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I've been wondering about getting an asian bumblebee catfish. A lfs has a few that are about 1.5" long. I've got a nice piece of driftwood with a little cave for him to hide in. Will that suffice even though it won't be completely dark (it's dark enough that I'll just be able to make out his yellow markings with the tank lights on)? Any suggestions on how/what to feed him to help him feel comfortable? Since the little guy's nocturnal, how can I check if he's eating (besides having the food disappear by morning)?

I've got 3 pictus cats (~2") and a 3.5" gibby in the tank (135g) already . Will these pose a problem (I'm not too worried about the gibby)?

Thanks.

The driftwood sounds about good enough. If you really want to check on whether they're eating, you can try observing the tank when the lights are out. Otherwise, you can starve the fish for a few days before feeding them. That usually gets them out.
Asian bumblebees are generally peaceful with other fish. they can get territorial with conspecifics, though.

Simple-minded question ...
Is simply turning off the tank lights and having the room dimly lit sufficient to allow a somewhat well adjusted, albeit new, catfish to come out, or is it necessary (better) to use a red flashlight in total darkness? (I've been told that fish can't see red light although I'm skeptical)

Usually, turning off the tank lights and having a dimly-lit room should do it. While fish may not be able to see red light, my experience on sneaking up on them with a flashlight is that they are usually able to sense the vibrations from footsteps and flee even before you get near enough to the tank.

heh heh

There's a neat trick for this, and it's dead easy:
dark up the room
walk to the tank with your red flashlight
wait a few minutes, and don't move or cough
switch the light on

Enjoy!

We once nipped an infra-red nightvision (one of them army things) and had a great night with this, watching my cousins' Auchenipterids/dorads mixtank!

good thing, we managed to return the goggles before the army found out, though. We weren't exactly playing by the rules, if you catch my drift.....

Night-vision goggles, eh? Well it may not be quite as good, but perhaps I could try the night-shot feature on my camcorder.

I?ve seen some Moonlight aquarium lighting that apparently lights up the tank, but the fish cant see the light so they come out and play as it were.
Might be good for photography even.

Sounds interesting. Have any more info or know where to go to find out?

Back to the catfish ...
Is there any single food that these bumblebee catfish seem to like best? I've got shrimp pellets on hand. Would something else be better to help him feel at ease?

Sorry I can only find this product in the UK ,try Google search "Moonlight Aquarium Light".
You find loads there.

Last on page.

http://www.angliaaquatics.com/acatalog/ ... g__36.html

Lighting wise, you can try looking for Blue Moon reef bulbs (they're actually flourescent tubes). Made by Interpet in the UK and by Aquarium Products in the US, I believe.
Food wise, Asian bumblebees aren't fussy eaters and they'll eat most anything with gusto. If you want to pamper them, feed them frozen bloodworms or better yet, Hikari carnivore pellets.

Thanks everyone! I'm really excited about this catfish. It's the first one that I'll have kept (besides a pleco) that isn't available at every lfs in town. My wife can't understand why I'm so interested in a fish I'll practically only see at night. Anyways, I think he'll be great! Thanks again.

I have one... about 6" ... the cat hides most of the time in driftwood....
comes out sometimes when I do the feedings...
I feed with Spectrum pellets..... the small ones.... He also comes out
sometimes when I put some spirulina disc (Wardleys) in the tank....

I have him with a bunch of synodontist... seems to get along with fish
of same size...

Mine is for sale... too bad you dont live closer.. .I dont want to ship.

If you want a pic.. email me fish@stowetel.com

I use a flat-panel 'Moonlight' nightlight. This emits a blue-green monochromatic light which they don't seem to notice. It's much more pleasing to the human eye than red-- just like a moonlit night.