Gulper catfishes fasting for more than a month

tongolino10

Exodon
MFK Member
May 26, 2023
36
32
26
47
I have 9 gulper catfishes around 20cm in length, they are around 3 years old and for the past month or more, they have not eaten any food. I did note upon googling if this is an issue, that someone also encountered something similar, but felt that it was a quirk of gulper natural behaviour. Occasionally my gulpers fast for 2 weeks or so but usually not for this long. They still seem active and do not seem to have lost too much weight. They do not seem to be in any sort of distress and my water quality is not a problem.

I tried dosing praziquantel in case it was an issue of internal parasites. It's been more than 5 days since then but they still have not eaten, so I doubt that is the problem.

Is this a common experience among gulper catfish keepers?
 
  • Like
Reactions: thebiggerthebetter

fishhead0103666

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
May 14, 2018
6,132
7,175
188
youtu.be
thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter
 
  • Like
Reactions: kno4te and AR1

kno4te

MFK Moderator
Staff member
Global Moderator
MFK Member
Dec 24, 2005
18,754
21,468
480
USA
What do you feed by the way?
 
  • Like
Reactions: AR1

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,270
14,490
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
IME they can fast sometimes, just make sure they are not fasting due to malnutrition. The live feed you mention should be good. Of course, they can also introduce a disease into you tank. That's another explanation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kno4te
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store