PlanetCatfish.com

First off, I'm new, and this is my first post. I recently added 2 pictus catfish to my 30 gallon tank. All of the rest of the fish in the tank are tropical community fish (none are small enough to be eaten by the pictus, however!). Approximately 6 other fish were added at the same time as the pictus, brining the total number of fish to 12 in the tank (again, they're all small...). Since I added the pictus, neither of them will eat. It's been about 3 days, and I havn't seen either of them eat. I've added tropical flakes, sinking shrimp pellets, and freeze-dried bloodworms, and the catfish won't touch any of them. They don't even try to eat. The water is fine as far as pH levels and all that. The only think I can think of is that my tank has aproximately a 1 tsp./6 gallon ratio of aquarium salt added to it. I know scaleless fish aren't real fond of salt in the water, but a lot of what I read says that pictus catfish don't mind some salt. I even put one of the pictus in a small tank by himself for several hours and added small amounts of each kind of food (flake, pellet, and bloodworm). He hasn't tried to eat any of it. He's even hovered over them, probably on accident (stupid fish), but hasn't tried to eat a thing. WHAT COULD BE WRONG?!?! They have no signs of ick or anything on their body...no discoloration. Please help...before they die!

Fish can take a while to start eating when they are placed in new surroundings. I would do a water change to get rid of the salt, make sure there are sufficient hiding places for the catfish, and feed the fish as usual. The cats will eventually start eating.

Thanks. You think the salt is really that bad for them?

It's not all that bad, but it just adds a little more stress. Stressed fish are fasting fish.

Ok, I'll try it. Thanks for your help.