# black finned shark catfish question



## Jimmyjet92

so i bought this fish about 2 weeks ago and at that time he was sitting at the bottom swimming around like he is supposed to and i have been feeding him tropical fish food and bloodworms. but i never see him eat. but anyways just this morning when i woke up i noticed he was at the top of the tank sucking at the air so i assumed he is hungry so i fed him and i saw him eat a little and then he started swimming around the top parimeter of the tank just aroun and around and around. is this normal? or whats going on? and what should i be feeding him? like im thinking of getting like the Aqueon Bottom Feeder Tablets. thanks


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## chronoboy

i have a red tail and i never see it eat once in a great while ill see it eat a flake or two, for the first few weeks this made me worried but its been almost 2 months and its gotten bigger and he is healthy, he does swim weird somtimes upside down and straight up and down but mostly when he is cleaning i think that is why i never see him eat cause he is always cleaning like a pleco, so for the weird swimming i have no idea but if he is anything like a blacktail dont plan on seeing him eat much. atleast mine dont eat much in front of me.


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## AvocadoPuffDude

Strangely, to me, they seem like pretty voracious eaters when I've had them. They ate everything with wild abandon, even any other fish it could get in it's mouth.
Swimming around at the surface isn't usually a great sign, although sometimes it doesn't mean anything. I assume there is ample filtration and oxygenation via airstones or vigourous breaking up the surface from the pump...?
A wide variety of quality foods is about all you can do; bloodworms are certainly an excellent choice, maybe try dropping a bit in at night after lights are out...? Not sure if sinking algae tabs would be appealing, but try those. My plecos always come out in broad daylight for those. I feed my fish over 15 different foods, but I'm kinda weird and obsessive about that stuff.
Good luck - don't over feed, stay on top of water changes, check the chemistry weekly.


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## BettaFriend

This is somewhat off topic, but did you know that a black-fin/Colombian shark can outgrow a 55g (75g minimum), and slowly needs to be brought to brackish? It is not a common piece of information, and not alot of people have a 75g+ brackish tank.

How big is your Black-fin?


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## Jimmyjet92

okay im worrying less now because yes he is still swimming at the surface but not nearly as much. but when he was swimming at the top that morning it was like somebody running around a track it was really weird. but i didnt know that they cleaned? because hes not like a sucker fish.








this is what he looks like. so i guess i can go get a small bag of algae food or something like that. and yes i have a oversized filter (penguin 350 in a 20 gallon tank, i know its way oversized but i really want to keep my tank clean) and i have a 20 gallon bubbler


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## ronmarsh99

Jimmy I allmost have the same fish he is now around 10"s the only thing I can get him to eat is bottom feeder Tablets , the ones I get r kinda large so if you can find smaller ones just break them in half for him, trust me he will go nuts over them. and your going to need a bigger tank, I have a 90 gallon and I'm thinking about giving him away soon because he's getting to big. I only have him because he came with the tank. let us know if he likes them!!! good luck.


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## Jimmyjet92

ronmarsh99 said:


> Jimmy I allmost have the same fish he is now around 10"s the only thing I can get him to eat is bottom feeder Tablets , the ones I get r kinda large so if you can find smaller ones just break them in half for him, trust me he will go nuts over them. and your going to need a bigger tank, I have a 90 gallon and I'm thinking about giving him away soon because he's getting to big. I only have him because he came with the tank. let us know if he likes them!!! good luck.


awesome ill definatly give them a try and ill let you know, im going to be getting a bigger tank her soon, iv got a 20 and i v got a friend who is moving away and he cant take his 110 gallon so im gonna buy it from him for 50 bucks!!!! amazing deal lol


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## chronoboy

nothing wrong with oversized filter, atleast i say that to make me feel better cause i got a 40g-60g filter on my 20g tank cause i just bought a new filter for my 55g so no point in letting it sit on a shelf, just hade to set up decor to make sure to dispurse the current so its not too much for the babies in thier right now.


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## Danio king

i had a black fin once.....it died..... could also be swimming at the top because of ammonia poisoning or chlorine in the water. just throwen that out there.

good luck, ian


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## Jimmyjet92

Danio king said:


> i had a black fin once.....it died..... could also be swimming at the top because of ammonia poisoning or chlorine in the water. just throwen that out there.
> 
> good luck, ian


how do i test for ammonia and chlorine? and im sure there is a kit for it and where can i find one? but i tried the wafers and he goes crazy over them hahaha its been fun watching him eat


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## BettaFriend

Jimmyjet92 said:


> how do i test for ammonia and chlorine? and im sure there is a kit for it and where can i find one? but i tried the wafers and he goes crazy over them hahaha its been fun watching him eat


You can get an API liquid drop ammonia test kit with over 100 test for about $10 at Petsmart. I have some strips (not very accurate) that test for chlorine. If you can, try to avoid strips because they aren't reliable and they cost more alot of the time.

Also, my LFS feeds their colombians shrimp pelets, and the colombians go crazy (I mean black-fin, same shark)!


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## Jimmyjet92

BettaFriend said:


> You can get an API liquid drop ammonia test kit with over 100 test for about $10 at Petsmart. I have some strips (not very accurate) that test for chlorine. If you can, try to avoid strips because they aren't reliable and they cost more alot of the time.
> 
> Also, my LFS feeds their colombians shrimp pelets, and the colombians go crazy (I mean black-fin, same shark)!


ok ill definatly be going and getting both test kits, i asked my lfs what they feed them and they said they feed the bottom feeder wafer stuff and the shrimp pelets, and i got the wafers and he seems to like that stuff pretty good so once i get those testing stuff we will see about his swimming around the tank


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