Upside Down Catfish

[Kageshi17]

I have a 29g with 1 paradise gourami, 2 snails, and 4 catfish. Do you think it would be overstocked if I added a few upsidedown catfish? I heard they were aggressive but I saw them in a tank with a whole bunch of tetras in the friendly community section.

They are really neat and I am extremely partial to catfish.

Would they be a good addition?

[piotrkol1]

I would say the catfish would be fine with the other fish. I used to have an upside down catfish, and it pretty much stayed out of the other fishes way. You might wanna give him a small hiding spot though to stay out of the light as these fish are nocturnal and mainly active when the lights go out.

[girth vader]

they can be a little agressive within their own kind and will definitely muscle out any fish that goes for food that he/she have dibs on. They can get grumpy if another fish tries to steal their treats but reading your post you already have catfish (i'll presume cories) and your cories wont stand a chance eating, they will get out muscled by the USD cats.

[Kageshi17]

My cories only eat algae wafers that sink to the bottom of the tank and I heard that USD cats tend to eat on all levels of the tank, not just the bottom. Could I feed them flakes? If that is possible, then everything would go well, for my gourami definately is looking for some challenges when eating. Right now its just too easy for him!

I was also wondering if USD cats are schooling fish. I read that they can reach lengths of 4 inches. That is a bit too large for my tank. If I could just keep 1...or mayyyyyyyyyybe 2, then that would be cool. Do they need lots of friends? Or can they stay smaller then that?

[girth vader]

generally speaking 3-4", yes they like buddies (4) and your tank can handle it. But they can get grumpy towards other bottom dwellers, thats all. they will go up mid tank if the food is sinking but they like it better on the bottom, less work. buy 4 and see how it goes, you can always return them for credit. if you take a clay pot and half it, the cories and the USD cats will both have a place to chill, but like i said, when they are both roaming the bottom, they (USD) probably will upset the mood of the cories and intimidate them.

[MyraVan]

Originally Posted by girth vader

if you take a clay pot and half it...

This may be a stupid question, but how do you do that? Clay pots are very brittle; what do you use to cut it with?

[Fishboy93]

When i used mine to breed kribs i went at it with a hammer.....

[Kageshi17]

Hahaha, ok. Thank you all. I guess maybe I will rethink the USD cats. I really like them but I dont think im ready for em just yet !

[Damon]

Use a dremel to split clay pots into equal halves. Sand down all edges.

[girth vader]

i dont know what a dremel is but I used a hand grinder with a cutting blade (thin). kept it wet.