PlanetCatfish.com

I posted a couple of weeks or so about C. ornatus - I was thinking of adding one to my African tank, to cohabit with Polypterus, bush fish and knife fish. I finally got one yesterday - a real beauty, around 6" long.

The tank has loads of bogwood/branches and a few large terracotta pots of plants.

I know its really early days, but the cat didn't seem to be able to find anywhere to really settle. Will it be happy with finding a wood hidespot, or should I put something else in? I did try some lengths of plastic plumbing pipe, but it floats!

I don't know whether these guys eat young Xenomystus in the wild, but mine seems to be giving the cat a really wide berth! It wouldn't be able to eat a 6" knife fish would it? Its got a huge mouth for its size!

Cheers,
Mark.

Mine had no trouble finding a hiding spot under driftwood. Give it a few days.

There are some horror stories about things they've tried to swallow. Mine tried to eat a 3 inch Clarias batrachus; I had to pull the (dead) Clarias out of its gullet.

Thanks guys, it seems to have settled in very well. It really likes defrost cockles. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem too shy at all, and is really active. My knifefish and polypterus do seem to have been more shy since it went in the tank, but I've stopped worrying about the wood cat eating its tankmates. I'd love to see how half a dozen interact in a large tank....

Mark.