Want 2 See my Upside Down Catfish

Tryin2fish89

Hello! I have a 20 gallon tank with an Upside Down Catfish in it and I never see him. Was jw if there was anyway to encourage it 2 come out during the day so i can feed it easier.

small fry

I could be wrong, but I believe Upside Down Catfish are nocturnal. That is just what I have heard, anyway. What are you feeding it?

Tryin2fish89

You are correct they are nocturnal. I was jw if it could be encouraged to come out more during the day? Maybe with some floating cover or something. I feed it tropical flakes and blood worms (right now just one time a night because i have 2 sleep haha)

small fry

Some nocturnal fish will adjust to daytime in a home aquarium. I am not sure of the effect on the fish during or after this transition, so I am not at a point to recomend it. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on that.

LasColinasCichlids

Upside Down Catfish like to be in groups from what I understand...so if you have the room to add even 2 more, you should get more sightings and activity from them.

Tryin2fish89

ty... but i dont have enough room sadly. He/she seems healthy though (: i guess ill just keep feeding at night

thewatson27

My upside-down catfish as been MIA for weeks-seriously weeks. I thought he died and mayhaps been eaten by the other fish but today, while doing a water change, I saw him inside the skeleton mouth rock formation in my aquarium, and believe me it was glorious. What kind of decorations do you have in your tank that he can hide under?

Tryin2fish89

oh i have this sweet piece he hides in. Haha i was once looking for him and took the piece out and still couldnt find him. He was on the ground still inside the cave lol

thewatson27

luls they are silly critters. Everything I read about them says they want to have a few friends but they still won't be out and about in your tank like most community fish. I think I'm going to pick up two more just so mine isn't lonely.

Cornelius1208

I have a Upside-down in my tank to, and I have a pretty similar story to thewatson27's. I had two, and one of mine died after a long time, but now I have one. I thought that this one had died too, after not seeing him for literally like 3 months, but one night I came home really late and flicked on the lights really quick and there he was! He likes to hide under my big piece of driftwood, and I never see him during the day, ever.
But I guess what I'm saying is, yes, they are a nocturnal species just like everyone says, and I'm sure they won't be as shy when they're in a group like it's recommended to do for them. As for the cover, I had almost the entire surface of my water covered with Wisteria and pennywort, and he still would never come out, so idk if surface cover will coax him into being diurnal. You'll just have to live knowing that you have fish that's up when you're sleeping! =/