New tiger shovel nose catfish, need some advice on behaviour.

[BounteousLark]

So im new to large freshwater fish, but have had malawis in the past. I was under the impression tiger shovel nose catfish were active fish, but i got one today and he has just hid under a log all day.

It looks amazing but it would be better if i could see it swimming around in its full glory. It was a delivery, so that could have stressed it too.

Is this lazy behaviour just from being in a new tank? Or are they lazy catfish naturally? Would appreciate advice from more experienced owners.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF. I do not know your level of experience/knowledge, so will assume minimal to be safe.

You are aware (I hope) that this fish will reach 51 inches/130 cm and no home aquarium will be large enough to properly care for it beyond the juvenile stage (which in itself means a 125+ gallon tank)?

Occurring in the Amazon, and being wild caught most likely, it needs soft and slightly acidic water. If your "London" location is in the UK, you have quite hard water which is going to impact the fish's health. This could easily have such an impact on the fish that it further adds stress to that from the netting.

This data from Planet Catfish is very reliable:

PlanetCatfish.com - Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum (Pimelodidae) Cat-eLog

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com