urgent help needed!

[Richard B]

Both my yarrellis are eating now , but one is constantly flashing against the gravel...what could be the reason for this?

This sounds like a feeder fish has introduced a parasite/disease - have you tried other stuff than feeder fish - prawns, mussells squid etc?

[Stackdeck]

My fish only take prepared food when they are very hungry , i cant bear to starve them , so use feeders. According to the feeder supplier , the fish are soaked in medicene upon arrival and i qurantine them for one and a half weeks just to be sure. . . .Is it sufficent to prevent disease?

[MatsP]

I can't answer if that is sufficient to prevent disease, but you should be able to ween them off live-food, which certainly WILL remove the risk of disease being spread from the feeder fish... Generally, quarantining of fish should be about 4 weeks, and it doesn't guarantee complete removal of pathogens - nothing but a large number of treatments would guarantee that - my body probably carries half a dozen bacteria and another half dozen virus, that COULD cause illness under the right circumstances ("stress factors"). The same applies to your catfish, they will have several forms of bacteria, parasites and virus in/on their body. But it's not breaking out into a infection/infestation until the fish is under stress.

--
Mats

[Shane]

Make no doubt that diseases introduced by feeders are probably the number 1 killer of predatory catfishes.

According to the feeder supplier , the fish are soaked in medicene upon arrival and i qurantine them for one and a half weeks just to be sure. . . .Is it sufficent to prevent disease?

Since we do not know what the "medicine" is it is hard to say. However if they are eating all these medicated fish that can't be good over the long term as they are consuming the medication along with the feeders.

If you can get them off feeders it would be best for their own long term health. You can always set up a small tank and raise your own "clean" feeders as a dietary supplement.
-Shane

[Richard B]

My fish only take prepared food when they are very hungry , i cant bear to starve them , so use feeders.

A good point to remember is (in general) that a hungry fish is a healthy fish.
In the wild no one comes along at 8pm every night with a regular portion of food. Starving is an interesting concept. I miss feeding one day a week on all my tanks. How long do you consider it is for your fish to start to starve from not being fed? Lot's of big predatory cats can go weeks without feeding if they are unhappy with their envionment.

Feeders undoubtedly stir the predatory instincts of large piscivores but my view is that if you can wean your fish off live foods then that is the best way forward. Very few predatory fish i've kept or encountered couldn't be weaned onto something else - the SA leaf fish is the only one i can think of - it wouldn't even take tiny earthworms suspended by being pierced with a piece of fine fishing line and constantly jiggled about

[Stackdeck]

Hmm interesting info , can anyone provide more info on raising 'clean' feeders? and i also feed ghost shrimp , are these free from diseases? although i hear they are nutritionally poor.

[MatsP]

I'm pretty sure any living food has the potential to carry pathogens. But fish tend to have more "fish diseases" than non-fish - this is pretty simply because not all diseases for fish also infect other creatures.

Raising your own live food would consist of getting a tank set up and breeding some easy to breed fish - Convict cichlids would be a good choice. But I would seriously consider "not feeding fish to other fish" if you can make them eat dry or frozen foods.

--
Mats

[Stackdeck]

Definately will try to wean them off live foods. But just curious about ghost shrimp feeders , do they carry any parasites transmmitable to fish? and about nutritional value as opposed to goldfish etc. thx

[MatsP]

I can't comment on the nutritional value - I would think goldfish are more nutritional than shrimp, but I can't say for sure or how much difference it is.

And yes, all water living creatures can carry pathogens harmful to fish. Whether any individual creature actually does or not is hard to say for sure - but given enough of them, you will sooner or later get something transferred...

--
Mats

[Richard B]

I don't know about where you live but do you have earthworms in a garden? These are relished by lots of cats and don't carry water born parasites.

I collect them in my road where they surface on rainy days in between cracks in the pavement or at the edge of lawns. I then put them in a sealed tub with sphagnum moss in for a coupla days to clean them out then feed. If it's not raining a couple of cans of water on the lawn (or running back and forth for 10 minutes) does the trick. If i'm desperate, i'll go and do some gardening for my dad

You can even set up a wormery - a little, crude brick square where you put kitchen vegetable rubbish which over time becomes full of worm rich compost (these tend to be the 'brandling' type of worm as opposed to the bigger, juicier lumbricus terrestris)

[Stackdeck]

Well i live in a flat , so not much greenery around , are earthworms forom the bait shop just as good?

[MatsP]

Bait shop earthworms should be fine. Just let them starve and poo as Richard suggests.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

Well i live in a flat ,

So do I!

[Stackdeck]

Well , i just got one to take some market prawn