Hello I have two questions for everyone

[Shawnm311]

First thank you for all the advice I have read in these forums from all of you..it helped alot..now my frist question is what do I feed my catfish? The lady at the pet store said they eat whatever is on the bottom..but there is not much down there, and they wont come to the top to eat the fish flakes..next I had a catfish die the fist day after I purchased him..I have no idea how he died.the only thing I can think of is maybe high nitrate levels..because my water is clear and my other fish are fine..I was wondering how to lower my nitrate levels and other tips to keep my catfish alive and happy?

[Ben]

To answer the first question, on what to feed your catfish, for the most part there are specific cat fish foods you can purchase, but much of it depends on what kind of cat you have. So what kind is it?

For your second question. It could be nitrates, or it might have just been the stress from reloacting it from the fish store, unfortunately these things happen at times. Again, what kind of cat was it? Do you know how long it was in the LFS for? If they just got it in that day, or the day before, they probably shouldn't have sold it to you yet. If it had been there for a while, it may have just been a week fish that didn't take well to the move. High nitrates are always a possiblity, you should have a test kit for that. If it turns out your nitrates are high, best solution is a water change. If you find you have consistantly high nitrates, you may want to look at more regular water changes, better filtration, and fewer fish. What do you have in the tank? How long since you first set it up prior to adding the cat that died?

[Shawnm311]

I have a large green cory catfish, and two small catfish but i dont know what they are. Click here to see the pics
http://www.geocities.com/shawnm311/Fish.html

I have 5 fish in the 10g. aquarium. I have 2 of the catfish in the first picture. I have 1 of the fish in picture 3. In the last picture you can see the large green emeralda cory catfish he is doing good. The fish that died was just like the large one but it was a small green cory catfish. I dont know how long the pet store had him, they have a group of them in a tank, but he did die the day after I got him. Looking at the pics can you tell me what I should be feeding these three beautiful catfish? These is nothing on the bottom for them to eat and they never come to the top. Thanks

[Ben]

Here's some suggestions that I find go over well.



and



These are two products that I use, and find go over very well. They are sinking foods, and should make your cats happy. From there, you can experiment with differnet sinking foods. You can try some live foods such as bloodworms, and let you cat's decide what they like the best

[kodama]

:d the flat fish with the black stripes is a Black Tetra.
:o the other fish is a...
XD it kind of looks like a Spotted Pimelodus (a kind of catfish)
...and maybe the catfish that died was sick from the pet store.
(were there any dead fishes in the tank he was in at the pet store?)

[Silurus]

I can only see two catfish: a peppered cory (<i>Corydoras paleatus</i>) in pics 1 & 2 and the large green emerald cory (<i>Brochis splendens</i>).

[Shawnm311]

Thanks Ben..your the best ..I will go buy the shrimp food..but do you think that will be enough? what about those food disc or balls that you put on the bottom that fish can eat off of are those good?

To Silurus I have only 3 catfish I am new to all of this.. I have two peppered corys and one large green emerald cory. I had a small green cory but thats the one that died.

To Kodama I did not see any dead ones in the tank at the pet store..but its just weird that it died so soon when nothing else has died..The lady at the store said there fins can get caught up on the net..I think maybe I hurt him with the net when I put him in my tank..he was swimming funny. Just an idea.

THANKS EVERYONE THIS IS A GREAT FORUM

[T]

How long was your tank set up for before you purchased your fish?It may not have been cycled properly.I would maybe get another 2 black skirt tetras as they like to be in shoals.

Also I find nutrafin sinking tablets are good food for catfish.

[Shawnm311]

Shoals? That is groups right? My tank was set up about a month before adding the catfish. Im off to get some more friends for them and some of those tablets..Thanks T

[Pectorale]

Hi Shawnm311,

Knowledgeable petstore personnel is hard to find, they 'll usually tell you what they think you want to hear. Shops that specialize in aquarium fish and supplies are usually a bit better. Sinking tablets are good, you could also give them frozen food (mosquito larvae, tubifex dapnia etc.), say once every other day, as a treat. Better to defrost it before you feed it though. I typically empty a blister of food in a cup of (tank)water, wait five minutes then feed it to my fish. Frozen food is disease free so less risky.Spirulina tabs are a favourite food of many of my catfish, but my livebearers like it too, they'll eat all sinking tabs.

Enjoy, Pectorale

[Ben]

Yes, they are good, the discs are what's in the second pic that I posted. I use a mix of these two (and a few others), different cats prefer different kinds. You could get both and alter, or put a bit of both in each time you feed them.

Thanks Ben..your the best ..I will go buy the shrimp food..but do you think that will be enough? what about those food disc or balls that you put on the bottom that fish can eat off of are those good?
THANKS EVERYONE THIS IS A GREAT FORUM

[Shawnm311]

Thanks Pectorale you know alot about catfish

Ben
Those are beautiful catfish in your pictures..they dont even sell catfish like that here in my town but they great looking fish.