My catfish is making a "grunting" noise???

[Swiftrat]

Hi.

I have a Salmon-tailed Catfish in my tank, he's about.. ooh, say 10 - 12cm long? Right now, he is swimming around and making an occassional short/quick "grnt... ... ...grnt... ... ... gnt" sound. What's this mean - is he trying to tell me something? Is it good or bad?

He is on a diet of bloodworms, very small chopped bits of liver or beef heart, and there are a few live tiny brine shrimp in the tank for him to pounce on.

The tank has a heater, air pump and filter set-up in it, complete with a thin layer of gravel and a few ornamental rocks and plants - ... but the filter/air-pump has a droning vibrating sound... it wouldn't be driving the fish batty would it?

I'm concerned for his health and don't want him to die on me (I only just bought him and it cost a fair chunk of my pocket-money)

Also, how can I tell if my catfish has been eating? He seems to miss a lot of the bloodworms/liver bits I toss in...

[Silurus]

Many catfishes stridulate and make grunting or croaking noises when they swim, and this is part of their natural behavior in the wild (it's also something they do in defense, such as when netted), so I wouldn't worry about the noises.
If your fish has a well-rounded belly and if the food disappears from the tank the next day, then yes, it's eating OK.

[Swiftrat]

*nods* Thanks. I did a google search on grunting catfish and a website said some catfish will grunt if they are in an aggressive mood.

I guess you'd be pretty annoyed/defensive too if the blinding kitchen light suddenly flashed on at 3am in the morning when it was all pitch black.

As for the food eating, out of 5 shrimp, I only found 2 shrimp alive, 1 dead/torn in half and I'd say the other 2 became cat chow...