upside down catfish

[online2]

My wife wants to add some upside down catfish to her 30gal, which has 6 zebra danios & 3 green cory cats. How would the upside down catfish fair with the zebra danios? Are the upside down catfish much trouble to keep? Do they only feed from the surface? I know they need lot of caves. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Online2

 

[OrionGirl]

UDC actually don't feed from the surface at all. They cruise the bottom of the tank, flipping over to feed. They do need some god hiding places, but it doesn't have to be caves. Mine are very happy hiding out under the leaves of my crypts and anubias.

Get at least 3. They are social critters, and will be more social if they have some friends. Mine are in a community tank with gourmaies, a rainbow shark, neons, tetras, cories, plecos, ect. They don't cause problems with anyone, and are pretty much ignored by all the fish. Don't expect to see them a whole lot--they are mostly nocturnal. You may need to feed some sinking foods after lights out to make sure they get their share. I enjoy mine a lot--they have such pretty spots, and cute bulgy tummies.

 

[RTR]

In the wild they are surface feeders (prefering insects), and will maintain this in captivity if there are no surface feeders in their tanks. But they are perfectly willing to go to bottom feeding in captivity if they have to compete against surface feeders.

 

[OrionGirl]

Didn't know that--hmmm.. These kids were in a tank by themselves for a long time, and I never saw them come to the surface (low light tank, even). Maybe something they learn, as well?

 

[Faramir]

Were they true upside-down cats? I've picked up non UDC Synos mislabelled at the shop before now.

 

[RTR]

A number of the Synodontis and relatives are surface feeders. There are at least 3 species called USD cats plus the giant inverting. Feed at twilight with FD or live insects and they hold the behavior. Feed food that waterlogs and sinks relatively quickly, they learn equally quickly where to find the food. It is an interesting family to me, I have 9 tanks of them..

 

[OrionGirl]

Makes more sense. I have tons of floating plants, so tend to feed sinking foods more to avoid food going unnoticed. I'm going to be splitting the tank up soon, so these kids might move to a home where they can display surface feeding.

Nice to knowmore about them!

As to being true or false, I can't say. Mine have a wider color variation than most pics I've seen, and are about 3 inches long, Whisker, tail and ray count match the specs from PlanetCatfish. I don't know much more than that.

 

[online2]

Thanks everyone for the great info . I guess this friday I'll be off to the LFS to get some UDC, since that when my quantine tank will be free.

Online2

 

[DodgeIntrepidV6]

Be sure to leave some food such as bottom feeder tablet or shrimp pellets at bottom near night. My guy hides in his cave during normal feeding time, and only comes out at night. Other then that he gets along fine with everyone esle. Great choice.