Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi all,
There seems to be some pretty conflicting info on Centromochlus perugiae catfish (often called Honeycomb or Oil Catfish), so I'm scratching my head a bit on how to best show mine off... When I first bought mine, I ordered a group of three from Aquariumfish.net. From what I had heard, they had similar care requirements to Cory cats, and would swim around in the open at night. They're quite adorable, and the rare few times they were startled out into the open or got particularly hungry, they were hilarious to watch swim around. Unfortunately, they also hide like crazy, to the point I swore they had all died during an ich outbreak about 6 months back when they decided to pick a new, more hidden sleeping spot in the tank.
I've since rediscovered that I have one survivor, who I've moved to from my 75 gallon planted tank to my Glow Tank in the hopes that the darker lights might get him to come out from hiding more... No dice. All he does is hide under the bubble wall for 99% of the time, only moving to nab some food that floats nearby at feeding time. I'm sure friends would help his shyness, but any other suggestions that might help? I'm reluctant to buy more to round out the school if all they're going to do is be another invisible addition to the bioload.
Current tank specs:
20 gallon long
74F, 6.8pH
Hidden LED strip constantly lit on Night Time setting, main T8 Actinic bulb that runs during the day.
Emperor 400 HOB filter as well as dual 10g planted refugiums plumbed in for extra aeration/turnover/filtration.
LED bubble wall in back for additional aeration and decoration.
LOTS of hidey holes and fake plants to hide in.
Weekly 50% water changes
Tank inhabitants are all peaceful schoolers & peaceful bottom dwellers that totally ignore the catfish and actually sleep with it on occasion.
Any ideas that can help my shy guy come out more or what his ideal parameters might be? Thanks!
There seems to be some pretty conflicting info on Centromochlus perugiae catfish (often called Honeycomb or Oil Catfish), so I'm scratching my head a bit on how to best show mine off... When I first bought mine, I ordered a group of three from Aquariumfish.net. From what I had heard, they had similar care requirements to Cory cats, and would swim around in the open at night. They're quite adorable, and the rare few times they were startled out into the open or got particularly hungry, they were hilarious to watch swim around. Unfortunately, they also hide like crazy, to the point I swore they had all died during an ich outbreak about 6 months back when they decided to pick a new, more hidden sleeping spot in the tank.
I've since rediscovered that I have one survivor, who I've moved to from my 75 gallon planted tank to my Glow Tank in the hopes that the darker lights might get him to come out from hiding more... No dice. All he does is hide under the bubble wall for 99% of the time, only moving to nab some food that floats nearby at feeding time. I'm sure friends would help his shyness, but any other suggestions that might help? I'm reluctant to buy more to round out the school if all they're going to do is be another invisible addition to the bioload.
Current tank specs:
20 gallon long
74F, 6.8pH
Hidden LED strip constantly lit on Night Time setting, main T8 Actinic bulb that runs during the day.
Emperor 400 HOB filter as well as dual 10g planted refugiums plumbed in for extra aeration/turnover/filtration.
LED bubble wall in back for additional aeration and decoration.
LOTS of hidey holes and fake plants to hide in.
Weekly 50% water changes
Tank inhabitants are all peaceful schoolers & peaceful bottom dwellers that totally ignore the catfish and actually sleep with it on occasion.
Any ideas that can help my shy guy come out more or what his ideal parameters might be? Thanks!
