Unusually fat striped raphael catfish

[Bichir Bro]

Ok, so I've had my striped raphael cat for about two years now and he's been doing great except for lately. He has always been fat and happy and I've never thought much of it, but lately he's gotten extremly fat, like not fat I'm talkin FAT. Like obese like he can't fit in his favorite cave anymore, he has to borrow now and I can tell he doesn't like it as much. I've been feeding him the exact same amount of food everyday since I first got him. He's never been this fat in his life and I'm concerned about it. Will he die? Do I need to exercise him? And If so how do I exercis a catfish. Thank you guys
And I feed him new life spectrum pellets, frozen shrimp every now and then (all my fish eat that) I've seen him pick off some ghost shrimp and feeder fish(also for other fish in my tank) I've been doing this for years and he's never been this fat

 

[Bichir Bro]

Also before you guys jump on me, his favorite cave is really small and looks extremely cramped but he spends most of his time sleeping in it during the day. Plus this cave was from when I first picked him up at the LFS when he was only about an inch. Now he's about five or six and he's always loved it in there.

 

[Oohitsae]

Is this a recent development or has he been getting larger over time?
Could it be that he's constipated or bloated?

Try fasting for a few days and see if that helps. You can also try a little bit of Epsom salt like 1tbs per 5 gallons. It's okay to use short term just don't extend the use past a week or two.

 

[Bichir Bro]

It is a very recent development, a few nights ago he was fine then last night I saw him he was extremly fat. I don't feed him foods that should constipat him or bloat him. Whenever there's live or frozen food involved I very rarely have those in the tank so i don't see why that would affect him

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, I can't say what caused it, but if it happened in only a matter of days then bloat/constipation is likely the cause. Epsoms, fasting, and deshelled blanched peas can all help as treatment.

Have you added anything new to the tank recently? Sometimes parasites can cause it

 

[Bichir Bro]

Yes a school of 10 tiger barbs and 7 cardinal tetras. 3 of the tetras died so I'm down to 4.

 

[thursyanna]

Do you have a picture of him? I have a striped Rafael catfish who's fat but from your description, yours is fatter!

 

[Bichir Bro]

He's better now. I guess he was just bloated, but it's never happened before. He's fine now just goin about his catfish business. And he's back in his cave haha