Catfish Antics: Got a Story?

[FerocactusLatispinus]

Hi! After seeing much of the behavior of my catfishes, I felt it would be nice to share some of my experiences. If you have any unusual or funny stories regarding the behavior of your fishes, this would be the place to share it if you like!

#1. Bunocephalus coracoideus & B. colombianus- Checkers, my now-larger of the two individuals I keep of this species, literally sings for joy when feeding time comes! When I feed him, particularly freeze-dried tubifex worms, he'll immediately latch on to the chunk of food and "squeak" or "grunt" each time he takes a bite. This can barely be heard audibly, but an intense vibration permeates the water at each attempted mouthful. He'll also "jump" out/off of the sand substrate to get at a bit of food held a little over half an inch above his head; firmly attached, he will not let go of the food to the point that you can pull him out of the sand and into open water. My other two banjos do this too, but not as often. That's a typical catfish... always loving to eat!

#2. Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus- Back when I had Pip housed with Scooter, they would both squabble over territory (this only really existed as a few inches of radius around each fish, wherever they went). Scooter was the dominant male of the pair and was resting on the sand beneath him, while Pip was swimming around above him. Accidentally, Pip dropped perfectly on top of Scooter; latched onto his rostrum, Pip immediately changed color (including Scooter), realizing he was in big trouble. After accelerating his breathing for about a second's time, Scooter thrashed around, throwing Pip off his back. After a little chase, they both calmed down.
Scooter's reaction to Pip's mistake always reminds me of a scene from the television series, M.A.S.H.: captains, bunkies, and BFFs, Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicut lied down on two adjacent cots, placing their feet on top of their other roomate, Major Charles Emerson Winchester; exhausted, the major had entered, placed down his cot across the ends of the other two cots, and lied down. Accelerating and raising his voice, he said, "Get your filthy feet off me, get them off!", and shoved their legs out of the way.

I have some other anecdotes, but they aren't quite nearly as amusing. I would love to hear your tales, and hope you found these enjoyable: I certainly did!

-Kaegen

[corielover]

I transferred some corys to a new tank recently, and left the net I used to catch them in the tank; ignoring the numerous caves, plants and other hidey-holes I had constructed for them, the corys took to resting in a mass huddle in the net! I guess it'll be pretty easy to transfer them back .

[FerocactusLatispinus]

That is really ironic! Fish "usually" dislke being scooped up in a net, and I would think your corys would want to stay as far away as possible from it. On the other hand, perhaps they liked it more in the other body of water and are waiting to go back! Or, as long as they're all together, they simply aren't uncomfortable. Maybe the netting reminds them of Java Moss? That is surprising behavior indeed.

[Rebah]

I've had this syno hybrid* for a few years now, and at first "he" was very shy so for the first few weeks at feeding time I would put a wafer just outside his cave to make sure he got some food (probably didn't really need to but just incase). After a week or two of doing that, it was enough just hearing the glass lid moving and he'd swim right up, take the wafer from my hand, and swim back with it into his cave

And just the other day I thought I'd put some peas in the tank, figured the amano shrimps and snails would appreciate it, so boiled and peeled some and scattered them in the tank, maybe 4-5 pieces. As I was putting them in I noticed the syno was sticking his nose out, sort of sniffing the water, and the moment I closed the lid he swam out, found and gulped down the peas one by one, and swam back to his cave. It took about 4 sec He hasn't shown any interest in vegetables before so I didn't think he'd do so now either

Then there's Jazbay, a Panaqolus maccus I think, who shows him/herself about once every few months. Everytime me or the bf sees him/her we go "Jazbay!" and I run (sneakily so as not to scare him/her) to get the camera to take pics so we can finally find out what fish it actually is without having to tear up all the roots and rocks and plants, and everytime he/she's disappeared when I'm back and about to take the picture. Sometimes I doubt there really is a fish called Jazbay living there amongst the roots... maybe it was all just a dream..

(*not something I support, I think the way they're "created" is horrible, but someone had handed him in to the store I was working in at the time, so I figured I'd take him rather than us selling him on and further supporting it. I'll still do my best to give him a good home. And no I don't know if it really is a "he" )

[FerocactusLatispinus]

That's pretty bold of your Syno to just go up and take food after all that time! I've seen my Upside Down cats and my Bristlenose take wafers in their mouths to the driftwood, but they are all too shy to hand-feed. I'll occasionally put in a halved blanched baby carrot, and the pleco's grown to love them, but the Synos were really hesitant: they would come close and dart back off to their driftwood. One fraidy-cat gathered enough courage to take a nibble, and it went psychotic on it! I'll have to try feeding frozen peas again, I had forgotten all about those!