I have 5 young (2") synodontis in a 40gal L. One guppy is gone and one has had his tail bitten off. It happened at night. My Synos are nocturnal. Little Stubby (new name) is fine and now in hospital tank. I'm now feeding catfish before going to bed. Mollies, Kitty Tetras, a Betta and Dwarf Gourami are ok so far. I'm watching them. All I can do now is move fish to another tank if there's a problem and put larger tougher and faster fish in tank with catfish. Do you agree?
Catfish Eating Guppies?
- Thread starter Sunnyvmx
- Start date
Depending on the species of Synos, 4 of them in a 40gal may be too much, let alone adding much (any?) of larger, tougher and faster fish. Also, the safety of just about all the other fish already in place is in jeopardy. And yes, it may continue to occur at night. Good luck!
This is the smaller, 3 to 4 inch species of Upside Down Catfish. I am afraid you are right. Looks like I'm going aquarium shopping.
Just due to the size of a catfish's mouth, even if they're not actively pursuing other fish as prey, they can get sucked in and eaten.
So far, so good. Everyone is accounted for and intact. I'm afraid I might be overfeeding trying to feed the synodontis nigriventris algae pellets, peas or zucchini at night so they are less inclined to eat fellow fish and grow up their tank mates so as not to be treat size. I'm faithful with water changes including gravel vacuuming hoping to prevent an ammonia spike because of the extra food. I really like these catfish although I wish they weren't nocturnal.
