How to Care for a Ghost Catfish

The unusual ghost or glass catfish is popular with home aquarists because you can see right through its transparent body. This fish also has a peculiar little quirk that often alarms the uninformed hobbyist. Don't be surprised to find it at the bottom with its head pointing downward at a 30-degree angle and to one side. While the fish may look sick, it's just a strange activity that they all participate in from time to time. While the ghost catfish can be a bit difficult to acclimate -- it is very hardy -- once it gets used to the new surroundings, as long as its needs are met.

Things You'll Need

  • Power head filter
  • Live plants
  • Flaked tropical fish food
  • Brine shrimp
  • Bloodworms
  • Blackworms
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Instructions

    • 1

      Equip your aquarium with a power head filter. The ghost catfish absolutely requires access to a moderate water flow. These fish have been known to die from lack of moving water.

    • 2

      Set the aquarium temperature to about 78 degrees Fahrenheit for these warm water fish.

    • 3

      Add plenty of live plants to your ghost catfish's tank. They love hanging out inside and in front of dense thickets.

    • 4

      Dim the aquarium lights whenever possible. Ghost catfish aren't nocturnal, but they don't care for lots of bright light.

    • 5

      Keep ghost catfish with peaceful community fish. They are easily bullied.

    • 6

      Provide lots of comrades for your ghost catfish. These fish absolutely require plenty of company and must be kept in groups of at least three of their own kind. They're happiest in small schools of five or six, and enjoy patrolling the middle section of the tank.

    • 7

      Feed your ghost catfish flaked tropical fish food along with your other tropicals for the first week. Add some brine shrimp to their diet every day the following week. Offer a few bloodworms the third week. Introduce some blackworms the week after that. Thereafter, give them all of these foods on a daily basis.

    • 8

      Perform frequent water changes, about 50 percent over a week's time. Ghost catfish are highly sensitive to conditions and require very clean water.