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Advice on looking after catfish

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I have agreed to look after my neighbours cat whilst they are away for 2 weeks, letting her in and out and feeding her.

Tonight was my first visit to the house and I noticed they had a fish tank. I initially thought it was empty as it didn't look very clean. Then I noticed a dead fish floating on the top. Looking closer I also saw two live catfish on the bottom of the tank.

I was not told about the fish, I know nothing about them, I am actually quite scared of fish.

Is it possible that the dead fish is a food source for the catfish? I found a tub of catfish food and it said to feed them 2 to 3 times a day so I sprinkled a bit in and they didn't even acknowledge it.

What should I do about cleaning the tank?

I can't get in touch with them as they haven't left me a contact number, which already had me worried because the cat I am looking after is really old...

Edited by redstar1987

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I wouldn't attempt to clean the tank if you aren't sure what you're doing. Any clean water you add will need to be treated with the correct amount of dechlorinator. When you say catfish, do you mean some kind of plec?

 

The dead fish needs removing asap. If they are plecs, try and find some algae wafers to feed them. And they'd also appreciate a chunk of courgette or pepper. Weigh it down by sticking a 2p in the middle of it so it sinks to the bottom otherwise it'll float and they won't eat it as they are bottom feeders.

 

Hope this helps.

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Are you sure they are coming bk because if it was me i would have left a number so you could get in touch if anything goes wrong

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I'm not sure what you mean by plec. I really do not know anything about fish...

Yeah I won't attempt to clean it, too afraid I would mess it up too much.

I couldn't see the dead fish when I went back to remove it... There was also three catfish that I noticed this time. They seemed a bit more lively as well.

I'm wondering if maybe they have asked someone else to come and look after the fish, although it doesn't make much sense to have 2 people coming and going, but that's the only reason I can think of for them not to even mention them to me...

I really can't believe they haven't left me anyway to contact them.

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A plec is a type of catfish. They're algae eaters so if the tank has a lot of algae, they'll be eating that. They tend to be nocturnal and don't move around that much during the day. You said they didn't seem interested in the food you threw in for them the other day but that's because they only feed from the bottom of the tank, they won't go to the surface to eat. So they will have eaten the food you put in when it sank to the bottom. There's not really much you can do apart from keep feeding them.

 

Does seem a bit strange that they've left no contact details though.

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Oh right. That's a bit of a relief, I was a bit concerned about their lack of activity.

The dead fish re-appeared so I ran around to a neighbour who has now removed it so that is one concern gone.

I'll just keep feeding them as per the instructions on the tub of food and keep an eye on them.

Yeah it is a bit odd but I think it must have just slipped their mind. Hopefully now things should settle down.

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why not put a note on the tank with your name and contact number on. Then if someone is feeding them they will contact you and then that way the fish will not be over fed?

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why not put a note on the tank with your name and contact number on. Then if someone is feeding them they will contact you and then that way the fish will not be over fed?

 

That's a really good idea. I'll definitely do that.

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