I added a 4" stonecat to my tank this week and while I understand that they're nocturnal, has anyone had any luck getting theirs to come out of hiding during the day? He doesn't budge when I feed the spotfins and small chubs that are in there during the day, but he comes out after the lights are off and turns into a soulless muderer. He's already eaten one of the small chubs and one of the smaller spotfins, and today I found another spotfin floating with bites out of its head and body. I put food in there for it when I turn the lights off, but for all I know the shiners are eating it. Or maybe they're eating it and it's making him mad, hence the floater with just 2 bites out of it. I have an endless supply of shiners and chubs, so that doesn't bother me so much, I'd just like to keep him full in hopes that he'll stop the wanton destruction of everything else in the tank. Or are they ever truly "full"?
Feeding a stonecat
Started by
Guest_shaft6977_*
, Aug 23 2014 03:02 PM
8 replies to this topic
#3
Guest_shaft6977_*
Guest_shaft6977_*
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- Guests
Posted 23 August 2014 - 04:33 PM
That's what I figured. Are they cannibalistic or extremely territorial? As in, could I get away with 2 with no expectation of keeping anything smaller with them or would I still just have one in the end? I've scoured the Internet and it seems there just isn't that much info on stonecats in captivity.
#4
Michael Wolfe
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- Board of Directors
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 23 August 2014 - 09:31 PM
i dont know the answer to that one i have two large margined madtoms now and a long time ago my daughter kept two bullheads together. but in both cases these kitties were exactly the same size. i would not try it if one was bigger than the other.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#5
Duckman77
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- NANFA Guest
Posted 17 March 2015 - 09:32 PM
I have kept 3 stonecats for about 6 months now. I caught all 3 at the same time at about 2-2.5". They come out during feeding time (day) briefly, then retreat to their driftwood cave. One has significantly outgrown the other two. He is now about 4" and stocky. The others are still about 2.5" or so. They are being kept with logperch, blackside darters, SRBD, and blackstripe topminnows. The stonecats have not eaten any of their tankmates (that I'm aware of).
The tank is fed a variety of foods and enough food to make sure everyone gets plenty. Feeding time is only about 10-15 minutes though, so if a fish wants to eat, better come out and eat!
#6
shaft6977
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- NANFA Guest
- Crawfordsville, IN
Posted 17 March 2015 - 11:02 PM
Mine ended up eating every other fish I had. Once he had plowed through everything, I waited a week and then started dropping Hikari Carnivore wafers in. He's taken to them like a charm. I've since restocked the tank and I'm going on 3 months now without a single fish being eaten.
#7
Matt DeLaVega
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- Forum Staff
- Ohio
Posted 18 March 2015 - 06:08 AM
Mine ended up eating every other fish I had. Once he had plowed through everything, I waited a week and then started dropping Hikari Carnivore wafers in. He's taken to them like a charm. I've since restocked the tank and I'm going on 3 months now without a single fish being eaten.
Probably a good way to go. Isolate them, get them on prepared foods then move them to a community tank. One rule with fish, and probably most critters that seems to hold true, is the most food for the least energy expended is preferred. May not hold true with felines, at least not our semi domestic house cats anyway. Though I would still expect a stonecat to snatch up that unlucky fish that lazily swims in front of it's mouth in the dark.
The member formerly known as Skipjack
#8
shaft6977
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- NANFA Guest
- Crawfordsville, IN
Posted 18 March 2015 - 09:43 PM
I would've thought that too. But he's had a million opportunities to eat a little sunfish that I have in there and he won't do it. I'll have to see if I can get a picture the next time that it happens. I kid you not, that little guy will hang out right in front of that stonecat's mouth for minutes and he doesn't even act slightly interested.
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