PlanetCatfish.com

ok, so i've begun a catfish collection, and i'm facing my first, hopefully fixable problem...my 10" achara had these perfect, long barbels that shared his body coloring. i just noticed this morning that they are frayed and no longer firm at the last one inch. what to do, what to do? he shares a 350 gallon tank with 14 tinfoil barbs, among others, but i mention these guys because i never see him eat due to these very quick munchers...is it possible he is not getting his and is malnourished?

If the barbels are fraying, that's a sign of either deteriorating water quality or nippy tankmates.

Just keep a close watch on the barbs; they tend to nip long fins and/or barbels. I have a strong suspicion it's them.

thank you both for responding. the water is great, zero nitrites, nearly zero nitrates, i will change some water today just to be safe (as per usual)...but do you recommend any action regarding the tinfoil barbs, should i separate them from the achara while he heals, or just offer better hiding places? WILL the barbels heal? oh, the guilt...feeling like i could have done something better/sooner.

The barbels will regenerate, provided the barbs don't get at it.If you haven't already done so, providing a shelter where the catfish can stay completely hidden might help (removing the barbs is a better option).

BTW: what's an achara? And the same question for tinfoil barbs. Can you provide me with some Latin? Thanks.

This is an achara catfish. Tinfoil barbs are Barbonymus (or Barbodes) schwanenfeldii.

I would think you would be more concerned about ammonia and nitrites than you would nitrites and nitrates. I would do an ammonia test as well.

silurus,
thank you for that link, i never knew the other common name of marbled pim, much less the latin. there were other helpful tidbits in the cat-elog for me as well.
and btw, my ammonia level was ZERO (whew)

And then the same happened to my fish...even without barbs.
Added medication against worms and one way or another the medicin and the water didn't go along. Result:
3 dead Pimelodus blochii and probably 2 more to come by poisoned water. Strange: no problems at all for my other fish, except for the Apteronotus (black Ghost knifefish), which couldn't appreciate a waterchange of 500 liters in 48 hours. Let's hope they don't die all 6 as well.
And all this happened because I tried to cure a Goby (Mogurnda mogurnda)from internal worms. Sometimes.......

the one thing i noticed was it would get better over time with regular water changes. i started doing a 10% water change every day for a week. this seemed to help. also it is not your tinfoil barbs, i have 3 tinfoil barbs and 1 gold tinfoil barb(very hard to find). i have never seen them pick on other fish, except weather loaches they think they are food. i have 2 pimelodus 1 is 10" and the other is 8" these fish can be very hard on each other, the bigger one will grab the smaller one by the mouth and shake it back and forth. provide plenty of hiding places for them, i use lace rock to build caves. and get some sinking pellet food, this will ensure they get fed. tinfoils are pigs when it comes to feeding time. i drop flake food in first to distract the tinfoils and drop in pellets after.
hope this will help