6 replies to this topic

[Joshaeus]

Hi everyone! Here's a question...how are the small madtom species as aquarium fish? Are they personable with people, or are they very shy? I understand that they tend to be nocturnal, but that doesn't say what their thoughts on people are. Also, has anyone here ever bred them successfully? Thanks

[Matt DeLaVega]

If you are a catfish enthusiast, I think they make sense in a species tank. In a community tank, I think the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Of the few I have kept, I rarely saw them except at night. I would say some of the least "personable" fish I have kept.

[Joshaeus]

If you are a catfish enthusiast, I think they make sense in a species tank. In a community tank, I think the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Of the few I have kept, I rarely saw them except at night. I would say some of the least "personable" fish I have kept.

Bummer.

[Matt DeLaVega]

You know, take that with a grain of salt. If you give them a shot, you might feel quite differently.

[Michael Wolfe]

Different species are different. I might counter Matts experience with what I had with Margined Madtoms. They were very food driven and would come out every time the tank was fed and cruise around like sharks on the prowl. They were great until they got 4-5 inches and could start eating small shiners, cause then they did. But they also lived great with Sandwich for a few years when he was too big for them and they were too big for him.

[JasonL]

I have (?had) a tadpole madtom.  Grew from less than an inch to around 4-5 inches in under a year.  I rarely see him at all, sometimes for months at a time.   Lots of hiding places in my tank.  I haven’t seen him in quite awhile, so I have no idea if he’s still alive or not.   That said, I still have an occasional darter or small shiner go missing so maybe he’s still in there.   If your willing to lose a few smaller fish, I’d say the biggest advantage I have noticed with madtoms is they will promptly remove any dead or dying fish in short order and eat any food left over from your other fish.  Kind of like a vacuum cleaner for the tank in my experience but not a community fish per se.

 

That said, there are lots of different species, some of which stay very small.  So mileage may vary.

[swampfish]

I've kept several tadpole, slender, and margined madtoms in community tanks over the years. I don't think that I ever lost any fish to them, but I kept them with sunfish and larger shiners, always keeping an eye on the size of the madtom mouth rather than length when selecting tankmates. I've had a couple of tadpole madtoms that liked to sit on the plants during the day so they could be seen at any time. I had one slender and one margined madtom that came out and swam around at feeding time. But most of them acted like those of JasonL, never being seen for months at a time. Once I did a major 55 gallon tank cleaning and discovered that I had three madtoms that I hadn't seen for at least one and a half years. The main thing I notice when there are madtoms in the tank is the mass of empty snail shells that appear in the front center of the tank. They never seem to eat all of the snails, but they certainly provide population control.

 

Phil Nixon