Upside Down Catfish diet

R

RogerL

Medium Fish
#1
Mar 13, 2003
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Raleigh, NC
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#1
Catfishmike - hopefully this is one for you!

I have introduced a small (~1.5 inch) upside down catfish Synodontis nigriventris into my 55 gallon community tank. It seems to be healthy and quite at home. I had expected it to be primarily nocturnal, but it's surprisingly active & visible during the day.

I have a question about the best diet, as I don't think I have ever seen it (how do you sex these guys?) eat.

I feed a mixed diet of flake (once a day) with a second feeding of one of the below:

BIO-blend pellets
freeze-dried blood worms
freeze-dried tubiflex
frozen bloodworms
frozen brine shrimp

(unsurprisingly the latter two always promote a feeding frenzy!)

I also occasionally (about once a week) drop in a BIO-blend sinking algae pellet at "lights out".

Any reason to believe the USD catfish isn't getting its share? Anyone have experience with a favorite food for these guys? I read that they like floating live foods - suggestions?

Thanks!
 

amishfignewton

amishfignewton

Medium Fish
#2
Apr 15, 2003
96
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markandlacey.com
#2
I have two in my 29 gallon. They do not have a chance to get any flake because they refuse to come out during normal feeding times and the other fish scarf down the flakes. I toss a couple of sinking shrimp pellets (wardley) near their favorite hiding spots, and they must be eating them because they have been alive for months and months. They also scavenge algae at night, and I usually put a algae wafer in my tank for my farowella, but I have seen the upside down catfish snacking on it as well. sooooo

shrimp pellet
algae wafers
mosquito larva (favorite meal)
 

catfishmike

catfishmike

Superstar Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
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Sin City, again...
#3
yea sorry i have been busy all day but here it is.the perfered food of the usd is algae.from what i have read they spend their days hiding under tree branches that have fallen into the water,browsing on algae all day,i have yet to see a usd cat eat from the surface.they like just about anything so you don't have too much to worry about.mine don't hardly evercome out but they are FAT i never see them eat(well i have but not that offen) they are very agressive fedders when they do ome out and can easily chase off other competitors of the same size.they have a pecking order that allows thm to eat with each other fora period of time and when the dominant one decides it's time he chases the others off.when kept alone they tend to pine away so you should really get 2 or 3 more.so far i haven't heard of anything that is bad for them,so your diet sound perfect.just to be sure though,feed a good sinking wafer such as hikari sinking wafer and wardleys algae disks to make sure they get roughage in their diet.as fr a sexing the males are darker in color and more slim.females are more pink and plump.i'm gonna check out planet catfish and see what else it says about sexing,i know it's something about holdingthe fish in yur palm with the pectoral fin between your fingers and gently pulling down on the tail to reveal the genital papila.
 

R

RogerL

Medium Fish
#4
Mar 13, 2003
86
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Raleigh, NC
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#4
Thanks!

I hadn't realised that they eat algae. That at least gives me confidence that there will always be some food available!

I'll definitely consider getting him/her a buddy or two. I hate to overstock tanks, so I've almost always got room for an extra resident or two.
 

amishfignewton

amishfignewton

Medium Fish
#5
Apr 15, 2003
96
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markandlacey.com
#5
they do better in groups. When in a group they tend to be less afraid and not hide as much. when I got mine, i bought 2, they were so cute in the fish store (the bare tank) swimming around and stuff. as soon as they went in my tank, they went under 2 pillers, and i have yet to see them come out during the day time, and if i want to see them at night, i have to like crawl to the tank and not let them see me walk up to it, or they take off lol.
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#6
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
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#6
Are you sure they eat algae? I thought they were just general scavengers. They're certainly not equipped to eat algae, and they're not going to be gettinh much off the undersides of leaves , sticks and so on. I thought the upside down bit was for picking insects off the surface.
 

catfishmike

catfishmike

Superstar Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
2,614
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36
Sin City, again...
#9
has anyone ever seen one eat from the surface?as for the algae eating like i said that was something i read and i have never actualy been to africa to witness them in their wild habitat.also like i said i haven't seen any ill effects from feeding a varied diet,which i do.they seem to perfer algae though as mine never show too much intrest in worms and the such.also in the wild there are many small bugs and whatnot that live in algae that fortify the diet of algae eating fish.as for sexing let me make a correction.it should be:hold the dorsal fin between two fingers and pull gently on the tail to reveal the genital papila between the pelvic fins.
 

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