Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii aka dorado catfish, 4"
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
Four 1ft adult bala sharks courtship time? Aggressive chasing each other, react to shiny tank mates, including dorado catfish, in 1800 gal:
Dorado catfish still does the tail standing sometimes / often, ~6in below the surface, which led me to think maybe low dissolved oxygen? So we doubled the flow & the stirring in the 1800 gal via a 48,000 l/h or 13,000 gal/h powerhead. (It hasn't changed the dorado's behavior, so I think it is just still settling into the new tank, being so nervous and high-strung fish as it is. The dorado hasn't fed yet either ever since the rehome 2-weeks ago from the neighboring 240 gal, where it had spent several years.)
Chronology of the problem / experiment:
- Dorado catfish Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii 5yo 2ft/60cm was rehomed from 240 to 1800 gal.
- It started doing a lot of unusual tail standing (swimming in one place vertically, head up, near a wall or not, ~6 inches below the surface, having never done in in 5 years with us before), which led me to think maybe the dissolved oxygen was too low for its need.
- Thus, we opened lids and in a week or so we doubled the flow & the stirring in the 1800 gal via a 48,000 l/h or 13,000 gal/h powerhead.
- It hasn't changed the dorado's behavior immediately, so I thought the tail standing was just still settling into the new tank, being such a nervous and high-strung fish as it is.
- The fish has not fed for 2 weeks in the new tank either.
- Yet, gradually the tail standing ceased and the fish started doing only regular horizontal laps around the tank and feeding very well.
- A month or two later, Hurricane Ian blew out our power for 5 days Sept 28 to Oct 2 2022 and we had not enough generator power to also run the 50W quadruple powerhead.
- The dorado catfish resumed the occasional tail standing! While feeding well though.
- Tentative conclusion: dorado catfish seems to have an unusually acute demand for dissolved oxygen vs its 50+ very diverse, motley crew tank mates, who have never shown any change in behavior with or without the powerhead and the lids open or not.
- Dorado catfish Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii 5yo 2ft/60cm was rehomed from 240 to 1800 gal.
- It started doing a lot of unusual tail standing (swimming in one place vertically, head up, near a wall or not, ~6 inches below the surface, having never done in in 5 years with us before), which led me to think maybe the dissolved oxygen was too low for its need.
- Thus, we opened lids and in a week or so we doubled the flow & the stirring in the 1800 gal via a 48,000 l/h or 13,000 gal/h powerhead.
- It hasn't changed the dorado's behavior immediately, so I thought the tail standing was just still settling into the new tank, being such a nervous and high-strung fish as it is.
- The fish has not fed for 2 weeks in the new tank either.
- Yet, gradually the tail standing ceased and the fish started doing only regular horizontal laps around the tank and feeding very well.
- A month or two later, Hurricane Ian blew out our power for 5 days Sept 28 to Oct 2 2022 and we had not enough generator power to also run the 50W quadruple powerhead.
- The dorado catfish resumed the occasional tail standing! While feeding well though.
- Tentative conclusion: dorado catfish seems to have an unusually acute demand for dissolved oxygen vs its 50+ very diverse, motley crew tank mates, who have never shown any change in behavior with or without the powerhead and the lids open or not.
What a relief! Reading the above post, as soon as I came to the words "Hurricane Ian" I cringed; I thought for sure something had happened to this beautiful cat. Thank goodness it didn't! You seem to have its requirements dialed in.
Absolutely incredible fish; I'll never have one but will always admire them...
Absolutely incredible fish; I'll never have one but will always admire them...
Tentative conclusion (more likely): the catfish needs better current, more water movement and not necessarily more oxygen.
Showcases the skittish, cautious and finicky nature of dorado catfish. Hesitates obviously before finally deciding to take the new-to-it mullet feed fish:
