New catfish owner

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TK_85

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Jun 15, 2004
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I recently purchased a new catfish for my 30 gall aquarium. I'm not sure on the type of catfish but hes about 1.5-2'' long with spots and a whitish colored stripe behind his head.

Anyway, I'm concerned about him getting enough food while sharing the tank with two swordtails and two mickey mouse fish, considering catfish are bottom feeders.

I've been feeding my fish tetramin flakes, and I've seen him eat a few that land on the bottom of the tank, but I don't know if hes getting enough food.

I've never had a bottom feeder before and would like some suggestions on feeding methods, what type of food, etc.

Thanks.
 
I feed my catfish some shrimp pellets that sink. Just a few so that the cat will also eat any left over flake food that drops his way. That and I'm sure he is to blame for ghost shrimp that go "missing" in my tank.
 
you need to find out what kind of catfish he is first. do some searching on the web and see if you can find something close. go look for any of the corydoras species. I bet you have one of these which are the best for a community tank anyway. as snake eyez stated, you need to get some type of bottom feeder pellets. Mine like shrimp pellets and I also take spirulina or algae wafers and break them up and scatter them along the bottom for them to eat. the swords will likely try and eat these also but it will be easier for the catfish to eat as well. once you figure out exactly what it is, let us know and we can better advise. Kyle
 
I've been searching around a bit and think I've found what type of catfish he is: Corydoras Incolicana

I'm going to pick up some shrimp pellets for him soon.

Something I read mentioned that they do better in small groups; should I get a couple friends for him or will he be alright by himself?
 
If that wouldn't be overstocking your tank, yeah go get him some friends, you'll be glad you did. they are much more fun in groups.
edit- just reread you post- you have plenty of room I think.
 
Originally posted by TK_85
Something I read mentioned that they do better in small groups; should I get a couple friends for him or will he be alright by himself?
Click to expand...

Cories are so cute!

Ever seen the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks? He survived.... would he have been happier with a buddy (other than "Wilson")? Hmmmm..... :laugh:
I would say if your bio-load can handle it , then by all means get him a couple of friends!
If you can't handle the additional load, he will probably be ok. I think it is just probably BETTER to have more than one.
 
I think you'll be glad if you get more cories. I have 5 in my 55, and at night they all go sleep underneath this rock I have propped up on another rock to make a lean-to type deal. They're a lot more fun in groups. Feeding-wise, I usually drop mine a couple shrimp pellets or a piece of these sinking tabs I have... they're called tetra tank nibblers. that way they get food, but are still hungry enough to eat the leftover flakes and food that falls to the bottom.

I have some sinking spirulina discs too. Would that be good for them?
 
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I took a trip to the local pet shop to look for some shrimp pellets but they didn't have any :mad:. So I picked up some sinking tablets; they're for larger fish, so I just broke them in a few pieces small enough for him to eat and dropped them in the tank.

He started looking around for food and found a few of the pieces but didn't seem particularly interested in them and hasn't eaten any that I know of, maybe he will when they soften a bit. I'm not too worried about him not finding enough to eat because I've been making sure he gets a few flakes every day, but I'd like to find some better food for him.

I'll give it a couple days and see if the tablets work out. If not I guess I'll have to go shopping again.

EDIT - I also got some tetrafin sinking granules, it says they're for gold fish but they're really small. I dunno if he's eaten any of them or not, has anyone else ever used these?
 
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My cories like shrimp pellets, carrots, and any flake that falls to the bottom....from your first post, unless it was a really small ghost shrimp, I doubt the cory ate it....now if it was a pictus cat throw that all out the window he would eat anything that can fit into his vaccum of a mouth!!!
 
thats the exact species of cory that I have. they were sold under the common name "spotted cory" but according to the site you provided, there is no common name. Anyway, I have 4 of these in my 55gal and they are great! usually they swin together and sleep together. I guarantee if you buy a few tank mates for him you will very pleased... and so will he :)

EDIT: I actually have 3 of them and 1 of these. they look very similar, but you can see the difference. They all get along just fine tho :D
 
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