Whats wrong with my upside-down synodontis aterrimus catfish?

[zeezMOG]

So about 2 months ago I bought one synodontis aterrimus catfish and 2 guppies, and the catfish was alwayThis is it chasing thems good with the guppy and it was shy, as I started to learn more about them I found out that upside-down catfish need or like to be in groups so today I bought another one and it seemed that they were both soooo happy, I wanted to go to bed now but I saw my older one chasing the new one and the guppies, and I think its trying to rip there fins, and it makes weird duck noises every it tries. It already ripped one of the guppies tail. it never done that before what's happening? Its a 3.5 gallon which I know is EXTREMELY small but it was always nice with the guppies I thought it would love to have one of its kind? And they played a little when I first put the new one in. I am planning to upgrade to a 20+ aquarium. Plz help!

this is a video of it chasing them.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The big catfish is hungry and trying to eat the guppies. And there appears to be some territorial behaviour towards the smaller catfish.

A much bigger tank would help as would more food and hiding places for the catfish. However, you will need to do more water changes and gravel cleans if you put more food in the tank.

The catfish should have a tank that is at least 3 feet long.

 

[zeezMOG]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The big catfish is hungry and trying to eat the guppies. And there appears to be some territorial behaviour towards the smaller catfish.

A much bigger tank would help as would more food and hiding places for the catfish. However, you will need to do more water changes and gravel cleans if you put more food in the tank.

The catfish should have a tank that is at least 3 feet long.

Thanks alot, I also guessed it might be tritorial but the bigger catfish lived with the guppies in peace for about 2 months. And dose that mean that they'll never be friends? They were both super happy for the first half an hour and playing and exploring with each other.

 

[Colin_T]

They might be ok in a bigger tank but if they are both males, they might continue to argue.

At this stage, get some pvc pipe that is big enough for them to hide in and cut some about 6 inches long. Put them in the tank and the catfish might hide in them and be less stressed.

 

[zeezMOG]

They might be ok in a bigger tank but if they are both males, they might continue to argue.

At this stage, get some pvc pipe that is big enough for them to hide in and cut some about 6 inches long. Put them in the tank and the catfish might hide in them and be less stressed.

Thank you so much