Friend or food......Gulp meets the lace cat.

[Gulp]

As I posted in the "mail order fish thread", I went ahead and bought a lace cat to live with Gulp. I am now having 2nd thoughts..... The people at the LFS told me there should be no problem between a 9" oscar and a 5" cat......but Gulp is acting like he wants to eat him. He has popped the bag a few times, but is now just swimming around trying to act tough (showing the side profile to the poor cat). I can't decide whether or not to release him, and give gulp a $32.99 snack.

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment.....

Gulp marking his territory:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0007.JPG

Again:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0009.JPG

My wife trying to convince Gulp not to eat our new house guest........(she is actually talking to him......):
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0010.JPG

Updates to follow.

[LMOUTHBASS]

can you post more pics of your tank n gulp! i wanna see more!
does the cat have a cave he can hide in?
i woul think he's be ok size wise but gulp lives by himself right?
in that huge tank so it's his turf - he is prob saying "hey this is my neighborhood" how long has he been alone?

[Gulp]

Originally posted by LMOUTHBASS
can you post more pics of your tank n gulp! i wanna see more!
does the cat have a cave he can hide in?
i woul think he's be ok size wise but gulp lives by himself right?
in that huge tank so it's his turf - he is prob saying "hey this is my neighborhood" how long has he been alone?

Unfortunately, he's been alone for almost a year....... He was a little bigger than a half dollar when we first got him and his buddy didn't live for some reason we never determined. He’s been alone since…(but only in the 110 for a about 3 weeks now). We've also made the "mistake" of giving him live food about once a month or so.

There are two caves at this point that the cat can run too, but I am just afraid he would get nailed at night when he comes out. Gulp isn't acting as aggressive anymore, but I also fear the movement of the cat during it's release will trigger the eating instinct. I am running out of time to decide though as the lace has been acclimating for about 30 minutes now. Decisions, decisions....

[Gulp]

Here are a couple of more pics from the side. You can see the caves, but I almost think I need to make them a little smaller to keep Gulp out. (Yes.....we will be taking down the X-mas tree tonight. :D)



http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0012.jpg

http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0013.jpg

Other pics from the past: http://webpages.charter.net/dustlee/Aquarium/Tank%20pics/

[LMOUTHBASS]

i like the cat's chances with the caves etc - i realy do think gulp is just strutting his stuff - i can't imagine him eating a 5 inch cat but i don't know gulp personally so,,, it's sort of a tough call
cat's are usually pretty fast i think it coul out run gulp - plus think of it this way i know it's thirty something bucks but at least you will have an idea if anything can live with gulp - i think it'll be ok!

[PumaWard]

Take the cat out of the bag using your hands a place him in the tank with your hands if your afraid of the bag triggering a response.

You could also try distracting him with food while you release the cat.

[Gulp]

The release was made while we distracted Gulp. Didn't take him long to realize he had a new tank mate, but we kept him at bay with a net while the lace got used to the new water. Both are very active.....but Gulp has popped him a few times, especially when the cat gets stuck behind a filter hose. Hopefully, the cat will keep using that sword of a fin he has and teach Gulp to leave him alone.

Here is a pic of the showdown:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0023.JPG

One more of Gulp sprinting after his new "friend":
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0016.JPG

A lot of other pics of the encounter can be found here (pics 14 thru 23): http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/

The tension in the room can be cut with a knife. My wife keeps yelling at Gulp every time he bites the cat. Hopefully Gulp will get bored with him soon so my ears will stop ringing. :p

[LMOUTHBASS]

pretty big - seeing how gulp has bit him a few times he prob doesnt want to eat him - if he did he woul prob go al out full aggression - bet this is just his way of checking this new never before seen fish out - i mean if you woke up n found a 3 foot kid running around your house you'd be curious! lol maybe a bad analogy but anyhow i think your ok with this one keep us posted!

[Gulp]

My neighbors and a few other people online are taking bets as to whether or not the fish lives the night...... I am beginning to think this was an error in judgement. It would be my luck Gulp eats him tonight and dies himself when the cat gets stuck in his throat. :confused:

[cubano]

I think the lace cat will be fine, but only time will tell.

Now onto more important matters, does your wife have a sister? lol :D

[joe schmoe]

Originally posted by PumaWard
Take the cat out of the bag using your hands
That's a baaaaaaaaad idea. Synos have some mean serrated spines and I bet it's smart enough to use them on both you and the Oscar. No way in hell would I touch one with my bare hands.

Synos can take a horrendous beating and keep on ticking. I had 15 species at one time...if only they didn't get so big. I had one have his fins chewed mostly off by his Syno takemates. He hung on...wiggling around to get food...and eventually (after a pretty long time) grew the fins back. The particular species you have grew to about 6" nose to tail in my tank...and had a really impressive dorsal fin before one of the others bit that one mostly off too. And I bet the catfish will do better at night than the oscar...just check out the eyeshine in those pics.

BTW, 2 or 3 would have been better off...I still don't think he'll eat it. He may beat up on it for a while. The instant the catfish feels threatened it'll fully open it's spines (before it's in the Oscar's mouth) and there's no way it will fit like that.

[travelinman1969]

I agree, that he will not try to eat him, and also agree I might have tried a pair instead. Maybe a big pleco to not excite him so bad. I had a tiger that looked almost exact to him and he was so agressive I had to get rid of him. He was my first but do you get rid of 1 or 4, I made my choice. I would try to get a big pleco (If that's in your plans). That'll set him back a bit. Give him plenty of food, ;) that'll settle him down some. Throw some chicken in and he'll slow down quite a bit. Full bellies do a lot with Oscars. :D Espesially with new roomates. Good Luck!!

[Gulp]

I thought about getting a second lace....but I had conflicting reports as to how big they got. The 3 they had in the store were also chasing and biting each other the whole time we were there. I also saw this web site before I made the purchase.....made me kind of paranoid: http://aquadex.info/fish/Synodontis_nigrita.cfm



The Lace Catfish is a peaceful freshwater fish that is suitable for the community aquarium (assuming that tankmates are similar in size). In the wild these fish are solitary and keeping several nigrita together can be unpredictable and may lead to injury, or possibly death.

The lace has found one of the caves and is doing fine. :D I put a piece of driftwood I had been conditioning for a while in front of the entrance as Gulp was able to stick his head in and harass him. The driftwood made the perfect "door". :D I have one more larger piece of wood I will be adding if I can EVER get it to sink.......

Here he is peaking out of his favorite spot:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/PICT0027a.jpg

[joe schmoe]

oh...and one last thing...they croak. :D