Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering. I went ahead and purchased 2 catfish yesterday (I did buy food too) but I was wondering if it was true that they will eat turtle and the feeder fish leavings?

They are kinda cute and the attendant at Petsmart was nice enough to spend time to fish out 2 of the larger catfish for me (I figured Mike was less likely to eat them if they were larger).

They do have a place to hide from Mike and they have pretty much left everyone else alone. Mike hasn't even reacted to them (only reaction I've gotten from Mike yesterday was the usual "Feed Me" looks and he seemed thrilled that I put in a large filter for him)

They don't eat waste. They'll eat turtle food though. What kind of catfish are they? Pet store catfish range anywhere from 2 inches to 2 feet adult size.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I believe the catfish are Green Cory.. but I'm not sure. They are awfully cute and seem to be little scavengers. Between the 2 of them, they've been eating extra turtle food, some greens and I'm not sure but I think they've been nibbling on algae . They are definately more active then I thought they would be but Mike pretty much ignores them just like he ignores everything else. I had to remove a fish tonight because I think it had something growing inside it's head, belly and tail (really disgusting and couldn't take the chance it was worms growing and Mike eating it). I'm developing quite a little colony in my turtle tank. Everything pretty much sticks to themselves except the ghost shrimp who ignore each other as well. Everyone has someplace to go to "get away from it all" so I'm not overly concerned about anyone right now. Since Mike is my priority, I will probably get rid of anything that disrupts his happy little home.

I make a point of looking in the tank and everything in it that I can see several times a day just to make sure there aren't any changes with appearance of the fish, shrimp or of course my Turtle. Thats how I noticed that the one feeder fish was growing some really abnormal things and when I fished it out (it seemed kind of slow) and cut the fish to see what was in it, the thing inside was white and gray and wiggled. Really concerning me right now but I'm going to keep an eye of the rest of the fish just in case.

>>They don't eat waste. They'll eat turtle food though. What kind of catfish are they? Pet store catfish range anywhere from 2 inches to 2 feet adult size.
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>>Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
>>Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I have a 10" albino channel cat and it eats anything. I also have had my turtles in with Raphael catfish. I don't remember the last time I saw turtle waste in my tanks.

Well, a channel cat would eat anything! Some other kinds are a bit more picky. (plecos and synodontis for example)
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Agreed they are voracious. Likely that the slider is eating his own poop as well. Which may account for not seeing any.

>>I have a 10" albino channel cat and it eats anything. I also have had my turtles in with Raphael catfish. I don't remember the last time I saw turtle waste in my tanks.

My little catfish are less then 2" a piece. They aren't just eating anything although it does seems that way. I can definately still see turtle poo but very little else in my tank now. They really are cute. At first when I got them 2 days ago they kept on going their seperate ways but now they travel everywhere together like a train

My little cories do that too, and the cutest thing it they're two different species. They're a schooling fish.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?