Ghost Catfish

[freshwaterfishlover]

I bought 5 Ghost Catfish last Saturday. I have tried to feed them Flakes,Frozen Brine Shrimp and Alge Tablets. I have not tried Grains that I have. They will not eat anything.

[bscman]

Could be simply due to stress from being in a new place...I've had fish refuse to eat for a week or so (betta).

More than likely, you just got fish that have been raised on live food.
Glass/Ghost catfish don't always take kindly to dry/flake foods...so you may be stuck feeding live foods (daphnia, bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc)

The thing is, it all depends on how they were raised. They can be some of the easiest fish to feed, or some of the biggest PITA fish to feed--just depends on what they were raised on.

99% of the time, however, they'll go nuts over live foods.

It might help to introduce the flakes, or similar, with some current...some fish will "sense" the food moving in the current and their instincts will tell them to gobble it up. No promises though! lol

[bscman]

I'd also like to add, after seeing your signature, take a closer look at your tank stocking...

For instance, 4 pleco's in the 38g. tank is a disaster waiting to happen. You know those things get HUGE right?

[freshwaterfishlover]

There are 5 Ghost Shrimp in the tank and they have not ate them. I will try grain next time I feed them. If that does not work I will feed Live food.

[freshwaterfishlover]

Read again. It says 3-4" max sized Pleco. Like Bristel Nose, Hairy Tiger, Gold Strip. All get to a max size of 4"-41/2".

[YaYgoldFish]

Their are either impossibly difficult to feed or they are among the best feeders, depending on the source. What is universally known is that these fish will gladly take a diet consisting solely of live foods. They love bloodworms, Tubifex, and mosquito larvae. They also feed well on brine shrimp. They reluctantly take commercially-prepared flakes and pellets, but may accept these more readily if the foods are delivered via current.

Got that from a site.

[gm72]

They have only been in your tank for less than a week. I think they are just getting used to your surroundings. I assume you have plenty of hiding places for them so as to avoid over-stressing them?

[bscman]

Read again. It says 3-4" max sized Pleco. Like Bristel Nose, Hairy Tiger, Gold Strip. All get to a max size of 4"-41/2".

LoL, sorry...
Was in a hurry and got a little jumbled up with those numbers.

Keep us posted with what you get them to eat. My fiancee has been wanting some of these for a while now...

[Incredulous_Ed]

If they get hongry enough, they will eat the food. That is what happened with mine.

[freshwaterfishlover]

I think I found out/ figued out why my Ghost Catfish are not eating.
I also think I may have killed two of my Ghost Catfish.


First: If you own Ghost Catfish you know they do this kind of shake 24 hours a day. Two of my Ghost Catfish or no longer doing this kind of shake anymore and lay at the bottom.

1: First thing I did wrong. I wanted to be cheap and did not buy a Filter. (going out tomorrow and buying a filter.) Since all my filters are Hangover Filters, I am going to try something new and buy a canister Filter.

2: The same day I bought the fish I bought a thermamoter. Since this Thermamoter did not tell you the safe zone. I thought the safe zone was Between 80-90F. Not till two days later did I realize the safe Zone was 70-80F. The temp in the tank was Between 85-90F for two days.

3: I was stupid and only tested the Nitrite in the tank and did not test Nitrate, PH or Ammonia. Yesturday I thought to test the Ammonia and it was at 0.50. After 3 water changes I have got the Amonia down to 0.25.

Now I am not going to be lazy and test all the tanks all the time for at least Ammonia and Nitrite. And should even test regularly for PH and Nitrate.