I Bought Two Glass Catfish ... Should I Have Bought More?

[alysonpeaches]

Today I went to my LFS for a Siamese algae eater which I got. The glass catfish took my eye, and as they were 2 for £5 I decided to have a pair. I asked in the shop if they were difficult to keep, the person who served me said not really but they do like acidic water. She told me they ate flake and bloodworm, both of which I feed. When I looked them up on the net I found that they are a schooling fish and should be kept in a school of at least 6 or they will become timid and may not feed.

This got me worried. Im not sure I have room for another 4 of them. Will 2 be OK or shall I buy some more? Ive only had them a couple of hours and they are together behind a plant, which I understand is quite typical.

 

[Colin_T]

They should be kept in groups so if you can afford it, buy some more.
Some will take flake food but others ignore it. Feed them a variety of food including raw prawn and fish, daphnia & mozzie larvae. If they eat flake then that is good.
They do better in neutral water rather than acid. Slightly acid PH is fine but don't let it go too low.

 

[alysonpeaches]

They should be kept in groups so if you can afford it, buy some more.
Some will take flake food but others ignore it. Feed them a variety of food including raw prawn and fish, daphnia & mozzie larvae. If they eat flake then that is good.
They do better in neutral water rather than acid. Slightly acid PH is fine but don't let it go too low.

I can afford more, thats not the prob, I will just have to move some of the platys to another tank so I can keep more glass catfish. They enjoyed some brine shrimp today, so at least I know they are feeding, also one of them took some dried bloodworm which is promising. I would like to leave it for a few days before I get some more though.

Now the pH, I believe at the moment it is arond 6.5 in this tank. We had a conversation about it on another section of the forum. You suggested adding shells or coral rubble to bring it up. TBH I havent done anything about it yet as everyone is fit and well. I might remove some of the pebbles which may be lowering the pH as it doesnt happen in my other tanks.

 

[snakequeen]

I have 2 glass catfish in my tank and they are fine, they spen all of their time together but they are eating fine and getting on with the other fish

 

[invader]

I have 2 glass catfish in my tank and they are fine, they spen all of their time together but they are eating fine and getting on with the other fish

I would still add some more to your group, because they are naturally shoaling species. They can get skittish when in a small group and could possibly live shorter lives because of stress. Just something to consider.