Batrochoglanis raninus "Bumblebee" ?

[Leviathan64]

This is my first post to this site so be gentle. I'm not new to fish keeping (20+ years) but I am new to keeping any catfish's besides cory cats. So here we go. I currently have a 7" Batrochoglanis raninus in a 260 gallon. Tank mates are an oscar, midas, jaguar, jd's, hrp's and festivus. I was reading that the Batrochoglanis raninus being nocturnal disturbs resting fish. This in turn could stress these fish causing trouble down the road. The Batrochoglanis raninus has been in this set up for about a month. I know I can't stop the behavior so if the nocturnal activity is affecting his tank mates I would rather give him a new home. Any thoughts are welcome.

Great site. So much information it's almost mind boggling.

[Richard B]

Your bumblebee isn't the most "frantic" of nocturnal fish & in a tank that size i see no problems - providing it is reasonably well fed ("meatier" foods) & that the cichlids are clearly large enough to NOT be considered food. Keep all this in mind as the growth rates may possibly alter these caveats.

[ahodge84]

First off, nice fish! I hadn't really heard of type of "bumblebee" cat before, so it's always fun to see a new species.

Second, I wouldn't worry about it much at all. As the previous poster stated, with a tank that size, I doubt it would be a problem. Also, it sounds like most of its tankmates should be able to fend for themselves and would, therefore, likely not be disturbed by his nighttime foraging.

Enjoy your sweet cat!

[Leviathan64]

Thanks for the replies. All fish are 7" or larger except for the hrp's which are around 3". The raninus stays in a ceramic pot during the day. It's sits top side down and it's drilled with a 2 & 1/2" opening. I feed him directly through the opening spirulina discs @ a couple a day. I would assume in his foraging @ night he gets the remains of pellet and stick food off the bottom. Any recommendations on a specific food?

[Richard B]

small cooked prawns, bloodworm pellets, live earthworms, earthworm sticks, hikari tropical sinking carnivore pellets, krill, chopped mussells, brineshrimp pellets....the list is extensive!

Edit: Cat-e-log also lists an incident of the stomach contents where there was a lots of seeds of waterside plants. if you were inclined you might want to try sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc - maybe you might also consider trying soft fruits which are known to be consumed by some of the bigger pims in the wild - like plums, peach etc