Worried that Bumblebee Catfish is getting enough to eat!

So I have a bumble bee catfish who love to hang out in his hiding spot, he doesn't come out during the day (when the LED lights are on) and I normally feed my fish during the day. I'm worried he may be not receiving the amount of food he needs/wants. Any tips for feeding nocturnal fish? Any help is appreciated, and if you've any questions regarding my question I'll answer to the best of my ability. I also appreciate all the patience from the veteran forum aquarists. I'm new to forums and this hobby but I have a huge interest and love for fish so far!

I also have two Cory panda catfish who do an amazing clean up job of eating the remains of the food the other fish don't eat I have them in a 30 gal tank btw

 

Drop his food at night when he is active, the cories will help clean up the rest. Do you feed the cories their own food?

 

Drop his food at night when he is active, the cories will help clean up the rest. Do you feed the cories their own food?

The cories have a small algae wafer I drop in every once in a awhile due to the fact they clean up excess food (flakes) the others don't eat.

 

The cories have a small algae wafer I drop in every once in a awhile due to the fact they clean up excess food (flakes) the others don't eat.

Cory cats eat mostly meat, so I would do a sinking shrimp pellet instead for them. They have been known to starve to death on algae wafers and left over food.

 

Yup cories need more protein, the algae wafers don't give them much in the way of energy or food that is suited for them, my schools get fed once a day with a fast day once or twice a week. My albinos and bronze spawn monthly on this diet. My peppered spawn every couple of months, but the eggs might not make it to hatching in that tank.

 

Yup cories need more protein, the algae wafers don't give them much in the way of energy or food that is suited for them, my schools get fed once a day with a fast day once or twice a week. My albinos and bronze spawn monthly on this diet. My peppered spawn every couple of months, but the eggs might not make it to hatching in that tank.

So sinking shrimp pellets? I have some freeze dried shrimp pretty small stuff I wonder if they'd eat that. Sadly I have to push that type of food down the tank so they can see it and eat it and I have two cories should I invest in maybe one or two more? Seems they're happiest in groups. And once a month you have babies spawn?? Wow that's cool my friend

 

He's getting food.

Dropping food just before lights out is definitely the way to go but I promise he will eat. They also don't need to eat often. If it gets to a point where he's hungry he will come feed during the day lights on or not. If he's resting during lights on it means he's not hungry.

I thought for sure my school of BB cats died. I hadn't seen them in months until I broke down the entire aquarium to rescape it.

Mine come out like clockwork around 4am to scavenge.

Once in a blue moon they come out to bully my cories during the day when I feed. This happens like once every 3 months.

 

Cory cats eat mostly meat, so I would do a sinking shrimp pellet instead for them. They have been known to starve to death on algae wafers and left over food.

Ill definitely invest in shrimp pellets thank you so much!

He's getting food.

Dropping food just before lights out is definitely the way to go but I promise he will eat. They also don't need to eat often. If it gets to a point where he's hungry he will come feed during the day lights on or not. If he's resting during lights on it means he's not hungry.

I thought for sure my school of BB cats died. I hadn't seen them in months until I broke down the entire aquarium to rescape it.

Mine come out like clockwork around 4am to scavenge.

Once in a blue moon they come out to bully my cories during the day when I feed. This happens like once every 3 months.

So do you recommend shrimp pellets for bb catfish? They're so pretty and cute lol.

Or will flakes and the freeze dried shrimp work?

 

You can soak the freeze dried shrimp in tank water - that is actually recommended because otherwise they can expand in the fish's stomach and cause them harm. I recommend the shrimp pellets because everything I have in my tanks eats them, from angels to cories to plecos to shrimp (I know) they all charge in for a bite.

 

you might want to add more panda cory cat fish to the tank theyre usually in extremely large groups in the wild and aquarist should try to mimick that. So id add at least 4 more to your tank

 

So sinking shrimp pellets? I have some freeze dried shrimp pretty small stuff I wonder if they'd eat that. Sadly I have to push that type of food down the tank so they can see it and eat it and I have two cories should I invest in maybe one or two more? Seems they're happiest in groups. And once a month you have babies spawn?? Wow that's cool my friend

I personally like shrimp pellets over freeze dried, but if it's what you have right now then yeah you could soak them like Mcasella said and try to feed them. I do recommend more then two, usually around six or more.

 

Or will flakes and the freeze dried shrimp work?

shrimp pellets from people like cobalt aquatics and hikarI carno pellets would work and on occasion add blood worms. And since u probably don't have shrimp pellets at the moment I would suggest feeding a bit more food so the cories have more to scavenge

 

Shrimp pellets are loved by everything. Only my very large cichlids and 8" dojo loaches ever eat the freeze dried shrimp


Caution though; shrimp pellets dirty your water quickly if you overfeed. They can also cause fish to get overweight quickly.

I feed 8 shrimp pellets to my large school of 30 panda cories.

 

Shrimp pellets are loved by everything. Only my very large cichlids and 8" dojo loaches ever eat the freeze dried shrimp


Caution though; shrimp pellets dirty your water quickly if you overfeed. They can also cause fish to get overweight quickly.

I feed 8 shrimp pellets to my large school of 30 panda cories.

what company and what size cichlids

 

you might want to add more panda cory cat fish to the tank theyre usually in extremely large groups in the wild and aquarist should try to mimick that. So id add at least 4 more to your tank

Awesome will do!

Thanks for all your help!