Has anyone ever kept a madtom before? I don't have any species native to my area though but I'd like to get my hands on one. It seems like they act as though they're just like any other cleanup catfish, and some madtoms have similar color patterns as a bumblebee cat. And to top it off, I've heard they have venom in their spines which makes them pretty neat! Do any of you keep them?
Madtom madness anyone?
- Thread starter timetraveler22
- Start date
I've kept a couple. Although they look cool, it doesn't matter because you will never see them. After a long time I was finally able to get them to come out just long enough to grab a little piece of food and then, gone again.
So they're specifically a nocturnal species? You can't even train them to come out during the day?
They're like most catfish. 90% you'll never see but that little 10% might come out every once in a while. The most active madtom I've ever seen was on Youtube. It was a Checkered Madtom that shared a 40 Long with a Redspotted sunfish. It had lots of hiding spaces and was being surface fed so the key is just to make them feel comfortable about coming out during lights on. I've never kept them but I plan on getting one soon.
That's a hard question. Realistically I'd get either a Stonecat for my larger tank after my bullhead is grown out or a Margined for my riffle tank. I'd love to get a Tadpole so badly but the PFBC says you can't own them in PA along with a bunch of other madtoms and natives, the one reason I want to move West 10 miles and be in Ohio
. Checkereds are my all time favorite though, just can never find them anywhere.
