Weird Columbian catshark behaviour? Can someone help?

hi guys,

I have a new Columbian catshark addition to my tank. My tank is too small for him (10gallons)...hes pretty tiny right now but I know he will need a much larger set up and also from what I read, needs other catsharks to be happy (minimum of 3??).?

ANYWAY, my question is regarding his weird behavior lately....he keeps swimming directly underneath the water heater, pushing his head up into it, and sometimes shaking or shuddering, like hes cold or being electrocuted..what is going on? IS this to do with an electric current? Can anyone help? Its weirding me out that he isnt swimming anywhere else in the tank. :-/

 

Is this what you have?

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Cat Shark, Black Banded

 

Hi! No, it's one of these guys: Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Columbian Shark

 

it might be electrical current. IMO i would remove the heater and see if he still responds that way. Are any of your other fish acting odd? I do not know about freshwater very well, but know that certain fish, ie sharks etc are more sensitive to electrical current than others. Has something to do with their feeding

 

No idea, not a freshwater guy. Have you had your water tested lately?

 

He's in a salt tank actually..I will try removing heater..its very odd.

Right now hes the only fish, the rest are snails and an anenome..and theyre all fine

 

they live in both freshwater and salt...got the water tested a week ago, but Ill get it done again tomorrow..its just so odd.

 

You mean a brackish water tank if I understood you correctly? I'm assuming that's what you meant by salt water. Brackish water contains anywhere from .50 to 30 grams of salt per litre (.5 to 30 ppm). The salinity normally ranges from 1.005 to 1.010 depending on what type of fish is being kept. From what I have seen and experienced in the past is this type of shark was always in freshwater. That's what I've always kept them in and have done fine. I'm not completely sure about how well they do in brackish water. I was always into the sharks (bala sharks, red tipped sharks, columbian sharks, etc.) so I've had these in the past. I feel as it is abnormal behavior as these guys tend to hover over the bottom of the tank kind of scavenging. Was the shark kept in brackish water from the LFS or was it just freshwater? Or just stray current from the heater in which a ground would be good to deter from this in the future.

 

Ahh i see. If it's new and a brackish water tank, was the fish originally in freshwater? Could just be acclimation.

 

You've got stray current and it'd driving him nuts. Most likely coming from the heater.