Recent Gulper Catfish

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Miks786

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 23, 2017
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hey guys I just got my 2 gulper catfish today (really stoked)

I noticed the 1 is really active and the other just lays in one place...

Anything I should worry about???
Heard these guys are not easy to keep

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Not much to worry as laying around is a normal behavior for gulpers.
 
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most catfish like to lay in sand i know because mine also do ive had them for two years no problems. don't worry its perfectly normal
 
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Are they easy fish to keep?

If water is always kept clean
yes they are fairly easy and like eating at bottom of tank also they are pretty hardy fish but always make sure your water is clean i do water changes every week they produce lots of biomass, you should try creating more of an eco type aquarium with them they will love it get some live plants in there if you can also if possible with the live plants use a nutrient factor for the plants called flourish.
 
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That’s what the tank looks like now bud...Is it good for them?

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They really not easy to get here in South Africa so I wana give them the best of care
 
IMHO they are not easy to keep, judging from so many cases or people having problems with them sooner or later. I don't recall a single report here on MFK of someone keeping a gulper for 5-10 years at least, except maybe Koltsixx.

My trio is 3 years old -- https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7630190 -- and I am having an unknown problem with one of mine. It's stopped eating and wasting away, has problems swimming up right. Been like that for a month or two now. The other two have been fine. I don't know if the struggling one is the one that had eaten (and digested seemingly fine) an equally sized 4-line pim catfish of ~9". If it is that one, the spiny pim might have damaged its internal organ and this is the result.

Pretty much 90%+ of gulper threads end rather soon with keepers reporting their fish having skin problems or wasting away. Most of these issues appear to stem from their need for water on softer and more acidic side versus the opposite. Most people's water in the US is rather hard. Some issues appear to be caused by people giving them live fish to feed on, which, given their weakened immune system versus their wild kin, sooner or later leads to an illness.


In general, they are not said to be a beginner fish at all but a specialty fish.
 
IMHO they are not easy to keep, judging from so many cases or people having problems with them sooner or later. I don't recall a single report here on MFK of someone keeping a gulper for 5-10 years at least, except maybe Koltsixx.

My trio is 3 years old -- https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7630190 -- and I am having an unknown problem with one of mine. It's stopped eating and wasting away, has problems swimming up right. Been like that for a month or two now. The other two have been fine. I don't know if the struggling one is the one that had eaten (and digested seemingly fine) an equally sized 4-line pim catfish of ~9". If it is that one, the spiny pim might have damaged its internal organ and this is the result.

Pretty much 90%+ of gulper threads end rather soon with keepers reporting their fish having skin problems or wasting away. Most of these issues appear to stem from their need for water on softer and more acidic side versus the opposite. Most people's water in the US is rather hard. Some issues appear to be caused by people giving them live fish to feed on, which, given their weakened immune system versus their wild kin, sooner or later leads to an illness.


In general, they are not said to be a beginner fish at all but a specialty fish.



My gulper like to lay around also I’ve had them for two years no problems
 
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