Chiloglanis spec are not eating

by **rommer** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:55 am

Since a few weeks I have some Chiloglanis sp.

I suppose they are the same as all the other Chiloglanis sp who are now in Europa for sale.

About there behavior: They are always sitting at the same spot at the glas (in an area of 5x8 cm) so it's not really moving. I've seen them by a friend of mine and they are doing there the same thing.

They are really small (3 cm) and the problem is they are not eating. I've tried feeding them with dry food and frozen food but they don't react on it. What can i feed to get them start eating?

by **MatsP** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:31 am

From what I understand, these fish will eat little animals that live in the "aufwuchs" (biofilm) on rocks and such. They may not "know" that dry food is actually food, so using small live-food would probably be your best bet.

--
Mats

by **sidguppy** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 1:26 pm

rev up the current and the oxygen levels

it might very well be that they don't want to move out of the area where they can breathe.....

to make them go through the entire tank, I think you'd need to boost both current and oxygenlevel.

by **Jools** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:17 pm

OK, first of all, make sure you've got Chiloglanis, their care is very different from other African suckermouths. Secondly, temperature shouldn't be higher than 76F and you should have at least a strong airstone but preferably power filtration. Water quality isn't otherwise that important, neutral pH and a reasonable water change regime. Finally, the thing that surprised me about these fishes is they are really territorial, three fishes in a 24x15x15 tank is two fishes too many after they settle!

Feed frozen or live bloodworm until you see the fishes eat (which they will do normally during the day). If they don't eat, I'd suggest you've got unsuitable conditions or "too far gone" fishes. Otherwise, after a while, they will take pretty much any dry foods like flake etc. They are really rewarding being active and visible all day.

Hope that helps,

Jools

by **rommer** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:33 pm

I've got also Euchilichthys guentheri in the same tank and they are doing fine. They started eating in a few days and i expected the same from this little fellows... But the Chiloglanis do nothing, just hanging on there spot. They aren't territorial at all (for now) as they are sitting so close to each other.

I don't have a very high flow but they don't seem to care as they aren't sitting in the flow...

Living food doesn't change a thing (just tried).

Could they be impressed by big fish in the tank or should it be the Oxygen who are to low? But why don't the Euchilichthys care?

I think i will try to get some extra flow in there corner, to see how they react to that...

by **sidguppy** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:16 pm

Chiloglanis are much harder to keep than Euchilichthys

Jools already hinted at that:

first of all, make sure you've got Chiloglanis, their care is very different from other African suckermouths

by **Jools** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:18 am

To be honest, I'd have them in their own tank until feeding well.

Jools

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by **sidguppy** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:54 am

agreed

I've tried em a few times, ages ago

the first time this exact thing happened and back then I didn't have a clue why, either.

the second time the food competition simply was too much
other attampts were just as bad.

haven't kept them in well over a decade and a half.
tricky fish.

Euchilichthys tend to handle their own if the tank isn't overcrowded, but Chiloglanis shouldn't be kept with other grazing cats or many catfishes at all for that matter IMO.

maybe Pareutropius or Synodontis contracta (which is very peaceful and shy) etc

currently my Congo tank has a group of S brichardi and a shoal of Garra congoensis
I'd love to keep Chiloglanis, since they finally turn up in the Netherlands, but I just don't dare killing em.

they really wouldn't stand a chance in my Congo tank. too many competitors. too many grazers.

so combining them with Euchilichthys isn't a good thing I think.

what other catfishes are in the tank with them?

by **Stan** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 11:17 pm

Do you have sand in your tank? I had the same problem keeping them in a tank with the sand and low current. They were very aggressive to each other and ate nothing, they looked disgusted by the sand

. Then, I transfered the Chilos to a tank with gravel and a very strong current (25-30x of tank volume), no problem since then. They are eating almost everything (live bloodworms, spirulina and normal Vitakraft tabs getting them very wild!) and they are very peaceful. No problems for 5 months now.