Bumblebee cats: any hope of them coming out in daylight?

[Andyroo]

Do dither-fish help, as with loaches?

The importer had bumblebee cats at ~1cm & they were adorable, and affordable, so I ordered five. They doubled if not trebled in size in 3-months, but to see them is only by flashlight well after dark. Markings are iridescent & I'm otherwise very happy with them.

I removed the sleeper gobies & lemon tetras last month, so these cats are in a near-empty 55 with 2x small clown pleco .sp & a guppy brood-pair, bamboo segments & coconut halves over a Halimeda "oats" sand substrate. Tank is un-lit, but one end gets reflected window-light enough to keep plants from dying (without growing). It's an older set-up so oscracods, amphipods, annelids, various snails etc. all should be present, along with one-one baby guppy.

Q: Re-add dithers (more guppies?)?
Q: Flow/current?
Q: Almond/blackwater?

... or is it just time & growing-up?

 

[tlindsey]

Q: Re-add dithers (more guppies?)?
Q: Flow/current?
Q: Almond/blackwater? From my experience except for flow/current didn't make a difference. The amazon bumblebee stills hides under driftwood

I had 3 and now have 1in a 20gal with a banjo catfish that I only see come from under the sand when it's hungry lol.

 

[fishguy1978]

Not a chance. I have a half dozen or so and I only see them when I remove all the hides to clean the tank.

 

[tlindsey]

Re-add dithers (more guppies?)?
Q: Flow/current?
Q: Almond/blackwater

Non made a difference with the exception of the flow/current. Was thinking about adding a small hob .

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

While I've never personally tried this, I've heard that using a red tank light gives the fish the illusion of nighttime and gets the night owls out of their hidey holes. But there are probably less expensive solutions.

 

[Ogertron3000]

If you have lots of cover and lots of plants, turn off the lights and close the curtains then sit in front of your tank for a week you may get lucky just once and see one dart out from under one piiece of wood straight under another one for about 0.5 seconds.

 

[Lazybum34]

Do dither-fish help, as with loaches?

The importer had bumblebee cats at ~1cm & they were adorable, and affordable, so I ordered five. They doubled if not trebled in size in 3-months, but to see them is only by flashlight well after dark. Markings are iridescent & I'm otherwise very happy with them.

I removed the sleeper gobies & lemon tetras last month, so these cats are in a near-empty 55 with 2x small clown pleco .sp & a guppy brood-pair, bamboo segments & coconut halves over a Halimeda "oats" sand substrate. Tank is un-lit, but one end gets reflected window-light enough to keep plants from dying (without growing). It's an older set-up so oscracods, amphipods, annelids, various snails etc. all should be present, along with one-one baby guppy.

Q: Re-add dithers (more guppies?)?
Q: Flow/current?
Q: Almond/blackwater?

... or is it just time & growing-up?

Maybe try adding more hides mine came out in the day when I had alot

 

[Fishman Dave]

Very much will depend on which bumblebee cats you have. If they turn out to be Asian bumblebee cats then yes you have a chance of seeing them (they can be 9” though so definitely easier to see). Typical “dwarf” bumblebee cats, mmmmmm unless you like sitting in the dark with a red light torch, few and far between are sightings for you I am afraid!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I assume the q is about Microglanis ingerinhi aka SA bumblebee catfish.

There are lots of others.

 

[Andyroo]

Yes, the little SA one, at least as far as I can tell.