Ghost Catfish And Groups

[cwa]

One of the original fish we bought when we started out tank was a ghost catfish. After bringing him home, I realized that they are schooling fish. This might explain why this lone guy is always under a hiding spot and almost never out visible. Do you think that if I got a couple more that he might come out from hiding and swim around? Or is that what they do? I only have him, a bala shark and a pleco in the tank at the moment. I plan on adding 2 angels and a school of tetras in the near future.

 

[fluttermoth]

You definitely shouldn't keep ghost catfish on their own; it'll pine away, though they might not come out much more if they have plenty of hiding places (which you should provide). I have a dozen and they still mostly only come out at feeding time, though there's usually the odd one having a potter around.

I am worried you don't have enough room though; are these fish in the tank in your avatar?

 

[cwa]

Yes, I currently have a 16g and each of the fish are only about 2 inches. I will be moving up to a 55g by summer. He hides in a cave I have in the back. He was the lone survivor of an Ich attack. And I was thinking of only a couple more. This is a fish my husband picked out and we didn't know it was a fish to keep in groups at the time.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hmmm...that's bit of a dilemma then, as your tank is nowhere near big enough, even for the fish you have now

You might be alright adding a couple more ghost cats, but please don't add anything else; wait until you've got your bigger tank, and then get more fish. But a 55g isn't big enough for the Bala; they're also a shoaling fish and can get to foot or so long...

 

[cwa]

As long as I start with very young (small) fish, what would it matter? I have only 6 inches of fish in the tank so far with plenty of room for now. They won't be growing that big within the next 4 months or so. I won't add all of the fish I mentioned into this tank, just a few more.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid it does matter.

Fish, like most animals do the majority of their growth in the first few months/year of life. Your plec and the Bala could grow an inch a month easily.

Fish should be kept in a tank that is appropriate to their eventual, adult size to give them room to grow.