catfish

[mary proctor]

we also have channel catfish of which we bought about 1 month ago.  We lost about 40% of the 100 6-8"cats.  We still can't figure out what killed them.  Water tests all good.  Water temp was about 50-55degrees.  We noticed that their fins had some red coloring on them.  We researched and found that it could be stress of changing their invironment.  We went ahead and put Melafix in their water each day for a week.  We read that sometimes the catfish will keep this red coloring on their fins after going thru the stress periiod and will then be a carrier????We also didn't know what to expect about salt????  It is great with Tilapia but hadn't read or heard at the time we needed help that salt could help????How did your catfish do with the salt?  I know you lost one?  The channel catfish also like warmer water.  We didn't know that they like warmer water until after.....we bought them.They tend to get lethargic in colder water around 49-53 degrees and won't eat as much. We had wanted to use them in the aquaponic side during the winter months and not use a higher watt heater because of the electric usage But..... Since we put the aquarium heater 250 watts in their tank they are happy little campers, swimming around alot and eating as well.  We are learning on the catfish and would like to hear of any good ways to raise them and treat them when they appear sick????acting funny, etc.    Have a blessed christmas season Mary