What Food To Use For Catfish

[Beemeeup]

I feed an established tropical tank (175 Litres) with flake, daphne and small tabs for catfish. Also cucumber.
The small tabs for the catfish seem to make the water very cloudy as they dissolve. i put 5 or 6 in once a day.

The water is misty white and does not seem to go away at any time.

Is there an alternative to these tabs or pellets that will not cause cloudiness?

Will catfish scavenge for the flakes that drift to the bottom - and that will give them sufficient food?

I change the filter once a month, clean the substrate once a week and change water 75% once a week.

Only have 4 platies, 3 clown loach, 4 corydoras, 2 pakistani loach, 3 shrimps, 1 Gourami, 3 Dwarf rainbow.

Any help please?

 

[Faythee]

What kind of catfish ? I feed my Pictus sinking shrimp pellets, algae wafers, and tablets (do not remember the name but made by Tetra, small yellow canister). They do scavenge off the bottom mostly at night when all lights are off as they are nocturnal.

 

[Colin_T]

you are putting too many tablets in for the number of fish. You would be better off putting one or two tablets in twice a day depending on if the first ones were completely eaten.
Wardleys does a sinking wafer for catfish that generally doesn't cloud the water but if you put too much of any food in a tank it will always go cloudy.
The catfish and loaches will pick up any flake or pellets that sink to the bottom.
You can try frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp and marine mix. They are meat foods so only feed as much as the fish eat. Any excess food should be removed as soon as the fish have stopped eating.

 

[celaeno]

also, i think your tank is too small for adult clown loaches. and 25% weekly water changes are sufficient.

 

[Davo86]

also, i think your tank is too small for adult clown loaches. and 25% weekly water changes are sufficient.

i agree

if you are feeding cucumber once per week then i would personally only be feeding 2 wafers every other day for the other 6 days of the week.

 

[jollysue]

It is unlikely that beemeeup has adult clown loaches.

45 gals is probably ok, although it would help to know the size of the clowns as they can get to 12". If they are about 3" or under they are ok, if they are 5" look to rehome or upgrade 1 tab for 4 Corys a day is probably plenty. Another for juvie clowns. So 2 tabs at night befor lights out is most likely sufficient. They will also finish off any other leftovers and keep the tank clean of food waste. Although I can't imagine that they are much interested in cucumber. Throw the clowns some snails and the Corys some worms. I suppose the pakastani and shrimp nibble on the tabs too. But I agree that 4 a day is probably too much, on top of the flake that no doubt reaches them. Any left over tabs that are not eaten should be taken out. You might try a different tab that doesn't disolve so fast too. I have found that there is a difference in that among tabs. I don't like them to dissolve so fast and dirty up the works.

Also make sure that you are changing the filter often enough. It isn't about how often, it is about how dirty. If it is getting dirty too fast, that is another indication of possible overfeeding as are an over abumdance of snails and so the need for loaches.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

I think you might be over feeding as well.

For my 125L I have 6 corys, 6 khulis, 1 CAE & 1 BN plec (and those are just the bottom dwellers) and I only feed them 2 tabs a day in the evening. e.g one feed of one tab either end of the tank. The rest of the time, they clean the tank. They keep the tank free of algae and eat the leftovers (if any) from feeding my main fish.

*EDIT* Depending on the size of the tablets. I would only feed them the minimum as said 2 should be enough

 

[Beemeeup]

Thanks everyone for comments.

My Clown Loaches are only 7cm long and i shall give them back to the fish store when they are a little bigger.

it seems i am overfeeding and i shall change to frozen lavae and search out other types of food suitable for catfish.

 

[jollysue]

I don't know if you get it there, but I like almost everything that Hikari makes and so do the fish. Hikari Sinking Wafers for Biottom fish. Lacking Hikari, I like Tetramin Tropical Tablets. Corys love live black worms if you can get them. And they don't dirty the tank. Everybody loves live blackworms.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Beemeeup

You have a real problem there. If it's just cloudy due to overfeeding, it can easily be remedied by cutting way back on the food, but it might be something else too. Harmful bacteria feed on excess food, so monitor this carefully.

I change the filter once a month, clean the substrate once a week and change water 75% once a week.

Have you done any tests on the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates in the water? If so, what are they? If you change the filter monthly you might be getting rid of most of the beneficial bacteria you are cultivating. That's the most basic thing you will want to check out.

 

[jollysue]

Yes, as Inchy said, and 75% seems a bit much too.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

75% water change is way too much to do once a week, id be checking levels if i were u!!