Ghost Glass Catfish

[mommytron]

I recently ventured out around my area looking for rocks for my tanks. I checked out all of the farm and garden stores and such, found a couple 2lb packages of polished river stones that i thought would look nice. I wasn't totally satisfied, though, so I figured I'd check out this place called "Pet Deli." We recently bought a tank from a guy in town off of Craigs List who recommended this place because they carried fish supplies. To my surprise they specialize in fish and have a whole bunch of nice looking tanks. It seemed like they specialize in freshwater and also had a ton of live plants. I was so psyched to find a place I can get almost anything I am going to need within 10 minutes of my house, as opposed to any other place where I can get stuff being 40 miles away. Anyway, I was checking out the tanks and found these guys, all hovering in a crowd and staring me down. They were SO cool! enjoy!

 

[Etunes]

Glass cats are by far my favorite.

 

[mommytron]

Really? I've never even seem them before this. Do they always group and hover like that? I think I'm going to look into them... I didn't think I'd be into see-through fish but I really like these guys

 

[AgilityIG]

We have three in our tank at work and they are cute, but they don't "do" anything really - just hover together. Not sure - maybe they need a school to be more active?

 

[Crepe]

They are schooling and require at least 6 of them to feel safe.

 

[Sum22]

Mostly, they hover around together. I have a couple that venture around the tank to check things out. I love glass cats and have had them in my tank since I started this hobby in 2003.

Things I have found out about them, the hard way:
1. They don't respond well to medications. Ich meds/anti-fungals will cause them to waste away.
2. They do better in established tanks. They tend to get sick and waste away if the water parameters are bad. If you want to cycle with fish, they aren't the fish to use.
3. They are social. You need at least 2 and 4 or more are preferable. Once they are all alone, they don't live long. I found this out as my 5 grew old an passed away. All 5 made it over 5, but then they started dying off. I had two left in year 6. Once one died, the other perished in a week. Since I was getting ready to make a major move, I chose not to replace the fish as they died.
4. They are a great community fish. I have never seen a negative interaction with another fish. If anything, they shy away from any conflict.
5. They are a blast to feed. They will skim the surface of the water. They are by far the fastest fish in my tank when it comes to feeding. I currently house them with Harlequin Rasboras and Black Neon Tetras.
6. They need hiding places. They seem to be more secure if they can hide and in lower light.

 

[mommytron]

Wow thanks for all that info. I think I'm considering these guys for a later date!

 

[Sum22]

Oh and one other thing I forgot to add. There is no such thing as too much flow for a glass cat. They thrive in fast flowing water.

 

[mellawson]

Those are cool fish I was looking in a tank at my LFS that had 1 little pleco in it and was wondering why he had that big tank all to him self I took one step closer and there were what seemed to be 20 sets of eyes staring back at me.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Those are pretty cool, I can barely even see them! Sound pretty interesting. Hope you get them!

 

[taylorodw]

After seeing this thread I did some research and indeed they are very interesting! Wiki says they're used as a major component of some Asian "salty fish sauces." Weird!

Thanks for the find.

 

[AgilityIG]

Oh and one other thing I forgot to add. There is no such thing as too much flow for a glass cat. They thrive in fast flowing water.

The three that are in our tank at work LOVE to hang out right where the water flows fast. They seem to almost body surf the water flow in unison - very cool fish!