Caring For Farlowella Twig Catfish

So I probably foolishly went to the LFS for some ottos and instead ended up coming home with two twigs. The guy at the store told me their bio load was very low and they had tiny stomach so really didn't need to eat much. I'm not sure how true this is after reading up on them... AqAdvisor, which I know is not necessarilly all that accurate, put them at a pretty high load (adding the two puts me from 52% stocking level to 76%, though I guess that's only slightly more than the otos I was going to get) and I really can't tell much about how much they need to eat.

They seem to be doing ok so far and are fascinating fish, very distinctive. Now I'm worried about feeding them... The tank is 38 gallons and does grow a good amount of algae. I have a Finnex Planted 24/7 SE + light on it on the 24 hour cycle, and I dose with flourish 1-2 times a week. Algae growth is pretty decent, before these guys I would get visible buildup on the glass within a week that needed scrubbed off. So there's probably decent amount of algae? I also have a vegetable clip I can use to put some cucumber or zucchinI on the glass walls where they seem to like to hang out. I'm thinking maybe the other fish would ignore it.

I don't know how I could supplementally feed them since the other fish attack everything else in there and I can't see these barely movie twigs competing for food. The tank currently houses 6 zebra danios and 7 venezuelan red cories (plus some shrimp) who are quite aggressive at feeding time. So other than the vegetable clip on the glass I feel like they probably won't get any supplemental food. Only other thing I can think is putting in some algae rocks I have been growing for the otos. Maybe other things in the tank would ignore them. The otos I have eat repashy soilent green and algae wafers readily but they don't have any competition in their tank (just a betta who could care less about that food).

Any tips or advice on keeping these guys happy would be appreciated!

 

I've had multiple Farwlowellas and whip tail cats; they're best in species tanks, because of their unique needs and behaviors.

 

Yeah that may be what I have to do if they don't do ok here. I'm a little worried about one of them. One has been all over the tank sucking on the glass and done a good job of cleaning things up. The other seems to have not left the heater power cord he is hiding behind. Maybe he'll get a little more brave but he definitely can't survive with only growth on the power cord...

Today I'm going to put in some cucumber on the glass with veggie clips and I've also cut up a thin plastic cutting board I had (really thin flexible sheet) and coated it with repashy soilent green. I'm going to attach that to the glass with a veggie clip too and see if they go for it, as I think the other fish would leave it alone.

 

Well my attempts have been mixed. So far they have shown no signs of any desire to leave the glass and forage around on the bottom. I attempted the repashy soilent green on a plastic sheet clipped to the side, and it held for a while. but the danios kept nipping at bits and eventually it all fell off the plastic in a big pile and the cories went to town on it.

I now have some cucumber clipped to the side by where the twigs like to hide. So far everything else in the tank has ignored the cucumber, and finally one of the twigs has found it. We'll see how they settle in, unlike the otos these guys seem to only stay vertical, I have never seen them explore the bottom, which makes it hard to supplement them. But if I can at least train them to eat veggies off of clips then that might be sufficient.

 

Well so far these guys are doing ok. Hard to tell if they are eating enough but the tank is pretty darn clean, and before I added them I'd have visible algae growth on the glass after 4 or 5 days. So they're eating that all up at least but no idea if that's enough. I've experimented with supplemental feeding with some successes and failures. These guys are definitely more nocturnal. One pretty much spends the entire day hiding on the heater power cord. The other hangs out on the glass back there. I'm pretty sure they are both males but they don't seem to mind each other. At night they will explore the tank more and I see them on various parts of the glass, decorations, plant leaves etc. One of them will explore more during the day, he's a bit braver, the other one just never leaves the power cord during the day.

They are definitely very timid and I can't imagine them ever going for algae wafers or anything, though I've read some posts from people saying theirs will get right in there with other fish at feeding time. These guys, no way. I've tried hiding wafers in places they're more likely to find it but the other fish always find them quickly. I tried putting algae covered rocks I grow in a bucket in for them perched up high on decorations, but the shrimp made quick work of that before the twigs could find it. I tried repashy soilent green but the danios and cories loved it and devoured it. I tried repashy community formula and actually had success at first as inexplicably the danios and cories ignored it completely. So I put it on top of the fake driftwood decoration and caught the twigs feeding on it many times over a period of 2 days. But that's not exactly an ideal food for them... Also I tried again with another piece and the danios decided finally that they did like it after all and ate it all up.

So far the only supplemental food I've found that works is cucumber. I've got it attached to the back glass by where they like to hang out on a clip. Everything else in the tank ignores it and the twigs can feed on it at their leisure. I do see them feeding on it pretty regularly though it does not seem to dissapear much at all so I honestly can't tell if they are actually eating that much of it. Though they do attach to it so they must be, maybe they just don't eat much and it's not visible how much they're getting.

But at least it's something they'll eat! I feel like between algae and cucumber they should at least be able to get enough to eat.

 

Twig cats are actually unique in the fact that they can consume wood so essentially if you put drif wood in your tank it's the same as a giant algae wafer

Also I've owned twigs for awhile and I see them eat off the wafers every 3-5 days but I also have lot of algae for them to consume

 

Twig cats are actually unique in the fact that they can consume wood so essentially if you put drif wood in your tank it's the same as a giant algae wafer

Also I've owned twigs for awhile and I see them eat off the wafers every 3-5 days but I also have lot of algae for them to consume

Twigs primary diet is wood so driftwood is a good investment. Also there are some algae wafers with wood in them that is also a good suplementary food source. Mine also like the tropical sinking wafers which have zucchinI in it. But my other fish go crazy for those too so I only do those every few days. So far I haven't had any problem with them overeating. Hope this helps

 

Well this is kind of an old post so I figured I'd post an update...

I bought some more wood, spiderwood and some others, so they'd have some more natural places to hide. Unfortunately out of the two, one of them was not really thriving. One of them was growing and changing color and would come out and about and even started coming down with the cories at nightly feeding time to eat. However the other one would stay constantly hidden (for days I never saw it leave the heater power cord). It was still dark in color (the other one turned silver with a darker stripe) and much smaller than the other (though they were the same size when I bought them).

I was not feeling good about the smaller ones survival chances so I ended up rehoming it to someone with a 55 gallon tank with no other algae eating fish to compete with it. I hope it does well but it was not doing well in my tank so I thought I had to try something.

The remaining twig is still doing great. He eats well, I usually throw a larger algae wafer in at feeding time for him. I also put in some repashy soilent green once or twice a week and he will eat that up (the other fish will too but usually as more of a last resort). He's really funny, he'll get right down in there with the cories and shrimp to get at pellets, not the least bit fearful of them and they all get along well. He's grown a lot and seems to be doing really well.

 

Well this is kind of an old post so I figured I'd post an update...

I bought some more wood, spiderwood and some others, so they'd have some more natural places to hide. Unfortunately out of the two, one of them was not really thriving. One of them was growing and changing color and would come out and about and even started coming down with the cories at nightly feeding time to eat. However the other one would stay constantly hidden (for days I never saw it leave the heater power cord). It was still dark in color (the other one turned silver with a darker stripe) and much smaller than the other (though they were the same size when I bought them).

I was not feeling good about the smaller ones survival chances so I ended up rehoming it to someone with a 55 gallon tank with no other algae eating fish to compete with it. I hope it does well but it was not doing well in my tank so I thought I had to try something.

The remaining twig is still doing great. He eats well, I usually throw a larger algae wafer in at feeding time for him. I also put in some repashy soilent green once or twice a week and he will eat that up (the other fish will too but usually as more of a last resort). He's really funny, he'll get right down in there with the cories and shrimp to get at pellets, not the least bit fearful of them and they all get along well. He's grown a lot and seems to be doing really well.

That's awesome. I just got my twig a friend today and hoping it's a male so she will have a mate. All my other fish including a couple dwarf cichlids are scared of "Twiggy". They get close to her and she whacks them with her tail and they haven't tried again. I am hoping this new one is the same. I just love my twigs!!

 

Twig cats are actually unique in the fact that they can consume wood so essentially if you put drif wood in your tank it's the same as a giant algae wafer

Also I've owned twigs for awhile and I see them eat off the wafers every 3-5 days but I also have lot of algae for them to consume

Aren't you mixing them up with clown plecs
?

 

Act

Aren't you mixing them up with clown plecs
?

Twigs from my research and experience have a similar diet to clown plecos but then again I have only 2 months of experience so I could be wrong or been looking at wrong information.

 

They do in fact have an extremely similar diet to the clown pleco

Aren't you mixing them up with clown plecs
?

 

I am definitely not a Knowitall, but I can't find any info on that to be honest.

 

I am definitely not a Knowitall, but I can't find any info on that to be honest.

 

To my humble opinion and experience (kept Farlowella acus) this is complete false and incorrect information. Other members jump in please.

 

To my humble opinion and experience (kept Farlowella acus) this is complete false and incorrect information. Other members jump in please.

I've never seen mine do it... however many sources say that's its an important part of their diet - like many cats... but I wouldn't say it solely feeds on wood.

 

Funny thing is Planet Catfish doesn't mention and I can't find sources that do.
Also the fact that in the "article" is said they are the only fish doing so I think is strange cause clown plecos are known as real woodeaters that die if it isn't available.

I've never seen mine do it... however many sources say that's its an important part of their diet - like many cats... but I wouldn't say it solely feeds on wood.

 

Funny thing is Planet Catfish doesn't mention and I can't find sources that do.
Also the fact that in the "article" is said they are the only fish doing so I think is strange cause clown plecos are known as real woodeaters that die if it isn't available.

I mean its more of a supplimental part of diet... similar to BN grazing on wood.

 

Yeah but even that is mentioned at Planet Catfish for BN's but not for Farlowella.
The article states they are woodeaters.

I mean its more of a supplimental part of diet... similar to BN grazing on wood.

 

Yeah but even that is mentioned at Planet Catfish for BN's but not for Farlowella.
The article states they are woodeaters.

And that's where I agree with you. Grazers at most.... but I woodn't (haha sorry had to!) consider them wood eaters... get my drift?

Edit... drift was not meant to be a pun... but I realised it after I pressed sent... my bad guys!

 

Hahaha I get your drift(wood)

And that's where I agree with you. Grazers at most.... but I woodn't (haha sorry had to!) consider them wood eaters... get my drift?