New tiger Shovelnose

[FishBoy185]

Well I got around to finally getting my own customized 250 gallon tank that will be ready for me in the next couple days. I definitely wanted a tiger shovel nose catfish so I bought one thats about and inch long. I put him in a 20 gallon long as a grow out tank untill once he gets about 4 or 5 inches long. Well now I got him yesterday night and I havent seen him eat yet. I'm feeding Algae wafers and Hikari sinking carnivore pellets. He still hasn't eaten should I be worried? Hes been hiding in a cave since this morning. Any help will be appreciated! :') ill post pics of him when he comes out!

 

[ashafer]

Your fine add in some shrimp or live food a 20 gallon is a little small for him though but a 200 gallon will be ok for a while

 

[FishBoy185]

Hes in the 20 gallon long temporarily untill my 250 gallon comes In within the next couple of days. Or untill he gets big enough to put in that big tank. Can he really eat shrimp and live foods? Hes only 1 inch long. And by shrimp do you mean shrimp from the super market? Or can I get freeze dried shrimp and krill from the LFS?

 

[FishBoy185]

A pic of the little guy.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Not real sure where this fella hails from, but I'm pretty sure this catfish is not a cichlid, so moved thread to the appropriate forum .

 

[bettaowner]

He can eat live feeder shrimp or brine shrimp. They are native to south America. Do you know the scientific name?

 

[FishBoy185]

Its scientific name is Pseudoplatystoma. And thank you for moving the thread Renegade I wasn't quite sure where to put it. Can I feed him raw shrimp from the fish market? Or strictly live shrimp only? And can I just put the frozen block of brine shrimp in the tank or do I thaw it in a cup of water and put the cup of water in the tank?

 

[Zactheninja]

If he still hasn't eaten try blood worms, I had to teach my Lima shovelnose to eat flake and while doing that I supplemented blood worms and he would come out to hunt for food immediately.

 

[FishBoy185]

Do I just stick the frozen block of bloodworms in the tank?

 

[Zactheninja]

You can, you would wanna crush it a bit with your fingers to loosen them up though.

 

[FishBoy185]

Okay since he's only an inch long how will he be able to eat feeder shrimp? He seems to small to eat a feeder shrimp or feeder guppy to me. Does he really have that big of a mouth? And what about freeze dried foods?

 

[bettaowner]

Mysis shrimp might work too. Keep in mind that this species can grow to be very large so once it starts to grow, feeding shouldn't be a problem.

 

[stingrays4]

Hi I would try river shrimp which you can get from your local fish shop,also earthworms would be good, I had to to attach a piece of cotton to some dead food then wriggle it about to make it look like live food so the tiger would then eat it! That is a small tiger so will be tricky to get feeding. Good luck