strange catfish behavior

[catfishlove]

We have 4 albino cory cats, who all get along great and are very active. I just noticed our oldest one (who I think is an "adult" at about an inch and a half long?) swimming around, and then quickly rubbing it's head and body on the gravel. More like a quick "half flip"?? I just want to make sure that this is OK and it's just having fun If anyone else has observed this, please advise when you have time- thanks!

 

[Guppy Mad]

We have 4 albino cory cats, who all get along great and are very active. I just noticed our oldest one (who I think is an "adult" at about an inch and a half long?) swimming around, and then quickly rubbing it's head and body on the gravel. More like a quick "half flip"?? I just want to make sure that this is OK and it's just having fun If anyone else has observed this, please advise when you have time- thanks!

Hi catfishlover
Ye it isnt anything to worry about but it is usually a higher form of parisite or slime disease but im not to sure if catfish can get slime disease and also it could be poisioning or bad water quality which causes this.

 

[CFC]

Have you tested the water for its nitrate content? Scaleless species such as catfish and loaches are intollerent of high nitrates and often rubbing and flicking is a sign of this.
As mentioned it could also be a sign of a parasite, diseases caused by parasites like ICH and velvet often have these symptoms in the early stages although corydoras and other armoured catfish are usually the last to be infected.
Or it could just be he/she had a itch and wanted to scratch it

 

[catfishlove]

Thanks for the quick response, Guppy Mad......I am going to be changing the water today, so I will see if she (?) does it after that.
Any thoughts on live plants?? I have never had any, but I am thinking about it.

 

[catfishlove]

Just got my water tested, and it was a little high in nitrates/nitrites. I got a product called "cycle" which I have heard a lot of good comments about.....
I'm hoping that will take care of it. Hope it's not a fungus.....all I have is the 4 albino cats, so it's hard to see any signs of a fungus.
Otherwise I will have to chalk it up to him or her having an itch that just needed to be scratched!
Thank you for the advise

 

[Guppy Mad]

Just got my water tested, and it was a little high in nitrates/nitrites. I got a product called "cycle" which I have heard a lot of good comments about.....
I'm hoping that will take care of it. Hope it's not a fungus.....all I have is the 4 albino cats, so it's hard to see any signs of a fungus.
Otherwise I will have to chalk it up to him or her having an itch that just needed to be scratched!
Thank you for the advise

Thats ok Catfishlover
You may find that the catfish will still do it but not as often.
I have just looked it up and it does say do a water change which you have done.
Hope i have helped and tell me how they are getting on please.
Thanks

 

[catfishlove]

Hi There, Guppy Mad. Thank you for the info- you were right....they were all great after I changed the water, and were their active selves last night (ours seem to be most active in the evening with their light off). Catfish #3 and #4 were just added last week, so we are still getting adjusted as to how much food to give them. We are going to cut back since I found a lot of uneaten food in the gravel when cleaning.
I noticed that you were looking into breeding yours.....I would be interested in knowing how that is going for you if you have time.
Thanks again

 

[shoveopoly]

Hi I'm new to this board and with pictus cats. I have a strange pictus cat, he spins in circles in a tight ball. He does this for a minute then will hide under a log before coming back out. We have two pictus cats and the other one never does this but tends to join him under the log after the spin. Has anyone else ever experinced this
Any feed back would be helpful! Thanks, Gary

 

[Guppy Mad]

Hi There, Guppy Mad. Thank you for the info- you were right....they were all great after I changed the water, and were their active selves last night (ours seem to be most active in the evening with their light off). Catfish #3 and #4 were just added last week, so we are still getting adjusted as to how much food to give them. We are going to cut back since I found a lot of uneaten food in the gravel when cleaning.
I noticed that you were looking into breeding yours.....I would be interested in knowing how that is going for you if you have time.
Thanks again

Hi Catfishlover
ye i might try and breed some cory.
Glad to here that your catfish are ok.
Well hope to here from you again.
Bye.

 

[catfishlove]

Hi Guppy Mad- Hope your breeding project goes well. I thought I might give it a try, but I will have a while to wait because only one appears to be an adult. The two babies are only 1/2 inch long, and the middle one is about 1 inch. It will give me time to look up the subject I will keep you posted as to my findings and progress.....
Nice talking to you!
Take care

 

[Guppy Mad]

Hi Guppy Mad- Hope your breeding project goes well. I thought I might give it a try, but I will have a while to wait because only one appears to be an adult. The two babies are only 1/2 inch long, and the middle one is about 1 inch. It will give me time to look up the subject I will keep you posted as to my findings and progress.....
Nice talking to you!
Take care

Ye hi again. Catfishlover.
I will also wait a while until i can breed cory's because i have got loads of baby mollies in the small tank and they may eat the eggs and also it takes a long while for them to start breeding i think.
So i guess i will speak to you next time.
Bye and hope your cory's are still doing fine.
Bye

 

[Inchworm]

Hi catfishlove!

I'm glad to learn your corys are doing well again. Because they live on the bottom, whenever you suspect something is wrong with them, always make it a practice to clean up the bottom. Most times that will solve the problem.

When you do your weekly partial water changes, always siphon the water out from the bottom and that will help you avoid trouble, too.

If you get a few low growing rooted plants the catfish will love them. They will go underneath them whenever they are not eating or playing to avoid the bright aquarium lights. If you do not get plants, be sure to give them a little cave to go in. But, plants also add to the general beauty of your aquarium and are worth the effort.

 

[catfishlove]

Hi Guppy Mad- That's sweet that you have baby mollies.....I have never bread fish before, mostly because I only had community tanks until now. Sounds like you have have quite a few babies....Can you sell them to your local fish store?
I read on another site that some of the corys have a lifespan of 25 years! Have you read anything similar? It sounded like quite a long time (but would be great if it were true)....
All the cats are still doing great.....I think I am going to get them a live plant today or tomorrow after work.
Good luck with your babies!
Talk to you later.......
Take care

 

[Guppy Mad]

Hi Guppy Mad- That's sweet that you have baby mollies.....I have never bread fish before, mostly because I only had community tanks until now. Sounds like you have have quite a few babies....Can you sell them to your local fish store?
I read on another site that some of the corys have a lifespan of 25 years! Have you read anything similar? It sounded like quite a long time (but would be great if it were true)....
All the cats are still doing great.....I think I am going to get them a live plant today or tomorrow after work.
Good luck with your babies!
Talk to you later.......
Take care

Hi nice to here from you.
No i havent read about how long corys can live for and i guess it also depends on differentr species.
I do have a lot of baby fish. I have got 55 baby mollies, 10 guppies and some other fish but im not to sure what they are called keep forgetting. lol.
how big is your fish tank that your cory are in.
would you like to breed any other fish apart from cats because livebearers are easy they breed if you like it or not. LOL.
Speak to you later bye.

 

[catfishlove]

Hello Guppy Mad- Wow- 55 babies....How many pairs of mollies do you have? What size tank do you have them in? I have heard that live bearers breed well. I will have to see if I would have a place to sell them if I did breed them.....the people here (pet stores, etc) can be kind of "persnickety" (no offense to other Californians), so I don't know if they would be interested. We just have the 4 corys in a 10 gallon tank.....I was told that you could have 1 inch of (fully grown) fish for every gallon, so I figured that 4 was not too many (unless they ever breed.

Also- Thanks for the info on the plants, Inchworm! They have a plastic plant now, and I terrace the gravel, which they seem to really like. I do a full water change once a week with bottled water (we have well water here) so that keeps them happy. Thanks again.....I appreciate it!

Nice to hear from you both......thanks again!