New vulture catfish from Jeff rapps

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I am not certain but the redness of his anal fin concerns me. Coud be just pigmentation but I'd keep an eye on it.

I was wondering about that as well. His mouth was a little bloody and his barbels were red as well when I took him out of the bag. That all cleared up with an hour. Ill keep an eye on the anal fin.


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His swimmimg is still somewhat stressed. I would turn lights off and leave him be for now.
 
Vultures are much more scavengers, like say Leiarius, not as predatory as TSN at all. Not even RTC can compare to TSN in this terms. And that was more for Miguel, not so much you. Your vulture is 8". What's the length of your loaches? Unless they are tiny relatively, you have little to worry about as experts on PlanetCatfish told you in your sister thread.
 
Those cichlids and clown loaches will be some expensive snack for that cat. Vulture cats are very fast and aggressive eaters. Mines eventually got around to attack my fly river turtle and did some real damage. When they bite a fish and shake, they can break that fish in 2 pieces. They were one of mine favorite until they start doing some damage. Good Luck.
 
As stated, if you keep him well fed, IMO and IME you have little to worry about; keeping a close watch is a must though. I'd fully respect and take into account the opposing experience expressed above. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive - just that you need to do more research to understand when and why they behave docile and when highly predatory. Plenty of threads/info on vultures on MFK and on PCF.
 
Thanks for all the compliments and words of warning! I'll definitely keep an eye on the loaches. But as a precaution this cat is gonna be eating good to curb his appetite for flesh. Lol.

On a side note, this fish does NOT stop swimming! Super active, even with the lights off. I'm sitting here in very dim lighting and I can see his white belly flashing back and forth across the front of the tank. Also the red on the anal fin is gone. It must've just been some irritation from being in the bag overnight.
 
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