Chaetostoma (L444?) feeding/behaviour concerns

[N0body Of The Goat]

I bought a ~6cm TL specimen about a week and a half ago and I've still yet to see it eat anything I add to the tank (Tetra Prima, Hikari algae wafer, defrosted "tropical quintet" as treat), although I have seen it occasionally graze the tank sides for algae (of which there is plenty. I have seen it poop, so it is eating something,

He/she is currently in the 5-footer, 22C, loads of current (~3400lph in ~350l water, only partly filled 560l). Must confess I'm seriosly thinking of bringing it indoors to the Rio240.

Should I be worried?

[Suckermouth]

Have you tried veggies?

In any case, if its pooping, its eating. Some of my loricariids I have yet to see eat even after months of care.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Not tried veggies yet, no, but perhaps I might try a bit of cucumber or some corgette (zucchini I think its called in USA).

Perhaps brought on by the concern about not seeing it eat food I add to the tank, I noticed its belly looked a little sucken, which then made me more concerned as most healthy fish have slightly rounded bellies.

I might get in contact with the store tomorrow and ask them what food they were feeding, as looking at the PC profile suggests L444s can be tricky to get to take dried food and perhaps it is used to something different than Tetra Prima.

Thanks for the input and reassurance.

[grokefish]

In my experience chaetostoma can appear to exist on less than other plecos such as 'plecs' and panaques.

He should be fine in those conditions, I would not worry.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Ever since deciding upon keeping riverine fish, I've looked at these catfish so many times in Aquajardin, loving their unique look. Not long after acclimatising him/her to the 5-footer, I began to question whether I should have placed this specimen in my riverine Rio240, as this Chaetostoma is dwarfed by many other tankmates like my Synodontis brichardi, Humphead Glassfish and my mature Ctenopoma acutirostre.

As soon as I rehome my 4-month old Steatocranus casuarius youngsters, I'm definitely thinking of moving the L444 into the Rio240, where it might not feel so vunerable plus I read that these fish can take years to reach anything like their adult size (someone on here wrote they had a 3 year old specimen about the same size as mine, ~6cm). It will then have 3 Garra flavatra youngsters; 12 Barilius hukangensis youngsters and four adult Steatocranus casuarius for tankmates.

[grokefish]

I can tell you have never kept Zippy fish before! (Chaetostoma)
They generally are hard as nails and will often bully much larger fish, mine bully a panaque close to 8" TL! Which as you probably know is a bulky fish.

[andywoolloo]

i have two rubbernoses now for 3 yrs maybe and they are tough buggers!!

altho in he beginning they were hard to acclimate to prepared food.

I had to do the paint the rock trick found in Mats article here at the bottom:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=294

now they are big ans strong and love everything from prepared to defrosted frozen to veg and fruit.

Zippy is definitely right. they are my fastest pl*cos.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Rather than start a new thread about my L444, I thought I would revive this thread...

Since bringing this fish home, I've usually seen it without fail at least once daily when i pop out to the 5-foot tank in the garage, attached to the glass side in the flow of the FX5 filter output. However, I'm getting rather anxious now, as there has been no sign of the L444 since Saturday.

The one thing that has changed recently (think it was last Friday) down there is the thermostat setting for the Rena 300W and Juwel 250W heaters, as I noticed that the thermometer was only reading a fraction over 21C when I really needed 22-23C, for the benefit of the Leopard Bushfish; Golden Wonder Killifish; Synodontis decora & brichardi; Lionhead cichlids. Consequently, I turned the thermostats up a little and now the thermometer is reading 23C.

The Chaetostoma could be hiding in one of the many nook and crannies within the three bogwood islands, perhaps even under the broken pot cave that my male Aborichthys elongatus resides in, or hiding in amongst the two large artificial plants. I might well be worrying for nothing (as I sometimes do about the Aborichthys male, who sometimes does not "say hello" to me for several weeks), but this sudden change in behavior is really concerning and I'd hate to pull out all the furniture to find a dead catfish.

[N0body Of The Goat]

Well my worst fears just became true, I got back from work 20 minutes ago and found my L444 dead, with no obvious cause.

RIP

[MatsP]

Sorry to hear...

--
Mats

[grokefish]

Bummer

[bronzefry]

Sorry for your loss. Don't be hard on yourself and don't give up on them. I always learn something from them, such as the type of water they like(I didn't know they like it neutral to harder). They can also get into it with others and need a space to call their own. I also keep mine in indirect sunlight so they can get that algae. I hope you can find a place in your tanks for them in the future.
Amanda