Why do my fish do this???

Question

I got 2 small catfish yesterday (actually,it was my grandfather who got them 4 me)

they are fine, swimming arounbd, very happy but then...it got weird!

everytime the white one swims near the brown one, the brown one chases it around until the white one gets away! it keeps doing this!

is the brown one mad and aggressiive, or just horny? anyones catfish ever done this before?

thanks

unfortunatley, i dont know what type they are! my grandad forgot!

hey 8 in a corner

thanks 4 all ur interesting info, but they are defintelely not corys! i've had corys before. they are so cute!

im trying to figure out what type they are.....

i think that they are Otocinclus, but im not 100% sure.....

great site copperhead
thanks!

Answer 1

It sure would have helped if you knew which they were. Some catfish like to be in groups and others are best one to a tank. Usually the ones kept one to a tank are territorial, so if what you have are the same kind (one might be an albino), they're fighting over space. As long as you have plenty of hiding places and a large enough tank, this might work itself out, or it might not - they may grow too large for you to keep both.

And they could just be getting "frisky"!

Here's a webpage with photos - maybe if you can figure out which of the catfish you have, we might be able to tell you more: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=830 - just click on any of the photos to get more from that group - wen you click on a specific fish, you'll get info about that type.

Answer 2

Sounds like they might be corydorus catfish. They do not have sucker mouths, do they? They come in both brown and white (albino).

Check this out and see if yours look like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corydoras

No, corys are not agressive fish, you probably have a male and a female, they are not particular as to whether the opposite sex is an albino or not. The males are usually stimulated to try and spawn when there is a change in the water temp (10 degree cooler water usually does it). Bringing them home and putting them into a new tank would qualify as a change in the water.

My hi-fin paleatus corys just spawned two weeks ago and that is exactly what they did. It usually doesn't work too well though, unless you have a group (2 males and at least 3 females). My fry (babies) are almost a half inch long already and look just like the adults (spotted with black dorsal strip).

If the female is not ready (full of eggs) she will not be receptive to the male and swim away quickly. If she is ready, she doesn't swim as fast (lets him catch her).

Answer 3

When a catfish finds a spot they consider their own they try and dominate it. Same thing goes for Cichlids and Angel Fish. Sometimes you'll see non aggressive fish doing this as well, most of them being male and taking on a more dominating role is all. If you have more ornaments and decorations and such in the tank it'll take away all aggression for the fish as there is more places for them to hide cause naturally catfish like darker tanks.

Answer 4

relaxe they are playing. its fine.