Dourada catfish rubbing it's about against the glass

[headbanger_jib]

As the title of this topic states, the cat rubs it's about so much against the glass I just don't understand why.

Bugger already has a bent up snout, now he is further damaging himself, any rememdy or even someone info regarding the cause of this behaviour would help greatly.

To give an idea of the current conditions, the fish is currently 3.5-4".
The tank is a 50gallon, the filtration system is a small sump(15gallon), volume of pump is 1700ltr/hr.

Temp is currently 26 deg celcius, pH is 6.6.
TDS at 60-70.

Has hiding caves. Has a lone tank mate, a 5" mbu puffer.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

This would be the first time I've encountered this behavioral problem with Brachyplatystoma rousseaxii. I've never seen it with mine or read of this from others. The bending of the snout from many wall hits is typical.

So logic would say this is atypical, an exception, and we have to look for the atypical things in your setup. Out of what's listed, I'd think mbu is an unusual tank mate for a dourada. Nothing else really jumps out. Except maybe TDS, which is low and probably the hardness too is low, which in turn means low buffering capacity and unstable pH. That would stress fish out and cause it to want to get out, to swim away. They view that what's behind glass is water too and they keep trying to get out to get away from a stressful water / situation.

Must identify the source of stress.

Such is my impression.