Sturgeon Catfish not doing so well

[Natural Born Chaos]

Today I picked up a sturgeon catfish (Platystomatichthys Sturio, not sure if that's spelt right), I had it on hold until I found out some more info on it. It's now in my 350 gallon separated by a divider, I noticed it swimming by the top of the tank, near the sides, I figured it was a bit oxygen deprived so I put in a large air stone. Shortly after it went back to the bottom, 15 minutes later I saw it back at the top, I check my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate my readings are ammonia&nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 5-10ppm. I tested with both a Nutrafin and an API test kit, I got the same results for both.

It was healthy at the store, eating and active. I'm not sure if this is normal behaviour (which I doubt it would be) because I've never owned one, and I couldn't find much information on it either other than the basics. I've never had an oxygen problem before, but if it's that, the soonest I can get another air pump is tomorrow.

 

[Kevinkel]

I had the same problem with an Oscar once. At the lfs he was eating and swimming actively, but as soon as I brought it home, it hid behind the filter and would not eat. He lay on his side for a good week. I though he was a goner. I just did water change, kept the temperature up, and watch him closely. After a week, he was back to normal and eats like a beast. Most likely he's just stressed out from the move. I don't know if this was any help, but good luck.


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[Natural Born Chaos]

I guess it makes sense since I do have a EBJD and a firemouth with him (I gave up my grow out tank for some axolotls, thus why I divided the tank, they have about 65-75 gallons (I'll be getting a new one soon enough)), so I guess it could be trying to get away, although they seem to mind their own business.

I'll keep an eye out, maybe it would be best to put some more housing in there. Hopefully all goes well, I really hate losing fish.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

When I got mine, he was doing often the same thing (as long as I had him) albeit the water was good and other fish thrived in it. Many/most/all (?) of these uncommon fish are very hard to wean off of live foods to dead food. I could never do it with mine. Is yours taking (was taking at the store) dead food? They are expensive too. Mine was about a foot SL and cost $180 from Shark Aquarium in NJ.

 

[Natural Born Chaos]

The guy had him on got them off live and was feeding bloodworms twice a day, so yay to that! Mine was pretty cheap at $25 it's only about 2" though. The guy was willing to hold it for me until it grew a little more, but I really wanted it, I'm starting to think that was a bad idea.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, the fact that this fish is wild caught just makes me even more worried.