Bumble bee Catfish

[frogsNpigs]

About a week ago, we added (I'm pretty sure it's called) a bumble bee catfish to our 29 gallon. I've only seen him swim around once since we got him, and that was at night and only for a second to get some food. He's constantly hiding underneath some of the ornaments, I know he's alive, whenever I pick a ornament up, he swims out. He's always hiding in the craziest spots. I've looked it up, but can't find much information on them. Do they do better in groups? If I add a few more to the tank will he actually come out? I picked him out because in the tank at the store, he was very active and had a funny personality. He would hide, then swim up to the tank when someone walked by and swim in circles really fast, then go back and hide. That's where his name came from, Lightning, because he was so fast. He was very active at the store, why isn't he anymore? Can I do anything to help him?

 

[hc8719]

thought you might of meant a bumblebee goby,

heres a link i found
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=708


"Territorially aggressive to its own kind or similar catfishes although more spacious tanks with plenty of hiding places can house a group of these fish. Tell tale croaking noises through the night belie nocturnal disputes and should prompt the separation of waring faction before too much damage is done. Larger individuals will eat small fish (usually at night)."

chances are the cat if just confused or scared of suddenly being in a different tank (imagine what you would do if a giant net grabbed you from your home, and plopped you in the middle of africa, with bunches of new animals trapped with you)

give him a chance to get use to the tank, it says their carnivores, so im guessing they will ignore flakes, try feeding bloodworms at night

how big is he?

 

[JustOneMore20]

It also says they are nocturnal, so he probably isn't very active during the day, which is normal. Most likely he was stressed out in the store and that's why he was active. Alot of times when I go in a LFS the fish are constantly swimming from side to side....most likely stress.

Now in your tank he is more comfortable and has somewhere to hide, so he acts more normal.

Feed him at night and maybe get a lunar light so you can see him. Alot of catfish are nocturnal and hide during the day.

 

[frogsNpigs]

Ok, that explains a lot. He's pretty small right now, maybe only an inch long. How small are the fish they eat? The pet shop said they were community fish and would be fine with my other fish. I have a few varieties of tetras, are they at risk?

 

[hc8719]

chances are, he'll only eat fish they can swallow

most aquarium fish lack significant teeth

 

[talloulou]

I have one and I almost never see it. Shame 'cause their cool looking.

 

[lovemybarbs]

my pictus is the same way most days. Right he is out swimming about.

My nocturnals are the most active when I have the light on in the tank and the room is dark and it is 11:00 at night. Try that and see if you get a good look for a while. Even my pleco comes out at that point. Also, he knows he gets his wafers pretty late.

 

[petunia100]

Most bumblebee catfish sold at petstores are actually the ones from south america.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=303

Is this the one that you have? They don't get as large as the "Asian bumblebee".

 

[frogsNpigs]

Yep, thats him. The day after we brought him home, we thought he jumped out of the tank and disappeared. After looking for him for a while, we picked up the sunken ship ornament and he somehow squirmed into a tiny, tiny little tunnel in the plastic. He is quite the little hider. I'll have to see if I can spot him tonight.

 

[krap101]

dont those have stingers?

 

[petunia100]

I don't know, many catfish have spines on the leading edge of their dorsal fins, and some of these spines have venom glands associated with them, but not all. I looked at the pictures on planetcatfish and they don't seem to have a dorsal spine, their dorsal fin looks pretty soft like a cory's. Everything I've read about the south american bumblebee catfish makes them seem pretty mild mannered, but that doesn't me they couldn't have defenses (other than camouflage).

 

[krap101]

ic, i read somewhere about a fish with a similar name that could sting you, or it could just be because the bee thing, but im pretty sure i read it somewhere..

also theres a catfish at my petland and its a shocker, literally

 

[frogsNpigs]

I finally spotted him. We saw my giant pleco burrowing under the sunken ship and when I picked the ship up, both the pleco and bumble bee goby were under there. He immediately zipped around the tank at lightning speed and finally settled in the plants.