Striped Raphael Catfish strange/sick behavior?

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MarisaB

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
23
Hello.

I've had a Striped Raphael Catfish for a few months now. I got him when he was like two inches long, and now it's roughly double in size.

Anyways at first, for the first few months I never saw it and figured that was a good sign.

Three weeks ago it started doing weird things. Now it's out "laying there" like it's dead in the open almost 24 hours per day. At first I was like, alright it's dead and proceeded to try and remove it. As soon as I touched it, it zoomed off. So I was like, oh o.k. and left it alone.

Sure enough minutes later it was in the same spot, resting on its side in some java moss.

This has been going on for weeks now. It's always lifeless out in the open during the day and night...but does move positions. Like last night it was in the front of the left side of the tank, while this morning it's on the upper right hand side but lays there TOTALLY lifeless.

The tank is heavily planted with plenty of hiding spots. It has no outside signs of sickness like white spots, rough spots, bloating or anything. All the other fish in the tank are healthy happy and acting normal.

Any ideas?
 
I have had a spotted raphael for about 5 years and a striped for about 4 years. They both stay underneath a piece of driftwood. I NEVER see them. I see the spotted out in the open at night maybe once every two or three months, he's about 6 inches long and as thick as my fist so he's hard to miss :) . I never see mine out in the open. My tank is a 54 gallon corner heavily planted. I do have lots of driftwood cause I have several plecos. Does it have any spots it an fit into that are completely dark?
 
Hi, no it has nothing on it that looks weird. Nothing at all. It looks exactly the same as it did when I bought it, just bigger. I've had fish with various fungus issues before, bloat problems, etc and it has none of the symptoms on the outside anyways.
 
Lol. No, sorry for the confusion. My last sentence was asking if it had any hiding places that are completely dark for it. Like is it too big for it's normal hiding places? I've had to upgrade it's home several times since mine have grown especially since both share the same piece of driftwood.
 
I have had my striped raphael for almost a year and he hides pretty much constantly in his cave.

I don't really have an answer for you, but based on the behaviour of mine I'd say there's something off.
 
I have a striped raphael catfish and while he is incredibly fat, he does stay hidden most of the time. When he does venture out in the day he is active. Does yours seem to be having rapid breathing at all? It does seem like strange behaviour but if he is eating and otherwise seems fine all I can suggest is watch him. I assume you have tested your parameters to make sure nothing is off?
 
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