There was an old catfish that swallowed a pike....

[CFC]

....a pike Cichlid that is.

Two nights ago my Cephalosiluris nigricauda decided that eating a pike Cichlid of the same size and stature seemed like a good idea, both fish are/were around the 10" mark.



Two days later and the cat still hasnt finished swallowing its meal with the pikes tail still visable in the throat and its stomach being extreemly swollen, the cat also seems to be in some distress breathing heavily and restlessing switching from one position to the other, chronic indegestion i would guess.



Should i leave nature to take its course and leave the cat to continue swallowing the pike a bit at a time as the parts in the stomach digest or should i intervine and remove the still visable parts of the pike with sissors and tweezers, i dont know if the cat can choke from taking pray thats too large and i really dont want to lose it over eating a bloody Cichlid.

Thanks, CFC

[Chrysichthys]

pikes tail still visable in the throat

Is it possible to grasp the tail and pull the pike out in one piece?

[Marc van Arc]

I would allow nature to take its course. If you have to catch the fish (not to mention the scissor part), it'll become even more stressed than it already is.
Perhaps it has learnt something from the event and won't take preys of that size in the future.

[Corydoras2]

Old catfish? - How old is it really?

[CFC]

Its not an old catfish at all, i was just playing with the words of a childrens rhyme " there was an old women who swallowed a fly" etc etc. I have only had the cat for a few months and i recieved it when it was just a few inches long so i guess its under a year old.

I guess i'll just let nature take its course, thanks guys.

[grokefish]

Do not attempt to remove it, if it really is too big it'll puke it back up.

[Marc van Arc]

I guess i'll just let nature take its course, thanks guys.

How's your fish getting along?

[CFC]

The fish is doing fine, it took around a week to fully digest the pike and then went back into its usual ravenous state. I am actually really concerned for the safety of the other fish in the tank as i have caught it trying to eat fish much larger than itself on mornings when i have skipped a feed the night before, i now HAVE to deliberately target the nigricauda every evening to sate its massive appetite and prevent it grabbing my other fish.

[Marc van Arc]

Which other (cat-)fishes are in the tank with the Cephalosilurus? Not the Ageneiosids I hope??

[sidguppy]

yeah, that could be very tragic.

expensive food too....best set up a separate tank for this huge monster before it's too late.....

[CFC]

The other catfish in the tank are 3 Sorubim lima and a Hemisorubim platyrynchos, they are all well over a foot in length so shouldnt really look like easy meals but the Cephalosiluris has tried at least twice, though unsuccessfully thankfully. The Ageneiosids are in other tanks, they are far too mellow and spend too much time sitting on the substrate where they would be easy targets.

I think a species tank is the right way to head so i'm going to start looking around for another 48" tank with a decent width and rebuild one of the fishroom racks to have another tier.

[Marc van Arc]

The Ageneiosids are in other tanks, they are far too mellow and spend too much time sitting on the substrate where they would be easy targets.

Well, that's a relief . It's indeed a good idea to give this "swimming dustbin" a tank of it's own. The Cephalosilurus will certainly try again and when it succeeds the end of the story might be worse than that of the pike....
Btw: I think Sorubim and Hemisorubim are quite as mellow as Ageneiosids when it comes to defending themselves.
The only difference is that they may sense the Cephalo quicker because of their longer whiskers.

[CFC]

Sorubims and Hemisorubims are indeed mellow fish but they are a lot more active than Ageneiosus and also a fair bit larger than my Ageneiosus are currently. The Ageneiosids would bit litterally sitting ducks and would most likely be too stuborn to move when the Cephalosiluris came up to eat them, they spend 90% of their time resting on the substrate and they are too lazy even to hide

Maybe i should put the Cephalosiluris in with my electric cat and see if it learns some manners about not eating tankmates

(only joking btw)