Fokiensis "gecko cats"

[GirlsGotFisshues]

My husband bid (and won) some Glyptothorax/Glyptosternum fokiensis at the recent Big Fish Deal rare fish auction.

We've had them for about 2 weeks and I cannot find any information on them. I'm assuming they're eating, since they're not dead of looking sickly, but I don't ever catch them moving around unless I've just turned the light on in my utility/fish room. Once the light is on (not the one above the tank, just the relatively dim bulb in the room, they go from wiggling around frenetically to sitting in place.

Does anyone have any information on keeping them that they perhaps haven't shared on the Cat-e-log page?

[bekateen]

Hi GirlsGotFisshues,

Welcome to PlanetCatfish!

Not a lot of people have Glyptothorax, and it's a big genus so I wouldn't expect them all to have the same needs. However, the generalization I've heard before is that they need high oxygen, strong currents, and cooler temps. You might look at the CLOG profiles of other Glyptothorax species that are more commonly kept for clues to care... For example, there's a little info for

Glyptothorax telchitta

.

@Silurus is the resident expert on Glyptothorax.

Good luck, Eric

[Dave Rinaldo]

I passed on purchasing these because of temperature.
Temp:
18-22°c (63-71°f.)
p.H.
6.0-7.5.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

I passed on purchasing these because of temperature.
Temp:
18-22°c (63-71°f.)
p.H.
6.0-7.5.

Yes, that was my immediate concern when my husband bid on these. He's got a very Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all" mentality toward catfish and also didn't think, at $24 for 3 of them, that no one would outbid him.

It sounds like these might be something I throw in with the white clouds and choprae, along with an extra power head. I keep that room below 78 because of the Caridina shrimp I also keep, so hopefully they'll fare OK. Good thing I've got shelves full of worm cultures. Unlike the minnows, they're something that clearly should not go out to the pond for the summer.

[Dave Rinaldo]

He's got a very Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all" mentality toward catfish and also didn't think, at $24 for 3 of them, that no one would outbid him.

I'm also that guy! I've learned which catfish don't care for my Texas fishroom!!

Great price! Way below wholesale!

[Shovelnose]

Cool fish!! The secret sauce to this genus is high dissolved oxygen, a good current, low temperatures, frequent water changes (50 % weekly) and live feed.

I've seen that they stop eating and just waste away at higher temperatures (and my hometown was THE CAPTIAL of high temperatures). Adding a CPU fan might help in the summer. Keeping some caridinian shrimps in the tank might also help as an alternative food source.

Please share pictures when possible.

[racoll]

It sounds like these might be something I throw in with the white clouds and choprae, along with an extra power head.

Powerheads can actually reduce oxygen because they can increase water temp by some degrees, negating the benefit from the movement.

Airstones are better.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

So, they're still in their QT period.

This time of year, the fish room stays between 62 and 70 degrees, depending on whether the house heat is on (it's also the utility room). Each tank in it has a minimum of 2 air-driven filters. Their QT tank is a 20 gallon. It's got some malawa shrimp in it (almost no tank in my house doesn't have these shrimp), though I haven't noticed any decline in population. In the summer, the room can reach about 77-78 degrees, tops, for limited periods of time.

The tank I'm thinking of moving them to is a 40B that is only about 4" off the floor, so it should be cooler. It's got my reserve stash of white clouds (I winter some over in the outdoor pond and they actually survive Maryland winters).

Of course, it sure seems like they'd probably like my fishroom 40 long which has crosscurrent from 2 matten filters (one on each end), lots of smooth rock, some thick branchy wood, and currently houses my reserve colony of "murder noodles" (teleogramma brichardi), a few Microsynodontis sp., and some Etia nguti. Of course, all of these fish need heat, so they're not compatible with these.

I could completely gut the 40B with the white clouds, clean it out, order foam, and build 2 more mattenfilters so that it has that cross current and it's all air driven.

As for photos... these fish really like the dark, so I've thus far been unsuccessful.

[Shovelnose]

Powerheads can actually reduce oxygen because they can increase water temp by some degrees, negating the benefit from the movement.

Airstones are better.

What I usually do is add two large CPU fans, one directly on top of the powerheads (I have 2-3 top filters in my tanks) and one on the far side.

I'm not one for aesthetics, honestly. Large CPU fans on the top do look ungainly but they work quite well.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

I have a slim fan that's made to fit in a partially open window that I use for this purpose. I usually position it to pull air from the top of the room in the summer so cooler air should come in through the bottom.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

I've decided on dual mattenfilters with 2 jetlifters on each. Foam is ordered and I'll head to the hardware store today to get started on the lifters.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

[GirlsGotFisshues]

I finished their new digs today, used the water from their original tank plus sponge filter juice to make sure things stay stable. Here are some photos of the process.

Two uplift tubes plus 2" thick 20 PPI foam on each end.

Links to videos of the finished product below.


And finally, my little fishroom.

[Shovelnose]

Very nice tanks! Are you planning to add anything with the Glyptothorax?

[GirlsGotFisshues]

Very nice tanks! Are you planning to add anything with the Glyptothorax?

I'll probably add at least some of my school of white clouds, which were in the tank prior to the remodel. It's reaching the time of year when most of them go outside in the pond. There's a chance I'll be able to get my hands on some bitterlings... we'll see.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

[Shovelnose]

Looking good!!

[GirlsGotFisshues]

So far, so good with these guys. They seem to love the occasional treat of blackworms and have started sampling some soft krill pellets when I drop those in. I'm also feeding white worms and grindal worms, plus working on getting a strong culture of scuds going to hopefully infest their tank with.

[bekateen]

Congratulations! Thanks for the update.

Cheers, Eric

[Shovelnose]

Very nice!! What krill pellets are these?

[GirlsGotFisshues]

Very nice!! What krill pellets are these?

Aquacarium/YourFishStuff brand. There are a few other varieties out there, both in European and American markets. There's one that's a black bag with a red and black label and has krill and squid meal. I like that pellet size better, but I can't ever remember the name of the brand and it's not easy to find in the states.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

They go bonkers for mosquito larvae, too. These guys are still going strong... fingers crossed that they make it through the summer.

[Shovelnose]

Good to hear that!! They generally go mad over any live food dropped. You could up the feeding a little bit in the summer as a safety measure.

[GirlsGotFisshues]

Unfortunately we had a crazy past two weeks, weather wise. Temperatures dropped unseasonably low for a week then shot up 20 degrees and stayed there. While they're in the lower level of the house, I think the big swing was just too much for them. We lost all 3 over the course of 24 hours with little-no warning. They had been eating and the body condition looked perfect on 2 of the 3. The third was a bit skinny which prompted me to deworm them a second time a few weeks ago, but there had been no other signs of illness or distress and the fish had been swimming and eating normally.

My husband is pretty sad about this. He'd been asking me to find more of them and I kept telling him I wanted to be sure they'd make it through the summer, first. I'm glad I took that approach, but still dismayed to have lost them. There are possibilities other than temperature - maybe something contaminated my mosquito tub (though no other fish have shown ill effects) - but it seemed like this week's heat wave is the most likely culprit.