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FAQs on Callichthyid Catfish Foods/Feeding/Nutrition Related Articles: Callichthyid Catfishes, Summer
loving: cats in the garden, kittens in the kitchen by Neale Monks,
Related Catfish FAQs: Callichthyids
1, Callichthyids
2, Callichthyid Identification,
Callichthyid Behavior,
Callichthyid Compatibility,
Callichthyid Selection,
Callichthyid Systems,
Callichthyid Disease,
Callichthyid Reproduction, Catfish: Identification,
Behavior, Compatibility,
Selection, Systems,
Feeding, Disease,
Reproduction, |
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Corydoras cats feeding habits 4/1/08
my 20 Gallon aquarium has been getting a lot
of algae build up.
<Two options: Add fast-growing plants under
bright lighting, or else scrape away the algae manually. Every other method
suggested doesn't work.>
My pet store said that these little albino Cory
cats will keep a tank extremely clean
<Garbage. Catfish (or snails, or loaches, or
whatever) do not clean an aquarium. Think about this for a second. Why would
adding an animal (which produces wastes) make the aquarium cleaner? There are
only two things that keep an aquarium clean: filtration and water changes.>
so we got three very small ones but they don't
appear to eat algae like petstore said.
<Indeed not. Corydoras eat some green algae, but
if you have insufficient light (i.e., less than 2 watts per gallon) then most of
the algae will be of other types such as diatoms.>
they appear to search the gravel and eat what they
can find.
<Keep this up and they'll starve do death.
Corydoras need catfish pellets. These are sinking foods you can add to the tank
at night. Catfish aren't "scavengers" and won't survive on leftovers. They MUST
have their own food.>
my question is do they eat algae and I don't see
them doing that I also have a fresh water flounder will that eat algae?
<Freshwater Flounders are not freshwater fish.
The common species is Trisects maculatus. They MUST be kept in brackish water.
Beginners find them very difficult to maintain. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwflatties.htm
>
if they don't what kind of small Pleco or other
algae eating fish do you think will do good in a 20 Gallon aquarium with about 19
or 20 small tropical fish.
<None will clean algae in the way you want. Pet
stores will sell you lots of fish (or snails, or shrimps) that they say will do
this job, but they don't work. Only plants reduce algae, and for that you need
to choose fast-growing species like Hygrophila and Cabomba and then expose them
to strong illumination.>
thank you.
Laura
<Cheers, Neale.>
Sick Small Panda Cory - 02/09/2007
Hi, in my fish tank, I have originally one panda Cory,
which is 1 in long, probably. Yesterday, I introduced two more panda
Corys,
but they are tiny, less than half the size of the original one.
<Good to have in groups though... this and most all Corydoras are very social
animals>
One of tiny panda Corys doesn't eat, and it is quite inactive. It does swim
around sometimes, but it only swims to follow the other panda Corys or hide.
It's breathing a little more rapidly than the other Corys. My tank water
quality seems fine. Any ideas how I may help this little guy? -David
<Do try a bit of either live or frozen/defrosted black worms here... these are
almost irresistible to Callichthyid catfishes. Bob Fenner>
Hungry panda Cory! 2/26/06
Hi there,
<Helloooooo!>
I've had my 20 litre tank (sorry, don't know US sizes - I'm in the UK!)
<A liter/re is a bit more than a quart, there are four U.S. quarts in a
gallon... your system is about five Yank gallons>
for a month, and have 6 zebra Danios, 5 black neon tetras and two panda catfish.
The zebras are doing great, but take all the food - I've tried a mix of flake
food to distract them with and granulated food to sink to the bottom for the
tetras and catfish, but the zebras totally take over the tank and eat it all!
I've just lost a catfish, which I think was sick from when I bought it as it
didn't last a week, but now the second one looks in trouble. It's incredibly
listless, not responding to food even though I've sectioned it off in the tank
with some food. I bought another panda today which is really active and seems
fine - could it be that the listless one and the one that died were ill from the
start?
<A possibility, yes>
There are no obvious symptoms, other than not being interested in eating and
trying to swim up to the top and then falling back down, which I thought was
cute until I read somewhere that this was not a good sign!
Your website is great - any advice you could give me would be so appreciated, as
I'm afraid as of tomorrow morning I'll be back to one panda again!
Thanks, Laura
<Do check your water... it may be that its quality is unsuitable... This
Corydoras likes warm, soft, acidic water... no ammonia, no nitrite... Try some
high/er protein sinking wafer type foods... Bob Fenner>
Getting food to the Corys and the Oto 2/22/06
Hello WWM crew,
I have searched your site and I think the single tiny wiggly white worm I just
saw in my tank is Planaria. It is a very very fine threadlike white worm of about 5mm length. I probably only saw it because I was
sitting very close to the tank.
Am I right in understanding these are from too much waste product and uneaten
food?
<Yes.>
Do you have any delivery tips for the food? I was afraid if I hid it the Oto
and Corys would not find it either.
I have a bit of driftwood with a plant on it that I can put food under but it
seems nearly all the fish can wiggle in there to get it!
I thought my tank was very very clean. I change 25-30% of the water once a week
with another bucketful or two changed halfway through the week as I don't like to see the Corys searching around for food in droppings.
Yuk.
I vacuum the open area of gravel once a week and stir up the other areas with
the siphon hose as the vacuum wont fit amongst the plants. I have quite a lot of live plants.
My problem I guess is I have been overfeeding although everything gets eaten
quickly.
<I agree. Your vacuuming technique sound very thorough.>
I am always worried about getting enough to the Corys and the Otocinclus. The
other fish are total pigs and tend to eat everything.
I feed a couple of pinches of flakes
<Try backing off a bit. Try to lure those speedy Tetras away by sprinkling a
bit on one side of the tank, and then sprinkling the rest far away from them.>
, two sinking Cory-food pellets
<Feed just one pellet. Break it up into a couple pieces, always drop it in the
same place in the tank every day, so the Corys get into a pattern/know where to
find it. Feed the Corys about 1/2 an hour after you turn off the light tank
light.>
and a half of an algae wafer once a day with a day of no food now and then.
<Leave the wafer as a treat for every now and then.>
Also feed a frozen bloodworm cube once a week and some cucumber every few days
(the Oto loves that).
<OK as long as you are subbing this for the other foods you described.>
I have a 26 gallon freshwater tropical tank (AquaOne 620) with a filter and
lights built into the hood
Temperature about 78 degrees.
Ammonia and Nitrites are zero.
Tank has been set up for 10 weeks and is fully cycled.
The tank is stocked with:
I angelfish
3 black skirt tetras
5 Corydoras
2 dwarf Gouramis
1 Otocinclus
<A bit heavily stocked for that size. Probably contributing to the waste/food
levels for Planaria and algae. Your Angel will get quite large, produce even
more waste.>
I tried leaving the lights on a bit longer to grow some algae for the Oto...but
instead of the brown algae I once had green algae has grown
on some of the Anubias and Oto doesn't seem to make much difference. So that
might have been a mistake? Do you think if I revert to my
original 8 hours of light the Oto will eventually eat it all?
<Go back to 8 hours.>
Or maybe should I get an additional Oto?
<Otos do prefer the company of their own kind, but you are already heavily
stocked.>
So much to learn. Any advice you can give would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Gillian : )
<Jason N.>
PS I think your site is terrific, you folk obviously love what you do although I
expect if you get many more "My Betta sits at the bottom
of his bowl" questions you might implode.
<Thank you!>
Re: Getting food to the Corys and the Oto 2/22/06
Thank you Jason for your speedy response,
I was very disappointed when I did my own sums and realized "no more fish for
me"....well, in this tank anyway. Everyone laughs when I talk about my next
tank.
<You've been bitten by the bug. God have mercy on your pocketbook.>
This one is a practice to see if I can keep up the enthusiasm before going
mental on a giant tank.
<I find that my largest tanks are the easiest to care for. It is far harder to
make most mistakes in 50+ gallons of water.>
You know what? I think I can!
<Glad to hear it! Now there is only the problem of what you're going to do with
your current tank when you get a new one...>
Thanks again from Australia,
Gillian : )
<Jason N.>
Tiger barbs gorging on Adolfi/duplicarius Corys food
My barbs are gorging themselves on the sinking pellets I drop in the tank
for my Cory cats. They will push the Corys out of the way and break the
pellets into chunks. The tiger barbs will swim around with a big chunk until
it can choke it down! I am worried that the tigers will hurt themselves as
they are bulging and don't seem to be able to stop eating. How can I
make
sure the Corys get some food? Are they nocturnal feeders? How often do I
feed them?
<I would try distracting the barbs by feeding then on the other side of the
tank, then sneak some pellets to the Corys. You could also try a
different type of food for them, but I doubt it would slow the barbs down, I use
the Hikari Shrimp wafers and everyone in the tank goes after these as well. If
the Corys get hungry enough they will eat, they are pretty well armored. They
love blood worms in their diet as well, good luck sneaking those past the
barbs.>
I may have gotten two C. duplicarius with my recent purchase of three
Adolfo's Corys. They pretty much look like the two side by side in the
enclosed photo. C. duplicarius has a broader dorsal stripe and a
fuller,
rounder head. My two have paired off leaving the "real
Adolfi" on his own.
I wonder if I got taken or if the store is just ignorant. I hope that the
two are close enough in price and attributes. In my research the consensus
seems to be that there is not much difference. One article even
suggests
that they are more attractive.
<depending on your tank size, I would add more of both, they like large
groups. Best Regards, Gage>
Thank you
Stephen
Re: Three Line Cory Catfish question, feeding
Hello Bob,
<Teresa>
I thought I'd follow up on this as I thank you for your reply. It seems I was not feeding the Corys enough and starts to swim high as more food is
floating than hitting the bottom.
<Ahh>
I started throwing in some herbivore small sinking pellets and at times they nibble on these if the gluttonous angelfish
don't get to them first. I know these pellets are for algae-eating fish but I never saw the
Otocinclus eat anything else but algae. I guess what I
really need to ask is what should I be feeding the Corys? Is the premium tropical flake food that I feed the angelfish enough you think? Thanks and
have a great day.
<I would augment this with a high protein sinking pellet... there are several companies that make these for bottom dwellers... One of my faves is the new Shrimp Pellets by Omega Sea. Bob Fenner>
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