Shark catfish seems shy

benetton · Post by **benetton** » 06 Apr 2004, 20:05

Hi all, this my first post, so please forgive me if the answer is obvious!!

I bought a shark catfish about ten days ago from my usual dealer. This is a bit of a new departure for me as previously I've only kept different types of corys (lot of them!). The problem is that that my shark seems to either be shy or anti-social... I can't decide which it is!

He's spent pretty much the whole of the last ten days swimming against the back wall of the tank and seems to particularly enjoy the water outlet from my biolife filter. I assume that he's feeding, because surely I'd know about it by now if he wasn't? There is good plant/rock/wood coverage in the tank, but also pretty big open spaces for him too. I suppose he's about 5cm long, if that gives an indication of age and/or temperament.

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to entice him away from the wall and into just swimming around the tank for a bit? I was thinking perhaps he needed some company, but I'm not so sure. The other fish in the tank are all very placid (verging on stationary in fact!) so I don't see that anything else is putting him off.

All suggestions will be gratefully received!

Ian

sand506 · Post by **sand506** » 07 Apr 2004, 07:36

my experience with them says you might want to get him a partner. they enjoy swimming together. as for the swimming up and down the back, that was very common with mine as well. i think they try to find a current to swim in, mine always swam around my waterfall filters.

benetton · Post by **benetton** » 07 Apr 2004, 17:14

That makes a lot of sense to me! I think perhaps altering the direction of the water flow towards the centre of the tank and finding him a friend might just do it! Thanks for your help.

Ian

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 07 Apr 2004, 17:25

If your fish is you will eventually need to add salt to the water. I agree that it needs companions, but Arius are predators and grow over 12" long, so you will need to take this into account.

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 07 Apr 2004, 20:31

Or is it Pangasius hypophthalmus ?

Post by **Rusty** » 07 Apr 2004, 22:32

benetton,

If your fish is either of these species (which it probably is), you will have a lot of trouble housing them down the road. Arius require salt and grow large, as Crysichtys has pointed out, and Pangasius grow even larger. You may want to consider returning these fish, since theyy are not fish that are easily kept in home aquaria.

Rusty