Honeycomb Catfish Not Eating!

[Hulka9]

I got a honeycomb catfish two weeks ago and he still refuses to eat! I've tried freeze dried blood worms, pellets, live blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and he wont touch any of them! He's starting to get very skinny and I'm worried he's going to starve himself to death. I literally put a live worm in front of his face and he still didnt eat it. He just sits in his driftwood and won't even come out at night like i've read they do. Help!

 

[J1Time]

What else is in the tank with him?

 

[Hulka9]

Just a few zebra danios

 

[Hulka9]

Anyone have any ideas? I don't think he has much time left hes so skinny!

 

[sallyjano]

Veggies?? I am a newbie so not sure if all fish like them but I see others talking about feeding vegetables.

 

[Luananeko]

sallyjano - Honeycomb catfish won't touch veggies, they're insect eaters.

Hulka9 - He even turned down the live blackworms that I suggested in your earlier thread? Do you still have blackworms living in your substrate from the previous feeding? If so, he may be coming out when you're asleep to hunt. If he's turning those down too... Maybe try live brine shrimp? About the only thing you can do is keep trying different live foods and hope he goes for it. If you can't get him to eat live food you definitely won't have any luck with frozen, flake, or freeze dried.

The only other thing I can think of trying is to move him to a quarantine tank. The activity from the danios may be making him too nervous to eat. Having him in his own quiet, dark tank with live floods available should help him feel calmer and more willing to eat. Once he's eating live you can start to wean him over to the same food your danios eat. It could take a month or so to train him onto commercial foods, but once he's eating them you should be safe to move him back with the danios. Mine lives with a bunch of danios and eats just fine, so they should be compatible...

 

[Hulka9]

Okay ill try to find some blackworms and let you know!

 

[Hulka9]

He wouldnt touch the blackworms either. He's hovering at the surface now and i literally put one in his mouth and he wouldnt take it.

 

[Luananeko]

He wouldnt touch the blackworms either. He's hovering at the surface now and i literally put one in his mouth and he wouldnt take it.

Dang... Quarantine tank is the only other thing I can recommend Keep it as dark and quiet as possible with lots of cover and good water flow. Hopefully that will help him feel comfortable enough to start eating!

 

[severum mama]

This is an incredibly shy species, just from my limited observations, and iirc they prefer to be kept in groups. I just don't think there is any way that you're going to get it to eat when it's being kept singly, and with zebra danios, although I've not personally kept this species yet so I'm far from an expert on them, lol.

 

[Luananeko]

This is an incredibly shy species, just from my limited observations, and iirc they prefer to be kept in groups. I just don't think there is any way that you're going to get it to eat when it's being kept singly, and with zebra danios, although I've not personally kept this species yet so I'm far from an expert on them, lol.

Groups, huh? I'll have to try that with mine. I always read that they can be kept singly or in groups, so I started with two... Then I lost one when I had an ich outbreak from not QTing some gourami and have had just the one ever since. I haven't noticed any change in behavior from before and after I lost my current one's buddy. Maybe a larger group would do better though.

As far as being paired with danios go, I don't think that's the only reason the OPs one isn't eating, as mine still comes out on occasion despite his danio tankmates and happily eats anything I that drifts into his log... I'm wondering if the shipper ever weaned the OPs catfish over to prepared foods before selling it...

 

[Hulka9]

Groups, huh? I'll have to try that with mine. I always read that they can be kept singly or in groups, so I started with two... Then I lost one when I had an ich outbreak from not QTing some gourami and have had just the one ever since. I haven't noticed any change in behavior from before and after I lost my current one's buddy. Maybe a larger group would do better though.

As far as being paired with danios go, I don't think that's the only reason the OPs one isn't eating, as mine still comes out on occasion despite his danio tankmates and happily eats anything I that drifts into his log... I'm wondering if the shipper ever weaned the OPs catfish over to prepared foods before selling it...

Yeah a group probably would help... When I received the fish he came with a sample bag of food pellets. Im assuming thats what they were feeding him. He won't touch those either.

 

[Hulka9]

I feel like I should just put him out of his misery almost. I dont want him to have to starve to death

 

[Luananeko]

I feel like I should just put him out of his misery almost. I dont want him to have to starve to death

Don't give up Are you able to try the quarantine like I mentioned earlier? If not, he still may change his mind when he gets hungry enough. Just keep offering live foods (especially ones that can stay alive for a while like blackworms so he can hunt late at night) for the best chance.

 

[Hulka9]

I finally saw him eat 3 blackworms! He's still very skinny and is losing a lot of color, but its a step in the right direction.

 

[Luananeko]

Yaaaay! I was hoping he'd settle and eat once he got hungry enough! Congrats and thanks for the update!