Need To Calm My Cutteris

[divemaster99]

I have a pair of C. cutteri in my 75 gallon with 6 giant danios, 1 striped raphael catfish, and 1 Gibbiceps Pleco. They're really awesome, intelligent fish and I want to keep them but I have a problem with them. They keep stealing the algae wafer and shrimp pellets I give my raph and pleco even though I feed the cichlid plenty well and give them their own algae wafer. It's like this every night and I don't know how to get them to stop! I'd set up a tank just for them but I'm tight on space right now and don't have room for a big enough tank, unless a 20 tall would work since I do have just enough space for one of those. So what could I do to make the cichlids stop stealing food from my catfish? If I can't make them stop I'm just going to have to give them to a friend.

 

[divemaster99]

Bump.

 

[Done45]

Not sure if you have tried already but I would feed the cutteris on 1 side of the tank while you drop the catfish their sink in pellets on the other side while you are still feeding your cichlids. Or just feed them at night when all the lights go off

 

[DMD123]

My greedy cichlids do the same. I find that I have to feed at night when the lights go out for the pleco and bichir to get food. I try and do a mix of different sized floating and sinking pellets so that all the fish have a chance to eat but the bottom feeders will still always miss out during the day feedings.

 

[Crazy mike]

You really can't stop them just feed enough so everybody gets some or feed exclusively after dark so the cats can have a advantage and be a little more active


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[divemaster99]

Not sure if you have tried already but I would feed the cutteris on 1 side of the tank while you drop the catfish their sink in pellets on the other side while you are still feeding your cichlids. Or just feed them at night when all the lights go off

Tried both of those.

 

[divemaster99]

Even feeding the cats after dark the problem is that my pleco takes forever to eat algae wafers and he actually drifts around the tank while he's sucking on them.

 

[festaedan]

I was dealing with the same thing in one of the 40 breeders, I had 4 gymnogeophagus rhabdotus "lunariejo", 8 xiphophorus montizumae, and my breeding pair of ancistrus sp. "huacamayo". The huacamoyos are a very shy ancistrus and the big lunarejos kept stealing their algae wafers. The little dwarf ancistrus started to get very skinny so I moved them into a 10 gallon with a pair of chapalichthys encaustus and they are doing much better. I think the best thing to do is move the cutteri.

 

[divemaster99]

Ok, since I don't have room for a tank I guess I'll get rid of them.