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Lonely Upside Down Catfish?

4K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  qpc68 
#1 ·
I currently only have one upside down catfish in my tank. He is very reclusive and I hardly ever see him. He pretty much just hangs out on the far back side of a large, trunk like piece of driftwood and only occasionally pokes his head out. Now, I know they are shoaling fish...if I added 2 more UDCats to the tank would they likely be more social and more visible? Or would I just have 3 dudes on the backside of the driftwood?
 
#7 ·
qpc68 said:
I understand that. But if he will swim around more with a buddy than I would want him to.
Haha, quote of the day for sure. I'm not sure why but just the "I understand that" Really made me laugh, I guess it was more that I could sense the frustration in it that it made it so funny... But to answer your question, yes they like to be in small schools. And although you may not see them as much as you would like, they will come out more if they are comfortable. And being in a school is what makes them comfortable.

So although you'll still have upside down cat fish bumming around on your drift wood, at least you'll have bum cat fish that come out sometimes!!!
 
#10 ·
If you can so arrange your aquascape that there is an overhang that your UDC can rest upside down under, ( like a branch of driftwod more horizontal than vertical) it will in all likelihood hang out there, belly up. I believe scotcat has four or more to a school as optimal.
 
#11 ·
I never saw my UDC either unless I used a flashlight at night after dark and there he would be, actively cruising around. What I did to get him out in the open is this: I bought a smallish artificial plant with big, broad bendable leaves. I folded over the leaves so that they were *thisclose* and the overhang it made provided him with comfort. It's facing the front of the tank and he hangs in there upside down all day. He barely moves but at least I can now see him. As soon as it's dark he's off & swimming!
 
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