Upside Down Catfish

[bruceanthony]

I hadn't seen my upside down catfish for a few days. He's usually stuck to the side of the heater all day, but he wasn't there or anywhere I could see. I figured he had hidden and died somewhere, so I started picking up decorations trying to find him. I eventually found him inside a hollow fake rock thing. He was actually alive! But he was almost totally white. When I turned the rock upside down, he swam straight over to the heater and turned back to his normal dark brown color within seconds. Any idea what the story is on this guy? It's a 30g tank and I've only had him for a couple weeks.

 

[Fishfur]

Hard to say. He may have been pale from shock or fright, or because he was hiding, perhaps. If he faded because he was in the cave, turning dark again once he was out would be expected, I think.

Normally they are not big hiders. Watch him, see if you can see anything else not quite right. Is he eating ok ?

 

[bruceanthony]

I almost never see him eat. He doesn't seem to care when it's feeding time. He just glass surfed for the first couple days I had him. Now he just sits around, rarely moving.

 

[Fishfur]

Hmm. What are the water parameters, what other fish do you have in with it, how big is the tank. How long have you had him ?

 

[bruceanthony]

Only had him for about 2 weeks. It's a 30 gallon tank. The other fish are 6 zebra danios, 2 guppies, a dwarf gourami, a golden ram, a Dalmatian molly, a clown pleco, 2 oto cats. And I'm not sure what the parameters are right now. I haven't tested in a while, but I have super high filtration and I do a 25% water change every week. All the other fish are totally fine. Is it just cause he's still fairly new? Maybe he's still getting used to the tank? Or maybe he needs a buddy?

 

[Fishfur]

Synodontis nigriventis - is this the species you have or is it one of the several other fish sold as Upside Down catfish ?

It makes a big difference. The fish I know by this name grow enormous.. ten inches, are not social or shy. But nigriventis is a dwarf, is shy and likes it's own company. It does school. So the more hiding places the better and some buddies. It's hiding because it's afraid, and more hiding spots and buddies will make it feel better, IF it is nigriventis.

If not, it will probably get over being shy and slowly take over the tank as it grows.

Find out what species it is, then you can figure out what to do. Planetcatfish has a ton of pics helpful for ID on most any catfish.

 

[bruceanthony]

Yep, it's a synodontis nigriventis. I looked it up at liveaquaria and they said it only gets up to 4 inches. They also said it's a schooling fish, so I might try getting him a buddy tomorrow. I guess they're sensitive to nitrates too, so I'll look into that.

 

[Fishfur]

Good luck. Once he has a pal, and maybe some more hiding spots, things should improve. Two pals would be better, but one is better than none.

 

[bruceanthony]

Thanks for the help!