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Hello,
I am planning to soon acquire a Gulper Catfish under 4". I have a 75g setup for him and there is still space left in his tank. I know that these cats are notorious eaters of their tank mates. I was wondering if Jaguar Catfish are a suitable tank mate assuming it would be several inches larger than the >4" Gulper Cat when they were introduced. Possibly the Gulper would realize that the Jaguar is too large to eat initially, however, would the Gulper try to consume the Jaguar two years down the road when they are closer in size? If not suitable, has anyone had any success with tank mates for a Gulper Catfish or are these truly best as a single species tank?

Thank you for your help.

As far as I know, unless you're stocking your tank with mature zungaro cats, all tankmates for gulper cats should only be purchased from tanks labeled "feeder fish."

The fact that the jaguar cat may be longer will not be sufficient. The tankmate must not fit in the gulper's mouth.

Cheers, Eric

Welcome to the Planet!

The ability to lock its pectoral and dorsal fins may be the saving grace for the jaguar but I personally wouldn't count on it. The gulper can still manage to swallow it or kill the jaguar while trying or the jaguar can kill the gulper when it manages to lock the spines when in the gulper's tummy.

As Eric said, the only safe tank mates are the ones that cannot be fathomably fitted into gulper's mouth, either circumference-wise or in one of the x or y directions, by a good margin of safety.

You can glean what tank mates we kept with our three gulpers through the years. We've had ours since 2015 but there is only one survivor currently. There was one occurrence where a 9" gulper swallowed a 9" Pimelodus blochii or tetramerus, who too could lock its spines but it didn't help it.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-7630190

Thank you, both of you I really appreciate it I will most likely get two gulpers!
thanks,
Sean

That is a simple question with a short answer: None. They wont tolerate any other species living together with them. I've got a group, I tried a few predators that were supposed to be safe and I witnessed my batrachus several times throwing an eye on fish the same size of them. Interestingly they don't even try to eat another batrachus, but once a different species enters the tank they turn on their beast-mode.

Yep,
I expected this gulpers have 1 tank-mate they can tolerate, gulpers.
I will keep everybody updated when I get them, I have done my research I already have a UV sterilizer for water-born bacteria. Sounds like they are easy to take care of, IF you make the right choices. And I am a very practiced fish keeper that has been in the hobby for years so I think this will be a breeze.
Thanks,
-- Sean

For the little it's worth, I disagree on both points. Gulpers can be easily kept with tank mates and gulpers are a huge challenge to keep and raise to adulthood and large sizes or so statistics has been showing for decades.

Both points have been either exemplified or elaborated or both in my gulper MFK thread I linked above.

Thanks for your sharing,It's really useful for me

Sean:

Hello. I am relatively new to posting on PlanetCatfish. You responded to my post titled "Gulper Catfish Tank Mate Ideas". I wanted to thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge on these wonderful animals. Since you have had Gulpers successfully for quite some time, I wanted to reach out and ask a few additional questions. I've found a lot of conflicting information online and am hoping you can share your best practices for keeping them.

I have a standard size 75 gallon tank into which I am planning to keep two ~3-4 inch Gulpers. The tank has a Fluval 407 canister filter and a Seachem 110 Tidal HOB filter. The substrate is soft sand and the only furniture are a 10" long, 6.5" tall, smooth custom ceramic caves. The filters are cycled and are on an uninterrupted power supply. I also have a UV sterilizer and a Hydros computer to control temperature and monitor water parameters. I have a RODI system at my house that supplies all water for my aquariums so I can customize water as needed. Right now, this tank is at a pH of 7 and 58ppm TDS.

1. What temperature are your Gulper's happiest with?
2. I am are planning to purchase the Gulpers from Predatory Fins. Where did you get yours from? Would you recommend Predatory Fins or another source?
3. How soft is your Gulper's water what are your water parameters?
4. What are your Gulper's favorite foods and what is their meal schedule?
...note that I don't plan to feed them live food at all. I plan to buy them a variety of foods from our local high-end fresh sea food shop.
5. You responded to my post that you disagreed with NOT being able to keep tank mates. Would you have any recommendations that might be possible with my setup.
6. I'm curious about the typical daily behavior of your Gulper(s). What practices have you found that makes them happiest and what practices do they really dislike? Is there certain furniture you found they liked? Did you train them (ex. take food from your hand, come to the surface for pets, etc.)?

Finally, I would appreciate any feedback regarding my setup as well as any best practices and lessons learned. I'm dedicated to doing what is needed to keep them happy and have the best chance of success.

Thank You,
--Sean


Viktor:

1. What temperature are your Gulper's happiest with?
***75-85 F it seems

2. I am are planning to purchase the Gulpers from Predatory Fins. Where did you get yours from? Would you recommend Predatory Fins or another source?
***in 2015 from Raymond Chan of Amazing Fish, LA, California, but he closed down his operation. Roderigo is my friend. He always has good fish. But lately he's been hiring people to handle the fish sales, packing and shipping for him and some people who I trust complained of the quality. So IDK what to tell you. At least make sure they offer and you understand the dead / sick of arrival guarantee policy.

3. How soft is your Gulper's water what are your water parameters?
***Medium hard water. It tends to shift a bit slowly toward harder so I have to keep correcting it. At least 3 degree KH and 3 degree GH. At most 6 and 6 but the gulper starts to behave uncomfortable at the increased hardness, stops feeding.

4. What are your Gulper's favorite foods and what is their meal schedule?
...note that I don't plan to feed them live food at all. I plan to buy them a variety of foods from our local high-end fresh sea food shop.
***thawed herring 6"-8", my gulper is 9"; must be fortified with VitaChem supplement. Currently about one such feeding in 3-4 weeks. They eat much more when smaller.

5. You responded to my post that you disagreed with NOT being able to keep tank mates. Would you have any recommendations that might be possible with my setup.
***75 gal might be too small to keep your gulpers with tank mates large enough not to be eaten. In our 240 gal, an example would be a 20" Labeo species, whish is like a large carp, or a 14" midas cichlid (tall fish).

6. I'm curious about the typical daily behavior of your Gulper(s). What practices have you found that makes them happiest and what practices do they really dislike? Is there certain furniture you found they liked? Did you train them (ex. take food from your hand, come to the surface for pets, etc.)?
***They don't like bright lighting, strong current, absence of hiding place. Best hiding place is so that you too always able to see them, like a flat rock leaned against front glass. They train easily to hand feed. I try to not pet fish as it removes their protective slime coat.

Finally, I would appreciate any feedback regarding my setup as well as any best practices and lessons learned.
***Every learning of mine of importance you should find in that MFK thread I linked for yah.

HTH.
Viktor