# Which fish killed my ghost catfish, and why?



## Plecostomus (Jul 31, 2006)

I just recently got a new ghost catfish. but 3 days later, some of the fish nipped its back fin off and it died. I know the tank is slightly overstocked, but here are the fish in the tank: 9 neon tetras, 2 hatchetfish, 1 other ghost catfish, 4 kuhli loaches, 1 bumblebee catfish, and a ghost shrimp. Who is the culprit?


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## Giddy012 (Feb 16, 2007)

Bumble Bee Catfish!!!! How big is your tank? That fish shouldn't be in a tank any smaller than 75gal.+ tank. Very aggresive. I'd suggest getting taking it back, they only become more and more aggressive.

There are several different species fo Bumblebee Catfish, so sorry for jumping down your throat. But in any case anything that can fit in it's mouth it will more than likley eat. Imo it was him.


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## Courtney (Jan 18, 2005)

ehh bumble bee catfish are not aggressive we have one and there isnt a mean bone in its body....i think maybe the hachet fish


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## Giddy012 (Feb 16, 2007)

Mine tried to eat anyone that got in his way. Petco sold me the wrong kind. It was supposed to be s small community fish. After it started chasing my other fish I took him to the lfs for a proper Id. The one I had be sold would have grown to be 12"+ and would have eaten any fish that got close enough. Thanks Petco.


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## Courtney (Jan 18, 2005)

yikes, ours is maybe 4 inches if that and hides all the time... so if its a smaller one you have then i wouldnt think it would harm anything


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2007)

There a few different species that go by the name bumblebee catfish. Try to find which one you have exactly, or post a pic if possible.


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## Plecostomus (Jul 31, 2006)

My bumblebee catfish looks like the one in this picture. The picture isn't mine, but it looks a lot like it. http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquarium/microglanis_iheringi_x.jpg

If they eat anything that fits in their mouth, wouldn't it try and eat the neon tetras? My first guess was that the neon tetras did it because they could gang up on it, but it probably wasn't them.


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## Corydora_FREAK (Feb 21, 2007)

> My first guess was that the neon tetras did it because they could gang up on it,


no.. Neons don't kill other fish. Its always the other way around.


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Hrmm how odd, someone I know is currently experiencing missing fish... she has bumblebee catfish also... and also feels no way he could be the culprit.


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2007)

The one in the pic is a microglanis iheringi and pretty harmless. However, they will eat fish small enough to eat. They also stay very small, maxing out at only a couple inches.
Unless the glass fish were tiny, I doubt your catfish was the culprit.

Edit: Christine, there is another species of catfish that goes by bumblebee catfish from Asia that gets bigger than the south american one and i believe is more aggressive. Not 100% sure on the tempermant though.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Bumblebee cats aren't aggressive, they're SPASTIC. Too much experience with these guys, cousin has a few 5 year olds- one of which is mine. And yes, there are different species- one is a "giant bumbleebee catfish" that gets over a foot and is supposedly aggressive to everything. 

The BBC is probably the one responsible, since it's really only one of the fish that could clearly do damage if it wanted to. Kuhlis, hatchets, and neons won't attack much of anything- let alone a catfish.

One question though, what do you exactly mean by how it died? Did they tear it's fin off? Usually if even that happens, it takes days for anything to arise.


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## Plecostomus (Jul 31, 2006)

The attacking fish bit off it's back fin, and nipped at the long fin on its underside. It wasn't much that I could see, but the ghost catfish couldn't stay upright, so it died


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## Giddy012 (Feb 16, 2007)

The problem with BCF is that you will rarely see them, they get active when the lights go out and they think noone is whatching. So your's might being get friskier than you think once you've shut off the lights.


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## Plecostomus (Jul 31, 2006)

The thing I thought was the most strange was that whoever nipped the ghost catfish, they didn't nip the fins of the other ghost catfish that I already had in there. Did they leave the other ghost catfish alone because it was there first?


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