Upside-down cats

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nadsmaks

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Mar 7, 2004
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I am thinking of getting some upside-down cats and was wondering if anyone out there has experience with them.

How big do they get (Is 3 too many for a 3ft standard tank)?
Will they eat smaller fish like neon tetra?
What do you feed them?
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Mine are about 3-4 inches--but there are several different species labelled upside down cats, and some get much larger than 3 inches. Make sure you are getting the S. nigrivitis.

Depending on what else is in the tank, three should be okay. They are not super active, and won't thrive in a tank with lots of busy surface and midwater fish. I feed mine Bio-Blend herbivore formula and they eat the frozen community food and brine shrimp readily.
 

baxter

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Mar 25, 2003
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I've got two upside downs in a 29 with a few other fish, mostly other bottom dwellers. The UDCs spend most of the day hanging out under a rock formation, but when you turn off the lights at night, they come out to play. Sometimes I turn on a flashlight and watch them.

Anyway, one of them is about 4 inches and the other is about 2 inches and neither of them bother anything. I'd say go for it, but don't expect to see much action out of them during the day.

I feed mine shrimp pellets from OSI and they seem to take those pretty readily.
 

RHJ

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Jan 7, 2004
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I have two (3-4") and they never bother the other fish. They spend most of the day hiding,but they come out at night and at feeding time. They are very eager to eat anything I feed them, especially live foods like brine shrimp and blackworms.
 
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