# HELP!catfish not eating, weird swimming patterns?



## greeneydswimmer

Okay... SO!! this is my fourth catfish purchase... and each one is doing the same thing as the one before... I'm about to give up on them all together... we buy the catfish, take it home... do all the proper introducing a new fish to the tank techniques and its fine for a couple hours and then it just goes crazy... it swims nonstop in fast circles... it doesn't even stop to eat... right now i currently have our second shadow fin cat purchase... before we had a four line and an albino channel cat, all of which did the same thing. 

as instructed by the pet shop they said at the store the catfish just eat regular flakes... so we thought wow thats easy... but they weren't eating. so we went back... and they told us to try sinking wafers... again same problem... not eating... and then came the attempt of worms... again, same problem. and finally... more sinking wafers... the little stinkers just aren't eating!! I really want to figure out what this weird behaviour is... i'd like to keep a catfish alive for more than a week!

anyways, water is in good condition. fish are in a 55 gallon.

stocked as follows:
1 shadow fin catfish, (very small in size, and I'm hoping he'll live long enough to grow!)
1 gold three spot gourami
1 blue three spot gourami
1 moonlight gourami
1 dwarf gourami
1 honey gourami
2 gold angelfish
1 striped angelfish
1 plecostamus

pleaaaaaaaaase if someone could give me answer id greatly appreciate it!!


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## Fishhorder

Check your PH. Several catfish have different PH requirements anywhere from 6.8-8.0. I would also check your water hardness. Did you try acclimating them with the tank light off as that most catfish prefer it dark. Do you have adaquate hiding spots for the catfish. Are any of the other fish in the tank acting crazy? If so and your PH is ok then check anything going into the tank with a cord on it. Maybe they are getting a shock. Do they keep swimming crazy when you step away from the tank? If so then you are spooking them.

As for them eating did you try frozen krill or silversides? Are you feeding them with the light on or off? If you are feeding them with the light on try it with the light off seeing that catfish prefer to hunt at night. You could try sinking shrimp pellets with a little garlic on them as sometimes garlic will provoke a fish to eat.

I'm only asking these questions because this would be the process I would go through if it were me. The more you can eliminate the closer you can get to the reason. I hope this helped.


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## bmlbytes

It would help to know all your water stats.

PH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Temp, Harndess, etc.


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