldom it may branch out.

Unless you are aiming to produce a show-quality fish, I'd leave him alone and see what happens. The only real worry is when the protection of the skin is compromised and a redness develops around the wound, indicative of an infection.
 
Just an update for those interested, rechecked my water chemistry and it turns out post water change my pH was way off. Using the seachem buffer system I have the pH back up at 6.8 currently. Over the last 12 hours I have seen vast improvement in the barbels. They are almost completely normal. Hopefully all remains stable.
 
From some further reading, apparently fin and tail rot in normal fish species caused by pH problems among other things and it's effects are exaggerated in the barbels of catfish before their fins show signs of degradation. Being that I haven't seen too much info on this problem I figured I would throw my solution out there.
 
Thanks.

That's what I thought too. I didn't see broken barbels in those photos but curved and curled, which is almost always, if not always, an indication of something happening with the water.

In general, it is a cornerstone rule of our hobby: if you see anything out of the norm with your fish, check the water thoroughly; check it twice.
 
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