The problem is one of the convict cichlids that I have him with are bullying him I'm gonna remove them later todayI'd stop using tongs to poke food into the face of a shy fish that's been in the tank only a week. It sounds as though that isn't working, and that the small amount he has eaten has not been offered that way...so stop doing it.
Is it kept alone or are there other, more aggressive feeders kept with it? If the latter, perhaps try adding food after lights-out, assuming that the catfish becomes more active then. You can introduce food into its hiding place with a long, opaque tube (PVC or whatever) that gets the food down there safe from competition, but again you must be careful not to frighten the cat.
He ate this morning but he is pretty beat upI think I’ve had my four now over at year and since I moved them out of the community tank where fish kept going missing, I don’t think I have ever seen any one of them eat. But I keep putting food in there and either they must eat it, the snails must eat it or it ends up broken down in the filter or removed at water change.
They are a secretive fish that I don’t expect to see out and about often, let alone eating.
Give him chance, remove the bully, ensure the food is varied and correct size and he can pick what he wants, filter and water change to remove waste/keep good quality.
He eats in the day but only when everyone leaves the room .Ours sat in the hide all the time and I dropped food on his head which was consumed greedily. They are generally not fussy.
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