Giraffe Cat and Iredescent shark

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
GSXSRT4

GSXSRT4

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 15, 2014
5
0
1
South Florida
Hi guys, this is my first post. I have a 150 gallon community tank and plan to upgrade to either a 460 or larger tank. Probably larger. My question is I gust recently purchased a giraffe catfish and he is about 12 to 15 inches long. The giraffe is bullying the iredescent and scratching him all up. Iredescent Cat is about the same size but a bit bigger in mass. Now it been about 2 to 3 weeks since I purchased the giraffe. Any experiences with the 2?
 
I've always thought giraffes to be more peaceful cats so this is odd behavior to me. Also, I hope you're upgrading the ID again after the 460 as that's not going to cut it for life.
 
Never have I had any aggressive behavior with either of the above mentioned species of catfish. The Giraffe Nose Catfish is one of my all time favorites of the fish world. I have owned many individuals in the past ,and never have I had any sort of aggression problems with any one of the individual fish. Ever. Your question has me stumped as much as you. Good luck.
 
What exactly did the cat do? Giraffe cats do certain things that a person might mistake for bullying. However, they do not make special efforts to make life miserable for weaker fish or try to humiliate them.
 
Thanks guys. I as well was stumped as I have searched for any issues where giraffe cats are bullies. I now they can be when feeding like bumping another fish to eat but he constantly chases the iredescent and goes after him with his snout to the point where you see scratches all over. The Iredescent constantly swims away as he is faster. The iredescent does have lesions/cuts on the top of his body. I guess it could be from getting spooked from the giraffe and hitting something. It sucks if I have to make a decision to remove one from the tank.
 
When I bought him he was in bad shape. He was in a tank with much larger fish. I'm sure he was getting beat up there as there where some aggressive fish. Hopefully he will calm down. I am keeping an eye on the two.
 
I don't think the gcat can scratch anything as its mouth is smooth and tube-like. The IDS is more likely getting scratched from running into furniture, lid, tank top braces, pipes, etc. when running away from the gcat.

It is indeed unusual but two factors are against you: it is a rather small tank for the fish sizes, that is IDS has little space to run away although it is a middle-water swimmer while the gcat's home is bottom; and gcat is a Claroteid, which means it can be aggressive, which, as stated above, is manifested very, very rarely. In 99% cases, it is simply quite boisterous. My bet is that in a larger tank, things would be more peaceful.
 
This is funny. My giraffe is the same size as yours. Grew it from 1.5" to almost 16". Mine also dislikes iredescent sharks. Mine even swallowed my 4 inch shark and spit it out again. It was in For a few seconds Real akward to see. Also lost its upper Fin and scratched and always hiding For the giraffe. Now seperated hes growing and recovering. Never showed aggression before lol
 
Curious indeed! There is such a thing as unsolvable incompatibility that's often cited in marriage dissolution. Perhaps, pretty and elegant and fast IDSs really tick off bulky, slow, and somewhat "ugly" gcats?

***

Pending more data, I don't believe it though :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom