Catfish won't eat

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Slippery K

Slippery K

Piranha
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2011
2,491
27
81
Ontario, Canada
Hey MFK, a month ago I bought two Jaguar catfish. I've been treating for ich (treatment ends April 9th) a few days after their arrival. The larger of the two eating well amd getting fat already, but the smaller still wont eat. I've only seen her eat one small chunk of a pellet the entire time I've had them, and she's starting to look really skinny, and shows zero intrest in any food item I toss in. Does anyone have any recommendations? Water parameters are all in check. I don't know why she won't eat, unless she's still stressed from ich and or treaent.
 
I would isolate the fish with a divider with plants/driftwood. Try feeding at night with the lights off. Could be getting out competed or too stressed from the other fish. I assume it's still not sick but not completely ruled out. See what others gotta say.
 
Are the Jaguar catfish wc ? If so possibility the one maybe infected.
 
I'm pretty sure they're not sick with anything at this point, they're behaving totaly normal. There might be one ich spot left on the one that's not eating, but I can't clearly tell if it is - or if it's just one of the spots along the lateral line. If so I'll continue treatment for another few weeks.
kno4te said:
I would isolate the fish with a divider with plants/driftwood. Try feeding at night with the lights off. Could be getting out competed or too stressed from the other fish. I assume it's still not sick but not completely ruled out. See what others gotta say.
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I've tried feeding at night. They're both active, just one hasn't shown intrest in food other than once. They are pretty much isolated in their own tank already.
 
Could be a dominance issue which includes pecking order for food. Not sure what else.
 
Yeah, that can be tough to diagnose.

Chances are it either has to do with the ich and the treatment and / or with whatever caused the ich in the first place because ich is most-usually-to-always a secondary symptom. The primary cause is stress and the source of that stress needs to be identified and addressed. Perhaps it was simply the shipping and rehoming / acclimating. We can't rule out something wrong with your tank / water. Only you can.
 
I am fairly confident the ich was brought on by stress from shipping. The heat packs gave out early and fish were pretty cold upon arrival. Im going to try feeding again at lights out when they are more active. Bigger cat just stole all the food... again lol
 
Sucks. I know how this feels. You will have to baby sit the smaller one. Best to isolate, maybe use a tank divider instead of netting, less stress that way.
 
Well today is last day of treatment, and i honestly dont know whats going on. One cat seems fine but has really odd breathing patterns, and the other im pretty sure is going to die of hunger or something else i cant figure out sometime this week. I treated with paraguard and salt, so im not sure what else would be stressing the cats.
 
How about some live small earthworms at night when u see it about? Maybe something moving will motivate it a bit.

Wouldn't worry about the breathing if it's been treated and all ur water params are normal.

Could be just a really stressed fish that just won't fit into a home aqaurium.

Sorry....hope this isn't a end to it for you.
 
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