Goodness, I need a lot of help tonight!

[hsherman1986]

So, I am taking care of my neighbor's fish for her while she is out of town (the same one that gave me the angel and that has the dojo's that i fell in love with).

I remembered her telling me about this catfish that she had bought that immediatly found HIS hiding place. Inside one of her skull decorations. Well, he never comes out of this thing. Ever. Not even to eat.

he is still alive in there, but as time would have it, has grown a little bit. So I got curious, never seeing this fish before, decided I would see if i picked up the ornament if he would come out. So I did so, and he tried. But he could not fit through either of the two openings. His head is now too big, hence why (i am assuming) he never comes out. He can't.

Both openings are just over an inch in diameter.

So what do I do about this? He is still getting food, obviously, as he is still alive in there, but what happens if he grows too big to fit in that skull? Is there anytihng I can do without destroying the ornament? I haven't called my neighbor yet to tell her this, as she is probably already asleep, and I just found out about this ten minutes ago.

Any advice would be great, sometimes I feel so bad for her fish. (Oh, and she also has Kuhli loaches living under her UGF that she doesn't even have running. She just left it in because she knew she had fish living under there.)

 

[Jarred Darque]

Well, it is possible he hasnt been eating recently, alot of fish can go for some time with no food as long as they where not starved before.

Is there any way to round out the openings some? open them up a bit get him out then remove the deco?

the only other option I can think of it to crack the thing in half :/

What type of catfish is it? this sounds like something my raphaels would do....

 

[hsherman1986]

i don't even know how to go about making the openings bigger since he is stuck in it. I would have to keep the thing submerged while working on it. I don't want to crack the thing in half without talking to her first.

I am not sure what kind of cat he is. His eyes are kinda glazed over (like a blind dog) he is black with yellow spots, and that is all that i could really tell from the little bit of him that I saw.

Can a fish live for over a month with no food? I mean, she probably got him from petsmart, and those fish aren't very well fed (not as well as I feed my fish, anyway)

 

[rkilling1]

is it a rare skull decoration? IMO the fish is worth way more then any decoration and i would just brake the skull in half. but i do understand the fact that it is not yours.

 

[Jarred Darque]

if he is black with yellowish spots, or a tan or whitinsh color depending, and has very hard leading edges on his fin, is armored pretty well, he may be a raphael, my large one has cloudy eyes as well, and like I said, is stubborn enough in not moving for anything he might just do that (I can remove his log from the tank and he will stay in it)

A month without food...some can, an inactive catfish may be able to easily enough.

Rounding out the openings, well the safest ways I can think of would be to use a sandpaper, like 120 grit, and just round them out to the needed diameter, or possibly if careful enough, with a razorblade, might speed it up, and finish it off with sandpaper o make it look decent again

 

[hsherman1986]

Oh yea, if it were my decoration, and my fish, the skull would already be broken, and the fish would be outta there. But it is not mine.

He did seem to be armored pretty well. I will do a search when I am done with dinner and tell you if that is what he is.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Ky'smommy]

well why dont u break it? And go out and buy her a new one and to replace the old. and inform her later.
i would rather help the fish. then pay the extra ten dollars for another one

 

[SCFatz]

But he could not fit through either of the two openings. His head is now too big, hence why (i am assuming) he never comes out. He can't.

First off,give the lady a call if you can and explain your observation...that will go a long way in your understanding of the situation.

When he gets too big to get in he will not go in....unless there is some illness causing bloating he can also get out imo.As mentioned the food isn't in the skull so he's just not getting bigger (growing) in there right?.He's in and out for food.

My guess is he does his thing at night,and you picking up his house during the day freaked him a bit and thats the reason for the behavior in the hole......trying to decide which is worse...,in a moving house,or out during the day(with extra stress because the house was moving).

Just my thoughts based on what I have read.

 

[DeFeKt]

break with pliers.
im sure she'd be more happier to have a fish alive then a decoration

 

[hsherman1986]

i would break it, but i do not know that i could find another skull like that.

i would call her, but it is now 1am, she is defintly asleep.

i will call her first thing in the morning and see what she wants me to do.

To my knowledge, he has never come out of the skull. I can understand how food would get in there, when she feeds, she leaves her powerhead on, which spreads the food to all over the tank. I was watching when I fed them, and some food does go all the way to the bottom of the tank. So I think he still may be getting food.

Thanks for the advice so far, i will keep you guys updated.

 

[Jarred Darque]

where you able to identify the species of catfish?

 

[kmgriff72]

Well, have you called her yet? Is the fish still in the skull?

 

[JustOneMore20]

And what about the kuhlis.....do they live under the UGF? That is really weird. How does she know they are still alive?

 

[hc8719]

kuhlis can amazingly slink under almost anything, i wouldnt be surprised that they live under the ogf, but shouldnt that be taken out if its not running, i can imagine the kuhlis insane stubbornness to hide overpowers their reasoning that their living in much fish waste under the ugf

 

[hsherman1986]

it is a spotted raphael. Haven't called her yet, just got up, will be calling shortly.

At the moment he is still in the skull.

And on the kuhlis, she says she still sees them from time to time, thats how she knows they are still alive. She is lazy and doesn't want to take all her fish out of the tank and take out the gravel to take that UGF out.

update: just tried to call, but no answer, so I left her a message. Now am waiting for her to call me back and let me know what she wan'ts me to do.

update again: she called back. She says he can come out, he only does at night, when the tank is completly dark. She leaves him shrimp pellets at night for him to munch on, of which he does. She has had him for seven years, and it has been the same thing. I guess I was just worried. She says its nothing to worry bout, just leave him be.

Thanks for all the help and advice guys, guess I was just paranoid.

 

[JB]

Can a fish live for over a month with no food? I mean, she probably got him from petsmart, and those fish aren't very well fed (not as well as I feed my fish, anyway)

Our Koi in an oudoor pond, don't eat from about mid October till end of march-mid april.
A good 5 almost 6 months each year.
Actually stop getting fed once the pond temperature drops below 50degrees and we don't start feeding again util the temperature is above 55.
These fish are all healthy and active, some are over 15 lbs and 10 years old.

jb