CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Okay, this isn't in the 9-11 section, but I would really like some help and feedback soon because it worries me...

We recently got a tank and tried to raise some fish. Unfortunately, this is our first time and we're not very good at it.

It started with a Betta fish and two regular goldfish, but my little brother insisted on getting something more.
My parents are rather easy-going so they agreed, and we went to the pet store and picked up some ghost [glass] catfish.
They were transparent, which was amusing, and that was about all there was to picking up these fish; we had done no background research whatsoever, though we really should've...

I've done some research now and I know there are lots of things wrong with what we've done, but we can't return the catfish and I want to make sure that they stay alive. We have purchased three of them so far, and they seem okay, huddling together under the filter. I know that they need a current, and the filter we have semi-creates one, and we also have some live plants that they hide under, though we plan on getting more of. There's a few things taken care of, and we try not to turn on the aquarium light too often.

What I'm worried about is how to feed them.

Since they swim in the lower strata and don't touch the bottom or the top, I don't think that they've been getting in much food.
I know that they eat bloodworms and other larvae, preferrably live, but my parents don't want to get live food, and so all we have are freeze-dried bloodworms. All we have otherwise are flake fishfood, which the two goldfish gobble up quickly, so I don't know if any food at all is getting to them...

Is there a good way to feed the fish, and to ensure that they will eat it??
The catfish look fine for now, but I'm afraid that they're not getting in much to eat.
The food either floats on the surface [the bloodworms particularily], which the betta usually eats, or it sinks to the bottom where the goldfish quickly steals it away.

Please, help me if you know how to take care of these fish, I've had them for little over a week now, and I'm really afraid that they'll starve!
Is there a good way to get the food to them, so they will 'see' it and eat it?

Hi tien and welcome to the forum.

I am not an expert on catfish, but you seem to have done the research.
For some more current in the tank, you can try an air stone, in the tank, or a larger filter. With out known the details of the tank, ie size, and type of filters, its hard to get a handel on what advice to give for creating more current flow.

As for feeding, ghost catfish are insectovorse, and do not feed well on flake food. This being said, it is also apparent that they do eat other food. I would try flake food, crushed up. The flakes will be to small for the goldfish to bother with, and so the ghost's should eat some. They are a surface feeder, and not a bottom feeder. They do not wait for food to sink to a level of the tank to eat. That may be a misconception in aquariums, they do sence food via receptors, so if the food "smell" gets in the current created by the filter, they will be attracted to it, thus giving rise to the point you mentioned. You could place the crushed flakes near the discharge of your filter to help them "smell it". Also try feeding when the tank and room are dark, this will give them an advantage in finding the food before the goldfish.
Hope this helps, post back and say how your progressing.

Thank you very much for the help!

I'm trying it out, and I don't think the goldfish notice the flakes too much, but I'm not sure if the catfish are seeing it too.
Sometimes they seem to sense them, but if they are eating the flakes, I can't discern it.


The tank is I think 30 gallons, and the filter is against the back, the water let back through creating a kind of current...
The three ghosts are around there under the plant leaves, tails turned to the current... maybe that's a part of it, I'm not sure if the flakes can easily get over there...

The method does help though, because now the flakes are able to get into the water and aren't eaten up so fast, so maybe the current will circulate them back up for the ghosts to eat.

I do happen to have freeze-dried bloodworms though, if you think that the ghosts might go to eating those more enthusiastically...
is there a way to get those bugs to sink? Should I try leaving them in a cup or somesuch of water, then putting them in?

The ghosts don't ever seem to go up to the surface of the water, but neither do they brush the bottom, so it worries me about how they'll get the food...


Oh, and also...
Lately, the smallest ghost has been hanging out at the opposite side of the tank, where there are no plants... I'm not sure what he's doing, and today he was back with the other two, but could the one ghost running off be a sign of bad health or something??


Still, thanks a lot for the tips and I'll try this out, I think it might work!

Thank you very much, and if you have anything more to add go ahead, I'd love the advice.

Thanks!

From everthing I have herd about ghost's, they like to school, not sure why one goes off, but if it seems healthy, I wouldn't worry too much. As for the feeding, the don't see the food, with their eyes, but smell it. No need to try and sink bugs down for them, the crushed flakes, or bloodworm should get to them, or I guess I should say they will get to the food. I suspect, with the goldfish, they will not feed with lights on. Since they smell, the food, they have no need to have light to feed, and in this case i suspect they will only feed in the dark.

Oh, this might work then...
So you suggest that I only feed them when it's dark? It sounds like it'll work....
Thanks a lot!

But I dunno, I was just reading around and found that most sites say the ghosts prefer live food, and will only occasionally eat flakes.... I'm worried that they won't eat it..

But you might be right about that. I hope they can get the food.

I'll try that some more, feeding them at night...
How often do you think they need the food?? I think somewhere it said 1-2x a week....
Can you tell how full a ghost is? [it is transparent after all]
So I can see if I should try feeding them now, or if I should just wait a while [I fed little bits of crushed flakes twice today, and I think that's about enough]

Well, thanks for all of the help, and I'll tell you if things work out well!

...Though to be honest, by 'work out well', I mean that the little ghosts aren't dead in a week. ::sigh:: I'm trying...

What do you think would be a good amount of time before you're sure that they'll stay alive? I don't know if the fish can live without food for a week or more, but that might help if they couldn't- then obviously, since we've had them for about a week now, they should be getting along?

I don't know... ^^;

Well, thanks a lot for the tips, and I'll keep trying! Thank you so much!

Tien, unfortunatly, I have never kept them myself, so its hard to give an experenced answer for you on both a feeding regiment, and how to tell if they have had enough food.
Two things to consider are excess food waste in the water, creating additonal bioloads, and how the growth of the ghosts fish appear. Monitor the water for clarity, your filters for excessive food waste, and how the ghost are actually growing. Too much food waste in the prefilter, and maybe your feeding too much, no food waste, and no growth in the ghost fish, maybe you need to feed more. In my opinion your doing about the best you can, trying to care for them, and really that is the most important issue. If you put the time in, and the effort to both learn and care for them, I am pretty sure they will do ok.

thanks a lot for the tips, and I'll update if anything happens!
I'm trying! ^__________^-
thanks!