Feeding Liosomadoras oncinus

[redfan]

Hi,

A quick question regarding feeding these wonderful catfish.

These Jaguars (I have 3) are a good 3" each, have been feeding them bits of prawn some nights and gel based Tetra bloodworm (it sinks quicker than other varieties) others.

Have fed them bloodworm tonight, however how do I know if they are feeding? I did use my mobiles light to try and see if they were about (only come out when its pitch dark atm as only been in tank a few days) and did see at least 2 of them very active.

My concern is the fact I have 25 or so tetra in the tank that also really like bloodworm, I noticed several of them bombing down to the bottom tonight. Are the Jaguars going to get enough? Can I assume if they were hungry my cardinal population would start to err dwindle?

My thanks for your time, just trying to figure out if they are eating enough is all

[sidguppy]

maybe the mods can move this; this belongs in the South American Catfishes section.

on topic:
these cats take some time to settle in. it's normal that they don't eat much if at all for the first few weeks (!).

so do not feed to much; if youpollute the tank with leftover food, the waterquality goes down, ammonia will spike and the catfish don't like that.

best feed little; both a daily feed (for the characins) and a nightly one (for the jags), but small portions.

they can be fed with a wide range of food, but bloodworm as well as artemia, mysis, regular tropical flake, pellets, krill, chopped prawns, mussels etc are all good.

take care not to overfeed them, once acclimatized this species is quite the glutton and it can look like a finned billiart ball when overfed

unfortunately small fishes are also on the menu.....it's not as good a hunter as its relative the Ageneiosus, but in the dark small tetras are toast.

Cardinals are feeders......especially once the Jags are settled in.

if you like to combine them with Tetra's, highbuild ones are the best.
the catfish know what fits and what doesn't and they completely ignore fish like Hyphessobrycon ecuadoriensis (known as "Moenkhausia sp Colombia" in the trade), Gymnocorymbus bondi, Metynnis etc.

[racoll]

Good advice ^^

They're still in quarantine right (this thread)?

I would recommend a thin sand substrate in your quarantine tank, or perhaps a bare bottom.

Gravel is a really bad choice, as it hides all the uneaten food. You think the fish is eating it, you pile more in, the bits sink into the gravel and seriously pollutes the water (= dead fish).

With sand, it's sitting there in plain view, and can be siphoned away the next morning.

[Jools]

Topic moved to the correct forum.

Jools

[redfan]

Thanks for the replies

Firstly thanks for moving it Jools, sorry to have posted in the wrong section

Sidguppy - Well I have been feeding a single chopped prawn to all three, last night I did feed a pack of the jellied bloodworm but as usual feeding this was in the pitch black. I did use my mobile's general screen light and they were very active around the areas the food had dropped into.

Regarding water quality, I have always done a 5 - 10% daily water change so the gravel is usually skimmed and general leftover debris is removed pretty regularly.

Thanks for the advice regarding the tetra's it's something I'm trying to address atm tbh.

Racoll - Sadly the Jaguars had to be moved from the QT tank into there permanent home a lot sooner than I had planned. This was due to the Cuckoo catfish needing that tank (they had been attacking the gibbicep and magnum's fins) I hope you can understand that.

The Gibbicep and cuckoos have now been moved on so the only fish in that tank are the 20 tetra, magnum plec and the 3 Jaguars.

Re sand as the substrate, I have never gotten on with sand as a main substrate having had many issues with sand in water column / filters and also removing lots when hoovering.

I use sand as a base substrate for my plants, then a layer of fine - medium gravel topped with about an inch or so of fine gravel on top. This has always worked for me and even corys I have seem very happy with it.

On that note, I have observed during daylight hours the ease at which the Jags have moved this top layer in order to "dig in" within a wood cave in the tank

Feeding .. Would it be ok to feed these guys small pieces of fish such as cod / whiting etc? (asking as I get about 2kg of uncooked trimmings from local fish & chip shop for like £1.50 that I give my cats).

Cheers again guys

[sidguppy]

don't do it; it's way too fat for them and it'll kill your waterquality.....and afterwards the fish too.

best stick to regular fishfood; flake, granules, bloodworms, artemia, mysis etc

Liosomadoras accepts prepared food after acclimatizing, so you don't have to use a lot of frozen stuff.

remember; a catfish is not a garbage can!
if you treat it as such, the rest of your tank will soon look like one as well.

[redfan]

Hi

Sidguppy - When you say its bad for them you are referring to the cod and whiting cuttings?

Assuming prawns are ok as generally an accepted food for lots of fish.

I am trying my best not to overfeed them, so if someone can give me guidance regarding when I'm feeding the Jaguars bloodworm or prawn how much should I use (its hard to see food in the tank at night)? They are about 4" each now, tonight I fed them 3 prawns (cut in half) they seemed to be all gone within seconds tbh.

With bloodworm, I find it much easier using the Tetra bloodworm that's in a jelly as it sinks quicker and less likely to be eaten by tetras. Should I just feed the 1 pouch or 2?

When doing my daily 5 - 10% clean I hoover lots of poo but not much in left over food. I can see them going crazy for the food when it goes in the tank.

Many thanks again

[Richard B]

I've never found these to be fussy feeders - maybe not as vigourous as ome species but they've eaten a wide variety of commercially prepared aquarium foods without hesitation as well as insects, oyster, prawns, crab, lobster, worms etc

A little bit of fish should be ok but as a very occasional food if you must - there are so many better things to offer. & if you want something cheap, then insects is a good option for a lot of auchenipterids.

[Proteus]

I just pulled in my 5 fellas, 3 adults and 2 juvies. They sure got too thin over the summer in the ponds, now they're currently pounding anything I'm putting in the tank, flake food, earthworm sticks, even brine shrimp that they turned up their noses on when I first got them in.

Now they're total different fish VS the day I brought them back in, be careful as they will overeat now the 2 juvies are not as shy as the adults and now look like ping pong balls.

[redfan]

Hi, Thought I would update this

All 3 of the Jaguars are doing really well I have tried to reduce what they are getting food wise. Currently I feed them on either prawn (1 and half cut up) or a sachet of bloodworm mix both of these I serve with 3 or 4 catfish pellets.

They are about 4" min so they do polish off food pretty quick. Am assuming they are getting enough as none of the neon / cardinal tetra have vanished.

Many thanks for all the replies, one quick question though ... When I clean the tank out I find these little (maybe the size of a wafer) balls of reddish gloop that get sucked up (perhaps 3 or 4 a day). Is this there waste or just remnants from the bloodworm mix (it's served in a jelly like substance)?

Thanks again

[Marc van Arc]

When I clean the tank out I find these little (maybe the size of a wafer) balls of reddish gloop that get sucked up (perhaps 3 or 4 a day). Is this there waste or just remnants from the bloodworm mix (it's served in a jelly like substance)?

By the description it seems you are sucking up eggs.....

[redfan]

eggs??

Are you saying these guys are breeding? This has only occurred in the last 2 weeks and I have noticed most mornings irrespective of what I have fed.

From what I have read Oncinus is not reported to breed in captivity ... could they be the eggs of either assassin snails or tetra?

Would it be fine for me to (once sucked up) remove from the bucket and place in a container for photo purposes?

Got my mind thinking now lol
Cheers

[Birger]

Many thanks for all the replies, one quick question though ... When I clean the tank out I find these little (maybe the size of a wafer) balls of reddish gloop that get sucked up (perhaps 3 or 4 a day). Is this there waste or just remnants from the bloodworm mix (it's served in a jelly like substance)?

I have possibly seen similar, always after the fish had helped themselves to green beans given mainly for ancistrus and of course the "balls of gloop" were green.

Birger

[redfan]

Birger - That's what I thought tbh but given a suggestion of eggs, I need to know now lol

Have attached an image .. Found 6 in the tank this am, they are quite hard but very fluffy on the edges.

So if anyone can clarify if these are eggs or just waste from the Jaguars I would be very grateful

Thanks

[Richard B]

I can confirm that what is in the picture is definately not L.Oncinus eggs

[redfan]

Thanks Richard ... quite a relief tbh lol