Feeding S.American BumbleBee catfish

[Gogi]

I bought 2 south american bumble bee catfish( Microglanis iheringi) on Monday. They have been eating very well. They ate two of my 0.5" cardinal tetras but that is beside the point. I have also been feeding them Hikari carnivore sinking pellets after the lights go off. I do not want to over feed them. They are the only bottom dwellers in the tank and I do not plan on getting anymore.

How many pellets should I be dropping in for them?
How often do I feed them?

[Gogi]

Crickets.......crickets............:12: :12: :12:

[Gogi]

Oh well. i got alot of views but no replys. Its all good.

Incase anyone cares. I have been feeding 2 catfish pellets at night and have been alternating with 4 cichlid sinking pelletes every other day. Seems to be enough since they haven't eaten my other two small cardinal tetras.

[steeler58]

I kept one of these shy guys years ago. I never lost any fish and he spent all day hideing. If I could get bloodworms to sink fast enough he would come out and eat them. Otherwise the sinking pellets at night seemed to keep him appeased.

[Gogi]

Thanks Steeler1. I start experimenting with blood worms since i have alot of dried ones. Thanks.

[steeler58]

Frozen Brine Shrimp also worked well.

[Gogi]

Wednesday night I fed them 4 catfish pellets (2 each in theory). The next day the pellets where gone and so was one of my 0.5 inch cardinal tetra.

Seems to me that these catfish are opportunistic eaters. Meaning that they will eat anything if they get the chance regardless if they are hungry or not.

On the plus side one of my LFS has 1inch big cardinals so I will bring 3 more new friends for my remaining 2. Maybe I ll get 4 just incase that remianing tiny cardinal does not make it.

[steeler58]

Like you said anything they can swallow are fair game to them. I had emperor tetras, lemon tetras, checkered barbs and cories with him. I didn't lose any of them I believe because of their shape and size.

[Gogi]

They have huge mouth. They ate 2 more cardinals tetras over the weekend, .5 and a 1 inch. So my GF saved the last two tetras and moved them to another tank. Hopefully they wont go after the oto cats next.

[KevinVA]

Oh, your Otos are probably done for, man. That's the reason I won't put anything that small in my 75gal. My Killifish are just like the bigger catfish. Very opportunistic eaters. That's another reason I was hesitant to put a Raphael cat in there, too, because I had planned on some smaller fish. Any of the bigger cats are going to be very opportunistic. They eat like gluttonous fools and anything small enough is fair game.

You should be ok with fish that are tall and short, just not short and long. For instance, Serpae tetras, Black skirt tetras, etc, would be fine... cardinals, neons, otos, harlequins, etc are just cat bait.

[Gogi]

I hear ya Kevin. The otos have survived for almost 2 weeks now will see how it goes.

What do you think the catfish would eat corydoras? I have seen some big corydoras at the LFS.

[KevinVA]

I bet Corys would be safe. They're kind of tall and would probably be awkward to attempt to eat.

Otos might be fast enough to dart away, when the big cat approaches. My Otos won't swim away from anything, because there aren't any predators in their tank (they rarely swim away from my hand these days), but it's possible that instinct kicks in for them, when something like your cat is present. They could be much more on their game and more aware of their cohabitants.

[Gogi]

makes sense about the otos being quick. Compared to the cardinals they are much faster. :22:

So corydoras it is. Next GCAS meeting I keep my eyes open for some sweet corydoras.thumbs2: I have always wanted some.

[KevinVA]

When I first had my Otos, they were always startled by something... and they were so fast. When I changed my substrate, that was a pita. It took me forever to catch those suckers. lol

Good luck, man! I was going to get some Cories, before I got my GBRs. They're pretty cool fish and I'd love to have a school of them sometime.

[Mommabear]

I sure appreciate this post. I have 2 in my tank with my goldfish. When I 'rehome' the goldfish to another tank I was planning on getting a new variety....but I'd rather not be feeding the catfish 'extra'. Since the goldfish eat everything, and I do mean everything... I put a juice glass in the gravel & when I see the catfish out after 'dark' I put some pellets in the glass and under a feature. So far, so good

[Gesp56]

Just got myself a bumblebee cat last thursday. Glad to see this topic. I've been feeding mine bloodworms and tropical fish sinking pellets. I haven't seen him eat but he comes out every night, is very active and looks healthy.