Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 13 of 13

Thread: fish won't eat

  1. #11
    Members
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    2

    Re: fish won't eat

    thank you to everyone who has posted some help. i tested the water with some test strips by Jungle Labs. it reads:
    nitrate: 0-20 ppm
    nitrite: 1.0-3.0 ppm
    hardness: 75-150 ppm
    total alkalinity: 180 ppm
    pH: 7.2

    the tank is in a fairly climate controlled classroom so i don't think temperature change would be the culprit.
    they're behavior is pretty stressed. some are suspending toward the top, some are awkwardly & slowly swimming. when they were healthy, they were laying at the bottom.
    the filter is made by tetra and was built for koi ponds. it is rated for up to 1000 gallons i believe.
    they are channell cats.
    i plan to replace about 100 gallons of water today. it won't be declorinated, but i have some bait-saver additive that has worked when i had to add water do to evaporation.

  2. #12
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Fairport Harbor, Ohio
    Posts
    1,073

    Re: fish won't eat

    nitrites are bad.. usually folks "salt" their tanks to help the fish deal with it..
    does your water have chlorine/chloramines? if not, a water change of 50% would reduce nitrates,
    i'd try salting to 2ppt to help the fish deal with possible "brown blood disease"

  3. #13
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Zone 9b
    Posts
    2,294

    Re: fish won't eat

    I agree. Having a 3 ppm Nitrite concentration, and assuming it could be higher with that kind of cheap test... coupled with the fact catfish seem to be fairly sensitive to nitrite compared to other cultured species... well, I would definitely pin that as the cause. Try the water change keith suggested.

    Full article free (but old): http://ciresweb.colorado.edu/limnology/ ... Pub079.pdf

    and...

    The 96-h median lethal concentrations of nitrite to channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), tilapia (Tilapia aurea), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) under similar water quality conditions were 7.1?±?1.9, 16.2?±?2.3, and 140.2?±?8.1?mg NO2-N/L (mean ± SE), respectively
    In layman's terms, that's saying they die in FOUR days at 7 ppm nitrite.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •