I just put a 1.5 inch Speckled Madtom in my 55 gallon aquarium that has lots of hiding places like rocks, driftwood and plants. Will I ever see it again?
Usil
Speckled Madtom
Started by
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, Dec 11 2011 12:30 AM
22 replies to this topic
#2
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 08:27 AM
I just put a 1.5 inch Speckled Madtom in my 55 gallon aquarium that has lots of hiding places like rocks, driftwood and plants. Will I ever see it again?
Usil
In my experience... no.
I see my speckled least often of all my crazycats (madtoms if you prefer). I have moved one to a tank with few hiding spots and he dug a pit in the sand under one of them to enlarge the house I offered. Even though his 'spot' is out in the open, all I ever see of him is the occasional glimpse of a whisker, or a fanning tail... never the whole fish.
You will see him if you ever tear down the tank... he will likely be happy and grow larger... but will do so in relative seclusion... and then when you clean the tank... the last thing you move... a crazed vat of 4.5 inches will zoom out and race around the otherwise empty tank. Unless you are like me and forget that you actually added three over the years... then they will all appear out of the seemingly impossibly small space and really scare you to death.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#3
Guest_Aquaman_*
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 11:21 AM
I just put a 1.5 inch Speckled Madtom in my 55 gallon aquarium that has lots of hiding places like rocks, driftwood and plants. Will I ever see it again?
Usil
Nope....you never will. You will generally see them when you clean your tank and stir up the substrate or hiding places in the process. A good time to view them is to have the lights turned off for a bit and then feed sparingly. I would have a my group of madtoms come out of nowhere.
Scott
#5
Guest_PeterE_*
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 01:24 PM
My tadpole madtoms always come out to feed, after their initial acclimation period. Once they start eating, they grow really fast. This was before I had a separate native tank and a single madtom was outcompeting four fully grown Corydoras catfish.
#6
Guest_NVCichlids_*
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 03:19 PM
My tadpole madtoms always come out to feed, after their initial acclimation period. Once they start eating, they grow really fast. This was before I had a separate native tank and a single madtom was outcompeting four fully grown Corydoras catfish.
I have found that 98% of catfish will come out at feeding time regardless of their nocturnal ness. My two tadpole madtoms right now are about 3" TL and one is always hiding, the other is seen swimming under my large driftwood branches, always out in daylight, always hunting for missed foods from the lepo's. I would say tadpoles should be out quite a bit, only other native catfish I have had experience with is channels (long time ago mistake...) and he was always out.. his name was Pierre. Yellow bullheads seem to stay out alot, and when out sampling, I always see slender madtoms darting between rocks... Have no experience with stone cats... YET...
#7
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 11 December 2011 - 05:31 PM
Is there a Madtom that is more inclined to venture out daily or are they all secretive?
Usil
I have kept several Margined Madtoms and they have all be pretty confident about coming out for meals... I see these guys almost every day... at meal time only... but still almost every time. I only tried one tadpole and he was moderately visible. Most others have been secretive to the point where I am surprised to see them every few months.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#8
Guest_flatcapbrew_*
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Posted 12 December 2011 - 02:23 PM
my tadpole madtoms come out every meal time, and one of them is often seen swimming around. My speckled madtoms are in a smaller tank and dont really come out much, only time I see them with out going searching for them is when I walk into that room at night and turn a light on I see them scurrying for a hiding spot.
#10
Guest_Elijah_*
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Posted 12 December 2011 - 03:24 PM
I have a couple of speckle's and a tadpole that I rarely ever see. My bullhead comes out at feeding time but the madtoms do not. When the lights are out I see my tadpole swimming around and he is fat, so must be eating well. Kind of a bummer though. I used to be very excited about madtoms as I like catfish personality,but never see them.
#13
Guest_Elijah_*
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 07:47 PM
No experience, but I was looking for some for a long time. I feel like I read a post that said they tend to be out more often than many. They are cool looking. Update us if you find that they are more active when the lights are on.Anyone have any experience with brindled madtoms? I plan on getting some in the spring, and it seems like those i've seen in the wild are pretty active, even though they stay pretty close to cover.
Josh H
Edited by Elijah, 13 December 2011 - 07:48 PM.
#14
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 08:05 PM
I kept bullheads for a while and really liked them. At first they did stay very well hidden, to the point that I thought one had died. Later after I cut back on feeding and switched exclusively to sinking pellets that could be dropped in open areas of the tank bottom, they started to come out to see me for food. They can tell very quickly when you drop food in the water.
#16
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 09:23 PM
It's a wild fish, so a cube of frozen bloodworms might entice it to eat a bit more than a pellet.
I use the kind shown in this image, which sink after they thaw. (scroll down) http://gallery.nanfa...ageViewsIndex=2
I use the kind shown in this image, which sink after they thaw. (scroll down) http://gallery.nanfa...ageViewsIndex=2
Edited by EricaWieser, 13 December 2011 - 09:23 PM.
#17
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 09:34 PM
They do love bloodworms, but frozen food has a tendency to become dispersed in the tank, including in or near their hiding places. The point of a pellet is that it isn't available as food unless they come out to search for it, so it's a better choice for training them to come out and be seen.
#18
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 09:43 PM
Oh, I forgot that most people don't have ten inch planting tweezers like I do. I use them for the bloodworms, to control where they go. Image: http://aquabynature-...89-thickbox.jpg
It's best not to touch the bloodworms, as most people are allergic. I pick the cube up with the tweezers and then wave it around in the water. If the worms are only in the front of the tank, then my grumpy antisocial Elassoma gilberti have to come forward to eat.
It's best not to touch the bloodworms, as most people are allergic. I pick the cube up with the tweezers and then wave it around in the water. If the worms are only in the front of the tank, then my grumpy antisocial Elassoma gilberti have to come forward to eat.
#19
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Posted 13 December 2011 - 10:11 PM
It's best not to touch the bloodworms, as most people are allergic.
Err... OK... That's a new one for me. I've never ever had a problem from touching bloodworms... just break off a chunk with my fingers and thaw by swirling in a cup of water with my finger. But perhaps that's just me.
(edit) Well, I'll be. Interesting article (especially the references at the bottom) http://www.ncbi.nlm....es/PMC2877067/. I had never heard of this before.
#20
Guest_Usil_*
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Posted 14 December 2011 - 01:36 AM
I use freeze dried blood worms and crush them in my hand before throwing them in for the small fish. Never had a skin reaction but there is a warning on the container.
As for the planting tweezers, never seen them that big. It is a royal pain planting manually with hands. I have often thought of inventing something that would push the dirt/gravel away forming a small bowl then inserts the plant to the bottom of the hole and then covers the spread earth/gravel back without disturbing the plant. I can picture it in my mind but have not tried to build it.
Usil
As for the planting tweezers, never seen them that big. It is a royal pain planting manually with hands. I have often thought of inventing something that would push the dirt/gravel away forming a small bowl then inserts the plant to the bottom of the hole and then covers the spread earth/gravel back without disturbing the plant. I can picture it in my mind but have not tried to build it.
Usil
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