Any glass\ghost catfish experts?

[push350z]

I am trying to learn some stuff about my glass catfish but haven't found many good resources. I know when they get sick they start losing transparency and start turning white but other than that I don't know much. I think my one cat ate a little too much last night, and his stomach is swollen and turned black. When I first got them one of them had a black stomach and then it turned grey which assume is the normal color. Do I have anything to be concerned about, he seems fine it just looks like he may have eaten too much would be my guess but the black stomach I don't know what that's about other than maybe the food is blocking light causing it to be black?

[hc8719]

i dunno if im an expert, but i have kept mine alive for 4 months if that counts.

i dunno if you ca really overfeed them, considering they are so blind, half the time they dunno that foods in the tank. unless food touches their whiskers, they dont know its there. if you look closely, they actually have a transparent skin covering their stomach, as well as a transparent bottom jaw. the stomach is kinda black, i just think that means its full...

there are two species that look almost the same, an asian and an african, but they do have their differences, did you buy yours from petmsart?

feel free to pm me with any questions

[toddnbecka]

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Glass.htm

[push350z]

Anyone owning these catfish longer than I have (about a month) i would probably consider an expert lol. We got them from a local complete petmart, no clue what kind they are. They look a lot like the Africans from the link Toddnbecka posted (thanks for the link). I did read somewhere they were nearly blind, but surprisingly they find 95% of the food I put in. I feed them at night because thats when they go out and roam the tank, as soon as I open the lid they fly to the top in search of bloodworms. I think this one particular guy just got to more of the worms before some of the others, I just wanted to make sure there isn't any disease or sickness that may turn their stomach black besides possibly being full.

[toddnbecka]

I've never heard of a disease like that, though since most fish aren't transparent, it wouldn't be a commonly seen symptom. Other signs of discomfort or distress would be a better indicator of something wrong, particularly different behavior, especially at feeding time.

not an expert but I have had mine for quite some time.

My fish's stomach look more like mercury in a thermometer and their bodies are very transparent.

If I feed them bloodworms, their stomachs take on a much darker hue for a while, ntil they digest some of the food.

What did you feed them before they started looking like this?

I can easily see the color of whatever they ate in their bellies after feedings.

[talloulou]

Originally Posted by hc8719

i dunno if you ca really overfeed them, considering they are so blind, half the time they dunno that foods in the tank.

I kinda disagree. I think you can overfeed any fish. Even if the fish doesn't pig out it will eventually make your water harder to maintain. I kept these fish for years and found them to be quite hardy. They tend to be rather shy though so I wouldn't keep less than 3. They seem to like to "hang" together mid tank from what I remember. I think I remember them also really enjoying when I put frozen foods in the tank.

[hc8719]

Originally Posted by talloulou

I kinda disagree. I think you can overfeed any fish. Even if the fish doesn't pig out it will eventually make your water harder to maintain. I kept these fish for years and found them to be quite hardy. They tend to be rather shy though so I wouldn't keep less than 3. They seem to like to "hang" together mid tank from what I remember. I think I remember them also really enjoying when I put frozen foods in the tank.

i meant this in the sense that, mine are lucky to even find a flake or two, and that they already have to compete with some voracious kissing and moonlight gouramis

[talloulou]

Originally Posted by hc8719

i meant this in the sense that, mine are lucky to even find a flake or two, and that they already have to compete with some voracious kissing and moonlight gouramis

Oh okay I gotcha!