jeidafei
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I've had three Synodontis Petricola (two black, and one pink) in a small community tank along with Platy fry and Cardinal Neon Tetras for about three months now. They get along fine and the catfish isn't scared of the aggressive (when eating) Platies.
At first, the gravel in my tank is some sort of black charcoal pellets. I've been feeding the fish Tetraplankton pellets and sinking catfish pellets, and the Petricola would swim out during feedings and root vigorously in the gravel for the fallen food. All is fine.
A few weeks ago though, I changed the gravel to white, fine Amazon River sand, because I read that coarse gravel isn't good for catfish barbels. I put the fish back in. They adapted to the new setting, and they all seem healthy and active.
Here's the thing, the Petricola would come out and swim about every now and then, exploring the tank and swimming up and down the glass, exploring the tank-heater (I don't know why they do that all the time; it used to be covered in hairy algae, but I've scrubbed it off. Maybe they're intrigued by the complex structure?).
But they're paying very little, if any, attention to the food. I've tried everything. I fed them when they come out. I fed them when they're hiding. I fed them in the morning with curtains closed so the sunlight doesn't scare them. I fed them in the afternoon when they're out exploring. I drop food for them at night after lights out.
Them blebers either not come out of their caves at all, or just swim about all over the place like three dorks while the greedy Platies gobble up all those high-protein catfish pellets. I fed them frozen bloodworm cubes and Corydoras algae wafers. They ignored everything, even Tetraplankton, their old favorite.
I've read that Petricola may not eat for weeks while they get used to new surroundings, but these three are already out and about. Why aren't they eating as much as they used to? With the black-gravel, they would root around as long as I keep feeding them. With this new set-up, I'd be lucky if they take four or five tiny pellets and wander off to pole-dance on the tank-heater again.
Whenever they come out and explore (like, RIGHT NOW), I don't know if I should feed them because I risk overfeeding the Platies instead. My brother told me not to worry as "They won't be stupid enough to starve themselves to death", but who knows?
Any advice on this strange behavior would be appreciated!
At first, the gravel in my tank is some sort of black charcoal pellets. I've been feeding the fish Tetraplankton pellets and sinking catfish pellets, and the Petricola would swim out during feedings and root vigorously in the gravel for the fallen food. All is fine.
A few weeks ago though, I changed the gravel to white, fine Amazon River sand, because I read that coarse gravel isn't good for catfish barbels. I put the fish back in. They adapted to the new setting, and they all seem healthy and active.
Here's the thing, the Petricola would come out and swim about every now and then, exploring the tank and swimming up and down the glass, exploring the tank-heater (I don't know why they do that all the time; it used to be covered in hairy algae, but I've scrubbed it off. Maybe they're intrigued by the complex structure?).
But they're paying very little, if any, attention to the food. I've tried everything. I fed them when they come out. I fed them when they're hiding. I fed them in the morning with curtains closed so the sunlight doesn't scare them. I fed them in the afternoon when they're out exploring. I drop food for them at night after lights out.
Them blebers either not come out of their caves at all, or just swim about all over the place like three dorks while the greedy Platies gobble up all those high-protein catfish pellets. I fed them frozen bloodworm cubes and Corydoras algae wafers. They ignored everything, even Tetraplankton, their old favorite.
I've read that Petricola may not eat for weeks while they get used to new surroundings, but these three are already out and about. Why aren't they eating as much as they used to? With the black-gravel, they would root around as long as I keep feeding them. With this new set-up, I'd be lucky if they take four or five tiny pellets and wander off to pole-dance on the tank-heater again.
Whenever they come out and explore (like, RIGHT NOW), I don't know if I should feed them because I risk overfeeding the Platies instead. My brother told me not to worry as "They won't be stupid enough to starve themselves to death", but who knows?
Any advice on this strange behavior would be appreciated!
