Mystus owners!

[rossandrews, posts: 7]

I have what I think is a Mystus singaringan and I have never seen it eat. I have had it probably around a year now it shares a plant pot with my clown loach and is on show all the time but i never see it feed. I have tried most foods and cant temp it out. is this normal? its a fairly large fish i would have thought it would have a big appetite?

thanks

[Silurus]

Did you try feeding with the lights out? It must be eating, since you've already kept it for a year.

[rossandrews, posts: 7]

I will try tonight im pretty sure i have tried with the lights off. He cant be eating much most of the food is cleared by the other fish he must be waiting till last and cleaning the gravel. hes the most inactive fish ever he rarely moves.....hes still alive

[Shovelnose, posts: 841]

What are the other tankmates??? All the species I have kept (barring one specimen) have taken to food , both processed and live almost immediately. I drop the food in as late as possible in the night and all the fish always turn up irrespective of whether I am around not.

[rossandrews, posts: 7]

Well i tried it with the light off with muscles and blood worm. And he did take one small cut up piece of muscle that landed on his nose other than that he didnt move out of the flower pot.
Tank mates
1 clown loach
1 red tail black shark
2 angel fish
1 small rocket gar
1 small ornate bichir
2 flying foxes.
The cat is the biggest fish and share his pot with either clown loach or shark or both

[Shovelnose, posts: 841]

I can't hazard a guess as to whether the Gar or the Polypterus will harass the Mystus as I have no experience with either, but I believe you should rethink the stock of your tank. The other fish are not suitable to be in the same tank as well.

Try good quality sinking pellets like Hikari Carnivore etc. Most of the Mystus I have seem to show a marked preference towards Hikari products. I was quite shocked when I tried Hikari Massivore recently. The entire tank went berserk.

[rossandrews, posts: 7]

which ones are not suitable the tank is very peaceful?

the rocket gar characin (inly about 2.5 inches long) swims in the top 2 inches of water and only really swims with the 2 angel fish. The bichir is only a baby and doesnt bother anyone he's very new. the shark which is the boss of the tank sleeps next the cat and the clown. without the shark in there the cat acts the same.

I will try the hikari pellets and see if this improves. I will carry on feeding in the dark as this didnt seem to bother any of the other fishes feeding.

[Shovelnose, posts: 841]

Flying Fox is the common name of quite a few (4 ???) cyprinid fish. I don't think any of them will be peaceful in the long run. Epalzeorynchos bicolor (Red Tail Shark) is also a fish of similar temperament. Also, the water conditions these fish require also differ from each other and may not suit them in the long run.

In case it helps, there is a habitat picture (M.singaringan) here : viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36032&hilit=mystus

I think a nice and fat sinking pellet will end the issue. Let us know how it goes.

[rossandrews, posts: 7]

your right just checked and the flying fox is in fact Crossocheilus siamensis siamese algae eater, there are 2 of them and they keep themselves to themselves.

its a shame the catfish isnt more lively he looks awesome.

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2279]

I can't be sure what my albino Mystus is. I have had him for 3 years and he is now pushing 10" TL. He has always been inquisitive and not much of a hider from the 3" size but he always shared tanks and ponds with lots of actively swimming fish.

He is a Bagridae and they are known to at least stand their ground well enough, if not being aggressors. The only other Mystus I had were the Asian upside down catfish - Mystus leucophasis, an aggressive fish too. The only two fish that can pick on yours, I think, are the shark and the algae eaters.

I don't really know how to change things in your tank so he comes out more. I doubt they are shoaling, so adding more conspecifics will probably lead to fighting. So, I'd either remove the possible aggressors (the shark and the algae eaters) and/or add more active, mid-water swimming (dither) fish.

Anyway, my Mystus knowledge is tiny. Shovelnose (Balaji) is one of the big resident experts on Mystus. One might say he has a borderline unhealthy obsession with them

I know clown loaches do the best in groups and then should not hide. My sharks never hid either. Always in the open when alone. When in a group, the ones that can't stand their own would hide while the others don't.

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2279]

Shows you again how much I know about Mystus. What I thought was one is probably a Hemibagrus: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36790, thanks much to Balaji (Shovelnose).