My catfish is very meticulous with cleaning his area. I had a moss ball when I first set up this tank. I put it on top of one of driftwood pieces. When I was working in the tank it fell blocking one of the catfish's trails.
Before I could move it, the catfish put it's head down and start swinging it left to right and tensing up just behind the gills. It went straight for the ball. It did this behavior three times while pushing the ball. It realized no defense from the ball, stopped tensing and swinging the head and pushed the ball to the end of the tank.
When I feed pellets, it eats very well. When I dump the pellets on the third time, it stops eating for one minute. Then it gulps at least 20 pellets and dumps them on sand at the edge of his territory. It repeats this behavior until all of the pellets are moved to the sand in different spots.
The catfish will later eat the pellets at it will.
Has anyone seen this behavior with other native catfish? Even though my bullhead stays still most of the time, I love this fish anyway. The markings, power, and cleaning behavior keep it on the top of my favorites.
Before I could move it, the catfish put it's head down and start swinging it left to right and tensing up just behind the gills. It went straight for the ball. It did this behavior three times while pushing the ball. It realized no defense from the ball, stopped tensing and swinging the head and pushed the ball to the end of the tank.
When I feed pellets, it eats very well. When I dump the pellets on the third time, it stops eating for one minute. Then it gulps at least 20 pellets and dumps them on sand at the edge of his territory. It repeats this behavior until all of the pellets are moved to the sand in different spots.
The catfish will later eat the pellets at it will.
Has anyone seen this behavior with other native catfish? Even though my bullhead stays still most of the time, I love this fish anyway. The markings, power, and cleaning behavior keep it on the top of my favorites.
