[SKorean757]

Hey guys, thanks for taking your time to read my thread. This goes out to all channel owners and future owners. I have a 20 gallon aquarium, I keep the temperature at 76ºF with a Ph balance of 7.0 and 0 ammonia/nitrite. I have a double flow whisperer for bigger tanks. I have white aqua sand with a little gravel in the back left corner of my tank. I've got caves and a nice piece of driftwood they can hide in during the day but channels dont really hide, atleast mine doesn't. He's become my favorite because he's so active. I have a 4 inch Channel Catfish (The tag said Blue Channel so I dont really know but hes light silver and blueish instead of the traditional black because I've had both.) Anyways, I have two 2 and a half inch Sun Catfish, and a 3 inch Synodontis Multipunctatus. I'm aware of their adult sizes and Im upgrading here soon to a 75 gallon aquarium. I just wanted them to get socialized with eachother before they go into a bigger home. And I know the channel will get bigger and theyll outgrow that too but I got this lol. Anywho, the chemicals I use are: Prime, Stability, and Neutral Regulator. I feed them Tropical Flakes, Bloodworms, and Carnivore Sinking Wafer Pellets.

Now that, thats done. All my fish seem to be healthy, theyre all friendly and eat when fed. I dont overfeed them. My problem is about the channel, I had one before when I had aquatic turtles but he died from shock. He did the same thing though, from all your experiences handling channels, as an infant do they just flash normally? I cant seem to figure out whats wrong with him if its a parasite. Ive got the water just fine and I do weekly 30% water changes. Theres no sign of anything on him but every now and then he'll just flash and its ONLY him. I thought it might be ich, gil flukes, bad water, temperature, and even switched to a new better and bigger filter. I cant figure it out, looked up videos about baby channels and I noticed they do it too. So Im starting to conclude that its just a normal behavior for them like cichlids. If you think otherwise, please feel free to add on because I looked and couldnt find anything and I dont want future aquarists who dig catfish to be lost like me. Thanks guys, advice is well appreciated as Im still sort of new. ^.^

 

[SKorean757]

Hey guys, thanks for taking your time to read my thread. This goes out to all channel owners and future owners. I have a 20 gallon aquarium, I keep the temperature at 76ºF with a Ph balance of 7.0 and 0 ammonia/nitrite. I have a double flow whisperer for bigger tanks. I have white aqua sand with a little gravel in the back left corner of my tank. I've got caves and a nice piece of driftwood they can hide in during the day but channels dont really hide, atleast mine doesn't. He's become my favorite because he's so active. I have a 4 inch Channel Catfish (The tag said Blue Channel so I dont really know but hes light silver and blueish instead of the traditional black because I've had both.) Anyways, I have two 2 and a half inch Sun Catfish, and a 3 inch Synodontis Multipunctatus. I'm aware of their adult sizes and Im upgrading here soon to a 75 gallon aquarium. I just wanted them to get socialized with eachother before they go into a bigger home. And I know the channel will get bigger and theyll outgrow that too but I got this lol. Anywho, the chemicals I use are: Prime, Stability, and Neutral Regulator. I feed them Tropical Flakes, Bloodworms, and Carnivore Sinking Wafer Pellets.

Now that, thats done. All my fish seem to be healthy, theyre all friendly and eat when fed. I dont overfeed them. My problem is about the channel, I had one before when I had aquatic turtles but he died from shock. He did the same thing though, from all your experiences handling channels, as an infant do they just flash normally? I cant seem to figure out whats wrong with him if its a parasite. Ive got the water just fine and I do weekly 30% water changes. Theres no sign of anything on him but every now and then he'll just flash and its ONLY him. I thought it might be ich, gil flukes, bad water, temperature, and even switched to a new better and bigger filter. I cant figure it out, looked up videos about baby channels and I noticed they do it too. So Im starting to conclude that its just a normal behavior for them like cichlids. If you think otherwise, please feel free to add on because I looked and couldnt find anything and I dont want future aquarists who dig catfish to be lost like me. Thanks guys, advice is well appreciated as Im still sort of new. ^.^

Oh and Ive been very observant with my fish. I seem to notice the channel only flashes under or around the driftwood every now and then but not frequently. I noticed he does it around the other fish but then again they all hang under there. Everyones got their own space. He'll do it at daytime when hes under the driftwood and then at night he likes to swim in circles on the right side wall lol.

 

[fish monger]

Had an albino channel cat several years ago. I can't remember it flashing; however, I had a gravel bottom. They might behave differently with sand as it wouldn't be so abrasive. I bought mine on a whim when it was about 2 1/2" long. It got enormous (well over a foot) in no time in a 55 gallon tank. I was feeding it large chunks of food such as frozen salad shrimp, rinsed meat leftovers, etc. The normal fish foods didn't seem to be adequate for his size and gaping mouth. One day, I must have fed him too much. I found him in the morning dead with food coming out of his gills. He was one of my favorite fish that I've ever kept. Don't think I would ever get another one unless I had a truly huge tank.

 

[SKorean757]

Sorry it took a while to respond, just been pretty busy in the past week. I just did a 50% water change like my usual weekly routine. I also lowered my temp down to 70ºF. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but my channel hasn't flashed. Its funny, he doesnt seem so crazy anymore cause before he would not stop moving. Now i notice lately he just sits under the driftwood with the other catfish, just laying there against the sand during the day. I know thats normal but just saying he seems alot more calm. I just never notice the adults flashing, just the baby ones.

Sorry about your albino bud. I do see what you mean about growth rate. My channel has grown an inch and it has only been a month. My previous channel, i didnt have a heater and some people say its better not to have one for them. I had that one since it was 2 inches and for 6 months he grew to 6 1/2 inches before he died from shock. I had gravel then, but he still flashed, seemed to do it less as he got bigger. I think warmer water speeds up their growth rate because i had that channel around early fall through winter. Im not sure, just a hunch. So like i said before, maybe its just a normal behavior like cichlids. By the way i didnt mean to post twice, just wanted to add a few information but darn thing just posted twice lol.