CJonline
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have had an odd experience with my upside down catfish and I hope that someone can give some advice.
For over a year I have had 20 neon tetras, 3 green cory cats, 1 skunk cory cat, 2 upside down catfish, & 3 Siamese algae eaters living in a medium density planted 60 gal tank. I do weekly water changes on Sundays, and test every other week before the water change. Ammonia & Nitrites are always 0, Nitrates are always between 5 and 10, PH is at 7.0 and the temp stays steady at 78.
Last Friday, I turn on the lights in the morning, everything seems fine. Like every other day, about an hour after lights on I put the food in the tank. All the fish are eating when the smaller upside down catfish chased the other upside down catfish around the tank a couple of times and then right into the glass. The chaser swam away and went back to eating and the runner went into his cave. I was getting the bucket ready to pull the runner out to check him when the chaser left the food he was eating, swam into the cave and before I could get the net into the water the runner was dead and the chaser went off to eat again. I have had these 2 catfish for years now and they have always been in the same tank; I got them at the same time from the same tank at the store.
Feeding time was the most they were out, you could see them more in the evenings than anytime, but usually if the lights were on they were hiding. I believe that is ‘normal’ for upside down catfish and never really thought about it. However, now the one that I still have is out all the time. He swims all over the place, up and down the plants, with the other cory cats, through the bubbles, in and out of the caves, etc. He eats like a piglet and has become the most active fish in the tank.
Has anyone ever had this kind of an issue? Any ideas on what is going on?
For over a year I have had 20 neon tetras, 3 green cory cats, 1 skunk cory cat, 2 upside down catfish, & 3 Siamese algae eaters living in a medium density planted 60 gal tank. I do weekly water changes on Sundays, and test every other week before the water change. Ammonia & Nitrites are always 0, Nitrates are always between 5 and 10, PH is at 7.0 and the temp stays steady at 78.
Last Friday, I turn on the lights in the morning, everything seems fine. Like every other day, about an hour after lights on I put the food in the tank. All the fish are eating when the smaller upside down catfish chased the other upside down catfish around the tank a couple of times and then right into the glass. The chaser swam away and went back to eating and the runner went into his cave. I was getting the bucket ready to pull the runner out to check him when the chaser left the food he was eating, swam into the cave and before I could get the net into the water the runner was dead and the chaser went off to eat again. I have had these 2 catfish for years now and they have always been in the same tank; I got them at the same time from the same tank at the store.
Feeding time was the most they were out, you could see them more in the evenings than anytime, but usually if the lights were on they were hiding. I believe that is ‘normal’ for upside down catfish and never really thought about it. However, now the one that I still have is out all the time. He swims all over the place, up and down the plants, with the other cory cats, through the bubbles, in and out of the caves, etc. He eats like a piglet and has become the most active fish in the tank.
Has anyone ever had this kind of an issue? Any ideas on what is going on?
