Tig - Swimming Erratically

[arowanaryan]

massivore and market shrimp -

- going to stop the shrimp and switch to just pellets and blood worms for the other one - need to read up on the problems with shrimp -

i euthanized this guy with the clove -

thanks guys ??

Thanks Doc, good info. I've always been tempted to feed shrimp because people have said their fish have colored up on them... I'm sorry that happened to the little guy. His markings were A1 man.

Some places it gets expensive, but I got bait shop by my house where they sell earth worms for a reasonable rate. Earth worms and different pellets have done good things for me in terms of growth with my cats and gar as well.

 

[arowanaryan]

From your OP it would read as if the fish is still feeding. If so, this would be totally unexpected but also, if so, the fish may not be suffering much.

A arowanaryan per OP " eating prawns / random massivore"

To 50% of tig keepers, feeding them prawns is a red flag. To the other 50%, it is the norm. This is something we could never yet figure out as a community.

We never fed our tigs any crustaceans. The result was the same but the root cause might have been very different, like catching a contagious pathogen from tank mates / system and not diet related at all.

Thank you for this. I wonder what other issues we've seemed to split as a people. I know if there's a 50/50 disparity on something like whether eating salt water crustaceans, or even crustaceans at all is ok for Tigrinus Catfish there must be quite a few other nutritional and general care differences of opinion within the community on lesser kept fish.

The sum of all competing ideas is generally the best answer. That is why this forum is so great to me and has been for 10+ years.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

50/50 with polar opposite views seems rare and extreme. I tend to think of thiaminase issues, or allergy, or way out in the left field, the high cholesterol in shrimp and other shellfish. But this is to think anything. Otherwise, I cannot offer any thoughts as to why it could be in 50% cases...

 

[fishdance]

I feed whole frozen marine shrinp/prawns to my large freshwater fish. The things I keep in mind are:

* Only use good quality shrimp, old rotting shrimp can easily cause bacterial issues in the fishes digestive system.

* If formalin has been used as a preservative to slow down the "black" look, I can feel it as a slipperiness with my fingers. Formalin dissolves well so a longer water bath with repeated rinses is used.

* If I'm worried about the shrimp spike on head and tail doing damage, I'll manually pull these off. For bigger tougher fish, I don't bother.

* I have never worried about thiamine deficiency. Very easy to add a different source food in.

* Shrimp or crab is a great way to bring out red colouration in fish. You don't need much.

* If large whole shrimp were cheaper, I'd definitely use more.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Right! I forgot about formalin on shrimp. You spoke of it before and it completely slipped my mind. IIRC you had said formalin is less toxic to humans than to fish. Surely formalin is quite toxic to fish applied externally, as in the many ich medications. I wonder of its internal ingestion toxicity.

So perhaps ingesting formalin-laced shrimp is the smoking gun and the explanation for the 50/50 split - perhaps not all shrimp is treated with formalin or not all at the same extent or concentration.

 

[fishdance]

I would hope that most big fish keepers have the experience and skill to decide for themselves what is a good diet.

Not surprised there is a 50- 50 split. Just stick to what works well in your situation. There are so many variables like source, supply chains, storage, feed species etc. Then there is how you feed...

Good feeding will stimulate gamete production and reproduction activities. Overfeeding will produce fat production, fatty deposits, unhealthy body shape and shortened life span.