Can Channel Cats get along with Bullhead Cats?

[xspainx69]

Its ok , my Bullhead and Channel are getting along now..Im not sure what happened over night but I guess some sort of compromise was reached in the tank. They both act like they've been together since the start of time.

 

[xspainx69]

Its ok , my Bullhead and Channel are getting along now..Im not sure what happened over night but I guess some sort of compromise was reached in the tank. They both act like they've been together since the start of time.

I spoke to soon, the Channel Cat is pounding his mouth on the Bullheads sides.

Luckily for me , I know a fellow hobbyist near me who was willing to take him in his 120 G.

He doesn't have any catfish in his tank so this will be his first little monster.

My Channel Cat wins again with no contender to oppose his divine rule in my tank.

 

[nativelover]

Yeah so I finally got a Brown Bullhead a little bit bigger than my Channel Cat.

My Channel is about 8 Inches and skinny and the Bullhead is 9 Inches and has more girth.

Based on my observations, I am not sure if they are fighting or if the Channel Cat chasing the Bullhead around and rubbing against him is some sort of strange manner, its almost like they are trying to mate or something....the rubbing occurs when they are parellel to one another from side to side.

There are no signs of injury on the exterior.

*****I am going to upgrade to a bigger tank soon*****

I hope this statement will deter the "Its too small " fanatics from destroying the thread.

Because on MFK , there is no such thing as a big enough tank....Its always too small lol

ya, they're disputing over territory, they cant do much now, but when you GET A BIGGER TANK and that channel gets bigger, he'll eat your bullhead.

 

[xspainx69]

ya, they're disputing over territory, they cant do much now, but when you GET A BIGGER TANK and that channel gets bigger, he'll eat your bullhead.

You know what , I really wish people read the posts before repeating things already clarified like 2 threads ago.:WTF:

No Nativelover, I am getting a smaller tank

 

[mitch]

Hi, just come across this thread. I have kept these fish together in the past when i was a teenager. I had the bullhead first and added the chanel after. I found that the chanel was a very fast grower and overtook the bully for size in no time what so ever.

They used to always fight over a tube by rubbing/ knocking against each other like explained earlier but didn't seem to do any harm ar damage to the fish. Even though the channel was 2-3" to the bullies 6-7" when introduced the channel got to 15-18" when the while bully was approaching 10".
But trust me there were no signs of the channel eating the bully.
Out of the blue I unfortionatly lost the channel as the bully finaly had enough of him and beat him ****less. I woke one morning and found the channel upside down at the top of the tank, i seperated him but he died a few days later.

 

[xspainx69]

Hi, just come across this thread. I have kept these fish together in the past when i was a teenager. I had the bullhead first and added the chanel after. I found that the chanel was a very fast grower and overtook the bully for size in no time what so ever.

They used to always fight over a tube by rubbing/ knocking against each other like explained earlier but didn't seem to do any harm ar damage to the fish. Even though the channel was 2-3" to the bullies 6-7" when introduced the channel got to 15-18" when the while bully was approaching 10".
But trust me there were no signs of the channel eating the bully.
Out of the blue I unfortionatly lost the channel as the bully finaly had enough of him and beat him ****less. I woke one morning and found the channel upside down at the top of the tank, i seperated him but he died a few days later.

Dude! Im telling you , the Channel Cat was bashing him with his mouth. Its kind of like how Dolphins fight using their mouth beak. The same way the Channel would charge the Bullhead on his side and bash him with his hard mouth. I would hear the substrate kick up and hear BOOM! . It would startle me! I got scared I thought the Channel Cat crashed into the tank glass.

The Bullhead got so fed up and tired that I caught him resting on top of the log while the Channel would patrol the bottom, and I just felt so sad because the Bullhead is so docile and nice and the Channel is being a scum bag for no reason at all. So I was just like you know what, this isn't gonna work and I made a phone call and got him a new home with a friend.

There were times when the Bullhead would retaliate, but the squabbling never ended..... That was the problem the Channel Cat persisted in fighting.

So I love fish in general, I didnt want to see the Bullhead get hurt for entertainment. Im not like that. I would rather see it thrive in a healthy environment.

 

[gar man]

as long as they are the same size it should work

 

[sandtiger]

Dude, quite bring back dead threads. If I was still the law in these parts your ass would be grass.

 

[Venom SS]

Bullheads and catfish in general do not always get along. I had 2 Bullheads that I caught that were maybe 3" and they got along fine for about 2 months, then the slightly larger one almost killed the other forcing me to give it away. I kept the larger one and he was pretty cool, he didnt do much but lay on the bottom under a log untill I tapped on the glass. Then he would slowly come up to the surface and take food from my hand, and even let me rub his head. (sometimes he bit me). Unfortunatly he died during transport when I was moving my tank to my new house. He had grown to about 14" over 2 years or so. RIP Brutus

Edit: didnt realize this thread was almost a year old lol

 

[Bottomfeeder]

well channel catfish will have no reason not to eat a bullhead.

oh, you need a bigger tank
full-grown channel catfish need 250g