Let's make this crystal clear:
no catfish cleans your tank. With every new fish you add, the filter has to work harder, there is more solid waste in the gravel, and their is more nitrate in the water encouraging the growth of algae and pushing down water quality. To maintain the tank at the same level of cleanliness as before, you need to scrap the glass more often, siphon the gravel more often, and change the water more often. It's a total and utter myth to imagine adding a fish will make an aquarium cleaner, as should be obvious if you think about it for just one second.
Now, if you want to add a catfish because you like them, that's fine. There are lots of day-active species. African glass cats, Pareutropius buffei, and Corydoras spp. are among the best. Pareutropius buffei aren't scavengers, and need to be looked after just like barbs or tetras, but then no catfish is really able to survive without some food set out for it. Corydoras are obviously lovely fish. Otocinclus spp. are also very active during the daytime, but they're a bit delicate and need green algae to survive.
Many nocturnal catfish will become day-active in time, if you're patient and train them to do so. I have a female Panaque that not only swims about during the day time, but actually expects to be fed at around lunchtime when she gets a bit of salad or whatever. That said, some catfish groups do seem resolutely nocturnal almost no matter what. Synodontis spp., thorny catfish (family Doradidae), and banjo catfishes (Aspredidae) would be three such groups in my experience.
Cheers, Neale
i am trying to find catfish that is not nocturnal and will help clean my tank
what catfish will come out during the day?
