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i bought a glass catfish because i couldnt resist but after buying i found out that they are a schooling fish how many more do i need for them to be comfotable
P.S. they will be in a 120 gallon

General minimum for any schooling fish is a group of six... the more the merrier!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I agree with kitten the more the merrier!
Most glass catfish by themselves won't eat and wither away within a couple of weeks.

Also what other fish have you placed/or getting in the tank?, as glass catfish hate erratic,very active fish e.g. silver dollars.

In the way of looking after glass catfish once they're in a group and have plenty of hiding spots etc; caves, plant thickets, they are easy to maintain and a real pleasure

And in addition to all the right things said by the 2 previous posters:

I think they like a good current to swim in.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

have a bit of experience with these guys. I bought one before i knew about the shoaling thing as well. But from what i have read they will be satisfied with 3-4. My single guy appeared happy in my setup but i provided him lots of current and places to hide out.

He was a loner longer than i wanted (about 2 months) because no one had them in stock and i ended up having to special order more so he would have some friends (now they just all hang out in the same place till feeding time and the lone one taught the other 3 the routine, was pretty cool watching them)

I have a power head diffuser just running along the back of the tank lengthwise and this gives the water just enough for everyone to be happy but not enough to drive them nuts swimming against it constantly, just have to work on it till it is right.

When feeding put some near the filter return and it will kick the smaller pieces down into the water and the current will catch it and he will go nuts swimming/chasing after food. They are very cool to watch eat with the way their bodies move and they cut back on themselves when chasing food. Good luck.

Last edited by shadows at 13-Oct-2005 12:16

5-6 will fit nicely, given tank mates

Most glass catfish by themselves won't eat and wither away within a couple of weeks.

This is true... Whereas most schooling fish like tetras can tolerate being kept alone, Glass Cats cannot. They are so stressed out when kept alone that they generally do not live longer than about three months.

The bare minimum of individuals that need to be kept is four, because anything less then that will be stressful to them. Get as many as you can, and they will reward you by staying out in the open constantly (usually forming a school right below the filter output) and will be interesting, long-lived additions to your tank.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Get as much as you can, but make sure you don't overstock the tank.


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I bought 3 originally for my 55 gallon. They did not come out much, so I bought 2 more. At that point they took front center stage in the aquarium, and generally stay there. I have 6 of them now. They are some of my favorite fish I have ever kept. Good luck, from my experience, you should go for 5+.