Shovelnose shedding

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Cyclop3000

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 22, 2005
448
1
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Quebec, Canada
I have a shovelnose catfish which is approx 10". It's a regular shovelnose, not a tiger. Today I saw him do something weird. He was shedding what seemed like a very thin layer of skin. From the tip of his nose, to approx. where his gills end, he was shaking his head and the "skin" flew off.

He then proceeded in eating the shedded "skin" :eek: What the heck is this? Is this normal, should I worry? Water is good, no other fish is sick, except for my JD which has a tiny spot of fungus which is being taken care of. I don't think it's the first time he does this, I remember seeing this "skin" haze around in the tank.

The other fishes also seem to enjoy the taste of this "skin". Other than that all my fish behave normally...

Any help is welcome!
 
I had a lima sovelnose cat that did this regularly. It is actually shedding his slime coat. It can be a sign of stress so check all your water paramerters; p.h. ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and temp and make sure everything is ok.. if so I wouldn't worry because they will do it anyway. Also make sure whatever you are using to "take care" of your JD isn't harming your shovelnose. they are scaleless and meds can harm them. What are you using?
 
Somethings that cause excessive slime, (looks like shedding skin), everything that dodgefreak mentioned and copper,zinc,and other metals, low levels of chlorine, and for a few fish, salt.
 
i've heard of this before. i think they r supposed to do it.
 
dodgefreak8 said:
I had a lima sovelnose cat that did this regularly. It is actually shedding his slime coat. It can be a sign of stress so check all your water paramerters; p.h. ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and temp and make sure everything is ok.. if so I wouldn't worry because they will do it anyway. Also make sure whatever you are using to "take care" of your JD isn't harming your shovelnose. they are scaleless and meds can harm them. What are you using?
Click to expand...

I am using what they call "general cure", and was told it was safe for scaleless fish...i'll recheck tomorrow anyways, I need to buy more. Always wanted to setup a 20g quarantaine, I guess this is my chance, I could treat the big dempsey in there. No chlorine in water as I have a well, but there could be slight traces of metals. I use aquaclear to neutralize those, no signs in the test vials.

Guess I could do weekly water changes, I don't usually do it weekly, but if this guy is less resistant to poor water condition then I will change my bad habits :)

Glad to see it's nothing too important. A little stress can be taken care of...

Thanks for your help!
 
Many catfish seem to do this for no apparent reason,others do it after water changes,keep eye on water condition but shedding slime and eating it for some appears to be natural.If he hadnt have eaten it I would have erred on there being a problem.
 
mine eats his slime coat too!...
 
mine does that but i never saw him eat it
 
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