Need Chaca Cat Feeding Advice!

[AndrewZ]

Hello,

I recently got a chaca catfish. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to feed it, not finding much good info online. Can anyone help with the following questions?

What can I realistically feed it? I know they like live fish but I'd rather avoid feeding him vertebrates. I've heard that they will eat earthworms but I haven't gotten any yet to try. I've also heard I can feed him chunks of dead prawns or pellets, will he really be able to recognize something that's not alive and moving as food?

Should I wait until night, and drop food in front of him, and hope that he will eventually eats it, or if he doesn't immediately inhale it does that mean he's not hungry? I think the other fish will disturb any food left sitting there. Do they go into a recognizable hunting mode when hungry, so I know to feed him then? He hasn't yet buried himself in the sand - does that mean he's not in hunting mode and not hungry? I've only had him for 7 days - will he need more time to get acclimated before he eats?

Also, would medium-size fish, around 3", that stay in the upper regions of the tank (such anabantoids) be in much danger of being eaten? Wouldn't the cat only catch fish that come in front of it on the bottom of the aquarium?

Thanks

 

[CFC]

Chaca chaca are 99% impossible to ween onto non live foods, i have kept 3 (still have the 3rd one) and have been unsuccessfull with all 3. They are 100% piscavors and only recognise live fish as prey though some will take small live inverts such as ghost shrimp. The best foods for them are small Cichlids which spend much of their time on the bottom where they will come into contact with the frogmouth frequently. Kribensis and convict Cichlids breed regularly and in large enough numbers to keep a Chaca well fed and happy so if possible keep a pair of either of these in a seperate tank.

They are best kept alone in reasonably small tanks, a 10-20g tank is perfectly acceptable for a single Chaca, when kept with tankmates A) The Chaca will attempt to eat anything that swims over its head (and will eat anything up to its own size) and B) Constant movement will confuse the Chaca's hunting instincts which can cause the fish to starve to death.

Healthy happy Chaca's always bury themselves, yours should start to burrow once it has settled in, they dont travel well and need a bit of time to get used to a new tank. Add some feeders to the tank (not goldfish) and leave them in there till they are eaten. Once the Chaca is burrying and feeding you can try offering non live foods like shrimp and silver sides.
Chaca's only need feeding once a week with one or two feeder fish.

 

[AndrewZ]

Thanks for your helpful information, with no lecturing! As cool as this fish is, I don't want it attacking my other fish, and my active dojo loaches are disturbing it. I have a small aquarium, I think I'll set it up just for the cat, it's so cool I don't want to return it!

 

[KingGreenTerror]

Thanks for your helpful information, with no lecturing! As cool as this fish is, I don't want it attacking my other fish, and my active dojo loaches are disturbing it. I have a small aquarium, I think I'll set it up just for the cat, it's so cool I don't want to return it!

just curious as to where you got you chaca, i have been searching all over for one for about a month now and cant find one, did you order him online, how big is he?

 

[AndrewZ]

I got him from an independent fish store called Seascapes in Mountain View, CA - they had 2, the other was smaller. I haven't seen them anywhere else though. He's about 6" now, I think he can get to 8", seems to depend on if he's Chaca bankanensis or Chaca chaca - I'm not really sure, but he's dark chocolate brown!

I haven't been able to wean him onto frozen food. He's almost completely inactive during the day, but I've caught him swimming around in the middle of the night.

Good luck in your search! I think they're pretty new in the trade, and the live food requirement probably doesn't make them too popular.

 

[AndrewZ]

Update... He finally took a large frozen shrimp with no problem! I had almost given up after many tries. I guess he just needed more time to get acclimated, and get used to feeding on live fish. Interestingly, he doesn't often bury himself in the sand - I've never seen him buried, but sometimes there are depressions so I can tell he's done it.

Whenever I have visitors, they look in the tank trying to figure out why it's empty - until I tell them to look really hard, and they're always shocked when they see the chaca!