PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,
i am new here... i have a few questions about my pictus catfish.... i have noticed this morning that his whiskers have been bitten off. i have him in a 60L tank with 2 electric yellow cichlads and a Synodontis catfish, aswell as a bristle nose sucker.

i saw one of the yellow chilads biting him this morning.
the catfish was orginally in a 80L tank with around 5 african cichlads and was doing fine. i then got another tank and moved him in there about a month ago.... he was doing fine untill this morning. any suggestions?
i have since moved him back into the 80L tank but he doesnt look too good, he is swimming near the top and abit slanted.

help please i dont want to lose my catfish....

This subject probably belongs in "South American catfish - everything else" section - maybe one of the moderators can move it...

I guess that your "Electric Yellow Cichlads" are African Rift-lake c-ichlids. They are often more "bitey" than the ones from south america where the originate from.

If my guess on the origin of your c-ichlids is correct, then the water parameters that are ideal for the P. pictus is not even close to the ideal for your c-ichlids - the P. pictus wants soft, acidic water, whilst your c-ichlids would like fairly hard, alkaline water. Having said that, I keep P. pictus in southern english tap water, which is well hard, and alkaline - they appear perfectly happy with that.

Of course, loss of barbels could also be caused by bad water quality. Do you know what your water quality is:
nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels?
pH and temperature?

The whiskers (barbels) will grow out if the fish is otherwise healthy. I had an accident when netting one of mine and I had to cut a piece, about 40% of the length, of the hard ray of one pectoral fin - I can't tell which one it is now. Tip: Don't use a net when catching these, chase them into a jug or pipe and cover the end(s).


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Mats