Bullsye Catfish Help Needed

[fish-r-fancy]

Hi, now that I have found out that the catfish that I have is a bullsye catfish, I can start making the tank to his preferences. i found very little about them on the internet and don't know anybody that has ever kept one. I know they like shade so I will make the tank have lots of shady areas. Below is a list of a couple questions that I have.

1. What kind of water do they like ( hard,soft)

2. What temp. due they like in ferinheit?

3. What foods do they prefer?

4. What decor do they prefer? I currently have sand as substrate, 1 large fake piece of bogwood, 2 small real pieces of driftwood (1 that is already water logged), Several rocks that form a cave (howeever this fish won't be able to fit in the cave so I might have to rearange them) and I have a fake skull that the fish also won't be able to fit in.

5. What are some good tankmates?

6. How many hours each day should I leave the light on for because I know they don't like much light. (I have 2 17 watt lights on the tank)

Thank you

Later on today I will try and get some pics up in the pic section

 

[dthoffsett]

Here's a link that should answer at least some of your questions. http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=159

You could probably add some floating plants to diffuse some of the light.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Here's a link that should answer at least some of your questions. http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=159

You could probably add some floating plants to diffuse some of the light.

Yes, I will use floating plants to diffuse some of the light. I was thinking maybe some lilly pads. I might have to hold off on the lilly pads for a while because where i will usually buy them doesn't sell them until spring .
I also don't have very good lighting, are there any plants that don't require a lot of light and float? Also will the catfish eat or destroy the plants? Thank you for that link.

 

[dthoffsett]

Not really sure if the catfish will eat plants, most catfish I've had ignore them, you never know though. I've heard one of the easiest floating plants to grow is duckweed, it doesn't need any special lighting because it's only inches from the lights. In fact it tends to overgrow and kill off any plants in the lower part of the tank, but in your case as long as you have caves and maybe some driftwood, you really don't need to plant in the lower part.