why will the catfish still not eat

[Robert Wright]

Over the weekend I had some trouble with the grow bed filtering the fish tank water, I pulled out some of the plants and cleared out sediment from just below the dry top inches of the grow bed. The fish tank water is now clear but still will not eat. Incase the nitrates are too high I did a 1/3 water change. Ph 7.0, ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 160ppm. Also it looks like the bigger catfish may have bitten on of the other smaller catfish, there is a semi-round section of both sides of  the fish where it's skin looks abraded off and white.  is that normal for dominant fish to assert themselves over smaller fish? does anyone have other suggestions?

[George]

the white skin sounds familiar.  try searching catfish

[Robert Wright]

the catfish started eating again last night. Now I just have to closely monitor the nitrites and ammonia levels to see how the bacteria filter does after a few days of lower levels of fish waste.   :)

[Alex Veidel]

Also, you need to get your nitrate levels down. 160ppm is too high and can stress out your fish (which could be why they are only eating on and off again).