New Featherfin Squeaker Question

[aftershockzap]

Hi, I'm new to both the forum and keeping fish! However, here is my situation!

We set up our 40 Gal tank and started cycling. We waited agggggeeeesssss and, as you do, while cycling we talked about the fish we wanted to possibly get. I told my wife I wanted a catfish desperately as I find them intriguing. After several months we have populated the tank with 4 tiger barbs (I know they are a schooling fish, don't worry its getting solved. And, believe it or not, they are doing surprisingly well with just the 4) and 6 Giant Daninos. Used to be 7 of them but the smallest one got bullied biggest one to death =(.

Now, I had concerns about getting barbs and a feather-fin because of the fin nipping. Luckily our barbs seem to keep to their own.

We go to the pet store to buy some catfish. We originally were going to get corys just because but after about 2 hours of looking, googeling, and staring at this beautiful featherfin we decided we would get the featherfin instead and upgrade our tank! We knew the size the featherfin could get to would outgrow our current tank, and frankly, i would love to have a larger tank as I find myself quickly becoming absorbed into fish keeping.

Before we took the featherfin home, our daninos and tiger barbs didn't know the bottom of the tank existed. With the rare exception of them occasionally looking for crumbs at the bottom of the tank so we figured the featherfin would do really well down there.

So we picked up the biggest featherfin they had (Figuring he was on his own so larger is better to further rule out possible barb issues which i'm happy to report, was not anything to worry about!) He quickly took to our tank! Flying around discovering all of our crafted hiding spots (2 logs and an arch that he can easily hide away in!) The other fish kept a distance, however now we have really weird behavior going on...
It seems that now the other fish hang out on the bottom of the tank, but only on the right side usually. And the featherfin is in a log on the left! Occasionally a danino will catch a glance at the featherfin but thats about it.

The featherfin seems to hide all day long. Now I know they are nocturnal, but I want to make sure its not completely unusual for the cat to stay in his hiding space alllll day. I want to make sure hes not too stressed out.

Also, does anyone have any advice for coaxing a catfish out during the day, or advice on how to spot them at night as he is both beautiful to see, but I want to monitor him and the other fish for signs of stress/bullying to make sure all is well!

And my last question... Ever since he has come home, at night we can now hear water noises coming from the tank, it sounds a lot like somefish is trying to jump out of the tank, is this species a jumper?

[MatsP]

Yes, it's perfectly normal for them to hide all day. Once they are more settled in, they probably will come out for food - especially if it's "tasty".

--
Mats

[Richard B]

at night we can now hear water noises coming from the tank, it sounds a lot like somefish is trying to jump out of the tank, is this species a jumper?

Not an out-&-out jumper to the best of my knowledge but any fish can do it - it's a case of identifying what is causing the fish to want to jump.

[Birger]

The featherfin seems to hide all day long. Now I know they are nocturnal, but I want to make sure its not completely unusual for the cat to stay in his hiding space alllll day. I want to make sure hes not too stressed out.

This is normal and it will get slightly more active in the daytime as it gets used to you and learns the feeding schedule.

Also, does anyone have any advice for coaxing a catfish out during the day, or advice on how to spot them at night as he is both beautiful to see, but I want to monitor him and the other fish for signs of stress/bullying to make sure all is well!

Again these fish will get brave if they think food is involved, let it get to know you. About watching them at night look into some of the moonlight LED lights that are out...will allow you to watch your catfish while it thinks it is swimming in the dark.

And my last question... Ever since he has come home, at night we can now hear water noises coming from the tank, it sounds a lot like somefish is trying to jump out of the tank, is this species a jumper?

The syno may not be actually chasing the other fish(or maybe it is) but as it cruises around at night it may brush against one of your other resting fish which triggers a flight response.

Birger

[syno-kev]

you will be able to get the syno out in day light hours by feeding at a regular time each day ,
try prawns or muscles broken up or chop up a small piece of a crab stick my synos love this,
i buy frozen from the supermarket and just defrost in a cup of warm water when i feed them but only once a day !,
just be careful not to over feed as this will polute up your water.

[aftershockzap]

Crab stick? Like the artificial "lunch box" ones?? Because if they are okay to give to him as a special treat, we have a baby who looooves those things and are in a constant fresh supply! At the moment Mr. Syno (Whom we've named drop-dead Fred) seems really bothered by the lighting. We leave it on for several hours during the day because of the other fishies but I've been looking into some nocturnal lighting to get in the future. But he is so shy. Last night we turned all of the lights off but the second he is spotted he runs haha. I've read that they get territorial (Much research went into buying this fish I assure you!) and that when they get territorial they become a bit less shy? Can anyone vouche for that possibility?

One last thing: I'm in texas so my aquarium doesn't need a heat source at the moment. Having said that when I get up for work at 6 a.m. I have noticed he likes to hang around the heater! I know in the winter when it turns on thats going to be a problem. Any clever ideas on how to isolate the heater a bit without risking any issues I.E. plants dieing/melting?

Also:: He has been in tank for only 2 weeks yet 0 signs of any stress nor damage to any fish in the tank including Mr. Fred. It seems like they are getting along famously. The Danios and Barbs like to sneak peaks at him during the day which is quite entertaining to watch

[MatsP]

Yes, crab-sticks as in "mashed fish and stuff, pretending to be crab". Just slice off a quarter inch of your kid's one [before they get it], and drop it in the tank - you may want to chop it a little further, but fish should be able to pick it apart.

You can buy a heater guard, or build one from a suitable length of plastic pipe (from your local DIY store, usually comes in different colours for different purposes, such as white for water supply). If you cap either end and drill a couple of holes in the bottom and the top of the pipe, it should work just fine - thermal convection will make the water flow through the pipe.

These fish are long lived (easily 10-15 years, records show Synos in their late 20's or more), so a couple of weeks is nothing for this type of fish. Remember when you compare it to other fish, that only live a few years, such as Danios, Barbs, etc. It will eventually get used to you, and realize you're where the food comes from - then it will come out when you come to the tank.

--
Mats

[N0body Of The Goat]

Remember when you compare it to other fish, that only live a few years, such as Danios, Barbs, etc. It will eventually get used to you, and realize you're where the food comes from - then it will come out when you come to the tank.

--
Mats

Mats, can you come over and give my Synodontis decora a good talking to?
About ten months on and he/she is so shy in my company, yet on the odd occasion I get to see it out and about just after lights out, it is blatently "top fish" in the 5x2x2 that everyone respects!

[MatsP]

Sorry, I'm not a "Fish-whisperer" ;)

My experience is that they do come out when fed. It does help if the tank ha a lot of cover and isn't brightly lit. But certainly, my group of 4 S. decora used to pop out at feeding time.

--
Mats

[joefish72b]

I have 2 featherfin currently in a 55 gallon. They used to hide inside a cave so I simply remodeled. I got a fake bonsai tree that has a cave in the base but it's a small cave. Now the featherfin rest under the branches of the tree and are clearly visible all day long. I also added 6 cories and 3 loaches to keep the bottm of the tank too busy for the synos to want to stay down there very long.

As for learned behavior it only took me about a month to train them to take wafers from the end of a stick.