Hey guys just got my 2 new vulture catfish, calophysus macropterus, one at about 7 inches and the other about 5 1/2 or 6 inches. Beautiful fish came in 28 hour shipping, and I drip acclimated them with an airline hose for about 30-40 minutes before dumping them in. At first, they skated around the tank, hit all 4 sides, and now, are strangely swimming upwards against the glass near the top. From one source I found that during acclimation and stressful times, they are in dire need of oxygen, more so than the usual fish. Both of them have been doing this behavior, non stop undulating near the top, for about 3 hours. Any tips on how to calm them. I turned lights off for now and also put some shrimp pieces, and a assortment of pellets, and they definitely ate when it went by them, but they haven't searched it out yet or moved from their spots. Anyone else have this happen to theirs as well?
Acclimating new vulture catfish
- Thread starter Landon Werner
- Start date
Sounds normal to me. I think they will calm down and come down off the wall, unless your aeration is wanting. They are very tough guys.
It's strange, I have 2 power heads with airlines going into them and blowing bubbles like crazy, and a spray bar that agitates the surface, but they still are there. I even hand fed them shrimp since they are so close to the surface, and they ate atleast 4 71/90 count shrimp each! Which is like their entire body mass. Lol. The big one came down once after eating the last, sat under hi s spot for a minute, then went back at it swimming face up near the top. Must just be nervous still, but less worried that they are fed now.
