AriahJade Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Hi all, I am hoping someone can help me. George is a south American red tailed cat fish Phractocephalus hemioliopterus. I will give you all the information i can. When i first got George about 2 weeks ago he took about 2 days to begin feeding properly. For a week after that he fed well on guppies, thawed bloodworms sinking cichlid pellets and home grown baby crickets which he seemed to love. Then 3 days ago he stopped eating. He has no visible signs of illness. His only tank mate for the last 10 days has been a sailfin pleco. My ph is sitting at about 7 as my water is a little soft. Other readings for nitrates etc are 0. I have tried incapacitated guppies, followed by freshly killed guppies, crickets, bloodworms, beefheart, and small thawed shrimp. Tonight he is very listless, does not want to swim and only sits in his favorite plant. His colour has paled. I had an outbreak of ick after my electric heater kicked out in the middle of the night about 5 days ago? But not in his tank as it is heated to about 78. I am terrified of loosing him and i dont know what i have done wrong. He was my early birthday present from my husband and i love George very much. If anyone has any suggestions they would be welcome. Thank You Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Last water change (when and how much)? Any sign of parasites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AriahJade Posted November 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Last water change (when and how much)? Any sign of parasites? I change 10 to 20 % every Saterday. Although in his condition he didnt get one yesterday. He is not looking very good at all this morning. Barely breathing. I think i am going to loose him. And not knowing what i did wrong i am very reluctant to try again. And no during the one week he was eating he was very healthy with no sign of parasites. I feel absolutely terrible. I havnt had him for very long but he really means allot to me. -05- Thank You Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Do a 40% change now, and continue with the same every 4-5 days and see if that perks him up. Try him on some frozen mysid shrimp, and if he eats, next give him some NLS Thera-A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AriahJade Posted November 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Do a 40% change now, and continue with the same every 4-5 days and see if that perks him up. Try him on some frozen mysid shrimp, and if he eats, next give him some NLS Thera-A. Have tried the shrimp. I did a 40% water change a few miniutes ago with preheated clean water. I hope it helps. I think however it might be too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) Not that I want to encourage the demise of said fish or otherwise discourage you, but you might want to do some checking on what you bought in case it dies and you consider getting another one. Are you certain it's Phractocephalus hemioliopterus? If so, this fish is a predator that grows to 100cm (and bigger in the wild) and requires a tank at least 13.5 feet long minimum (about 200 gallons) for adequate swimming room. No respectable LFS should be selling this fish to the general public. This fish is difficult to care for and should only be in the hands of very experienced fishkeepers who have adequate resources to house it. In the long run this fish is probably not even really suitable for those people either and should really only be on display in public aquariums. Are you prepared to keep this fish? They also live for 15 or more years. Articles to read: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_phracto.php http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/p_hemioliopterus.htm http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/redtcat.htm You can Google the scientific name for more info. Based on this, I'd surmise poor George is not only depressed because he isn't able to hunt, but the tank is probably too small too. If the LFS you got him from has more, I'd seriously think about giving them some information to encourage them to not sell them. Edited November 29, 2006 by Shai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krystle Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Based on this, I'd surmise poor George is not only depressed because he isn't able to hunt, but the tank is probably too small too. She knows what a red-tail cat is lol. She got him imported as a baby. She did not buy him from a LFS. She is also a breeder, and a very experienced fish keeper I know you meant well, it's just kinda funny lol. You know what happens when you ASSuME, right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 She knows what a red-tail cat is lol. She got him imported as a baby. She did not buy him from a LFS. She is also a breeder, and a very experienced fish keeper I stand corrected then. : ) I tend to think there's no harm in supplying info if it's available, because you can't always tell about the other person and also don't know if someone else will have the nerve to pipe up...just in case. Better safe than sorry, right? I've seen too many posts on other boards that begin with "If I'd only known..." Chances are, somebody else probably did know but didn't say anything at an opportune moment for fear of offending that person, because they ASSuMEd that person did know. I hope George gets better. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little sea Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) I'm with Guppylove1985. Rose KNEW exactly what she got when she picked George up. She was absolutly comitted to his care for the entirety of his life and did EVERYTHING she could to assure his comfort and health. She is an experienced fish keeper and extremly empathic towards her charges. I'm only writing this because of the general (and normally well deserved) negativity that surrounds the captive husbandry of red-tail cats and that Rose should not be painted with such a brush. Shai, I completly agree with you that LFS should never sell them. It really makes me angry when I walk in and see a tank full of two inch babies (and normally not very expensive). They're adorable when young and the kid working there making minimum wage is usually ill equiped to educate the potential buyer of their extreme needs. Also, I'm not reaming you out, I just don't want to see Rose anguish any more than she is. The one in my shop is mine, a congratulatory present to myself when I opened this shop, and I assure you that 20 years from now I'll still have the happiest, hugest catfish in the world. P.S. If anyone ever wants one the cost is $100,000,000.00 firm. I'll bet you take care of it then. Edited November 29, 2006 by little sea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGr8Blade Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 WOWSERS! That is a big cat! Holy never even saw one like that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Was it eating pellets or anything like that before this? After my experience with one it's hard to imagine one that would refuse food. Have you tried garlic? I don't really know if garlic works or not, but it can't hurt to try right? I hope he pulls though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AriahJade Posted November 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Unfortunatly i lost George on monday night i think it was. I still feel terrible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Unfortunatly i lost George on monday night i think it was. I still feel terrible Sorry to hear that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Yes sorry to hear. I wonder what went wrong though? Are you going to try again? I miss my little redtail, he was getting too big and eating all the stingray food so I had to take him back to the store I got him from. It would be awesome to keep on to an adult size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Dear Rose Sorry about George .I know very little about catfish but from reading this thread I think if you try again with a redtailed cat don't give it that much variety of fine food I have found that with new fish they may act happy but they are still stressed out and a big change in diet stresses them out even more .Even if they gobble it up.I don't know if this cat was wild caught or farm raised but I believe stress may have been a problem here.I know with with some cichlids shipping+new diet =systamatic bacterial infection Any how I hope you try again somtimes you can do everything right and still things will go wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.