My Big Cat Shark Is Not Feeding

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kanzaris

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Hi All


I have noticed that for the last week or so my biggest Cat Shark (he is about 10 inch) is not feeding. The other three Cat Sharks and my other Fish are feeding as usual. He also used to swim about a lot from one end of the tank to the other he only does that now when the lights are of. My stats are fine and I am doing 30% water changes every week. As I am watching the tank I am getting a funny feeling that it might be the Monos intimidating him. I have 7 of them and they go mad at feeding time. I have even seen them steal food out of my GSP’s mouth.
I don’t want to loose the Cat Shark. When I bought him he was only 3inch and he was the reason for getting a 6 ½ foot tank. ( I even change the Monos if it makes him happy)

Has anybody got any suggestions what it could be or even if my theory is right.

Thanks

Sabby
 
Hi All


I have noticed that for the last week or so my biggest Cat Shark (he is about 10 inch) is not feeding. The other three Cat Sharks and my other Fish are feeding as usual. He also used to swim about a lot from one end of the tank to the other he only does that now when the lights are of. My stats are fine and I am doing 30% water changes every week. As I am watching the tank I am getting a funny feeling that it might be the Monos intimidating him. I have 7 of them and they go mad at feeding time. I have even seen them steal food out of my GSP’s mouth.
I don’t want to loose the Cat Shark. When I bought him he was only 3inch and he was the reason for getting a 6 ½ foot tank. ( I even change the Monos if it makes him happy)

Has anybody got any suggestions what it could be or even if my theory is right.

Thanks

Sabby


Has nobody got any ideas?

Sabby
 
Have you tired altering the salinity at all, shark cats are migratory in nature so alternating the salinity a little up and down might perk him up.
 
What are you feeding him?

Try offering something new. Two things my shark cats enjoyed were salmon and squid. Salmon is messy as heck, but the oiliness seems to really get catfish thrashing about with anticipation. Try a small amount if you happen to be eating some for dinner sometime. Mackerel also works well for this, but again, it's oily.

Cheers, Neale
 
What are you feeding him?

Try offering something new. Two things my shark cats enjoyed were salmon and squid. Salmon is messy as heck, but the oiliness seems to really get catfish thrashing about with anticipation. Try a small amount if you happen to be eating some for dinner sometime. Mackerel also works well for this, but again, it's oily.

Cheers, Neale


Hi Neale

I am feeding Prawns, Catfish Pallets, Mussels and Blood Worm & Brine Shrimp. I will give the salmon and Mackerel a try. Anything to get him eating again.
Do you buy the smoked salmon (mackerel) or the stuff in the tin? And how long can he go without eating? I would have thought he would be hungry by now.
So my theory about the Monos is out of the question then?
I will give CFC’s suggestion a go as my salinity is always the same at about 1.010

Thanks again everybody

Sabby
 
Do you buy the smoked salmon (mackerel) or the stuff in the tin? And how long can he go without eating? I would have thought he would be hungry by now.
No no no... raw, fresh salmon/mackerel from the fishmongers. Just a little. Scoop out the excess, and if you can, really turn up the splashing in the tank afterwards (this seems to get rid of the oily residue, or at least drives it into the filter). Smoked salmon probably isn't safe (the smoking process adds various chemicals to it).
So my theory about the Monos is out of the question then?
Possible but I doubt it. If it is though, try feeding at night when the monos are sleeping (they turn black, so you know when they are snoozing!). Put in some catfish pellets or whole prawns or whatever. The cats will happily feed at night, though they are admittedly more day-active than the average catfish.

Cheers, Neale
 
I hate to disagree with Neale but feeding fillets of pink-meat fish probably isn't the best idea. Pink meat fillets are quite oily and it just leaves an oil slick on top of the water. Also, I remember reading somewhere that pink-meat is quite difficult for piranhas to digest, don't know if that applies to Shark Cats though. I can vouch for this as I have read a few posts on a piranha forum where after feeding pink-meat fillets their piranhas got quite sick.

Try feeding fresh Smelt, Tilapia, Fillet of Sole etc, anything with white meat. Frozen silversides at your LFS are fine as well.

Before my accident when I had piranhas I tried feeding Salmon and other pink-meat fish and it just made a mess. The oil slick is impossible to remove short of water changes. Plus it decreases the 02 levels and degrades water quality. Plus pink-meat falls apart easy, you'll need to do a good gravel vac afterwards.
 
AMS -- I agree, it isn't a good idea as a staple for the reasons you suggest (though shark catfish being marine fish should be able to digest oily fish fine -- it's freshwater fish that sometimes have trouble). BUT, the sheer smelliness of oily fish works great for tempting recalcitrant carnivores. It's a trick I learned from a vet, who uses canned sardines in tomato sauce to tempt sick cats to eat something. Again, not recommended as a staple for housecats, but as something smelly to really get them going, it works a treat.

All I can say is with shark cats, gar, and managuense cichlids I found small amounts of oily fish did the trick very nicely. As ever, your own mileage may vary!

Cheers, Neale
 
Oh I see now, I thought you meant as a staple. In that case it would be fine to use oily pink fish to tempt them to eat.
 

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