How do I ensure my glass catfish get fed?

Question

I have a ten gallon tank with two glass catfish, a betta and two flyingfoxes. The flying foxes eat algae from driftwood or the walls of the tank and the betta eats either bloodworms or betta pellets. The catfish eat either the bloodworms (individual ones that float nearby) or occasionally snack and small goldfish flakes that I crush and put in the tank to give the swordfish and catfish some extra food. I'm a little concerned that the catfish might not be getting enough to eat.

As a midtank fish they are quite shy and lurk under a java fern, coming out for an inquisitive lap or two of the tank before returning or setting up to lurk somewhere else. With a surface browsing betta and the bottom feeder swordfish, how can I ensure that enough food is floating through the midtank for them to eat? They seem healthy and happy and the water is pristine, but I'm just not sure they are eating enough as I don't often actually observe them eating.

Note:

If you intend to answer this question, please make note of the community guidelines. Answers that do nothing to answer the actual question of how I ensure my glass catfish get fed will be reported and consequently removed. This includes typical Yahoo! Answers Fish area lurkers with "How dare you keep five fish without a 10,000 gallon tank, it's inhumane", "Probably your catfish has ichthyophthirius multifilis which I'll shorten to 'ick' instead of 'ich' even though you haven't written a thing in your question that specifies symptoms of any disease at all" or "Your betta will kill the other fish because a kid at school told me they kill other fish". If you have something intelligent to contribute I look forward to reading the answers.

Answer 1

might be a little stressed not just because you don't have enough of them but they also like a current to swim in. they cant see very well as far as i know and usually smell food better in a current. mine never leave the current of the filter and i mean never of course when they're in the current it makes it 10x harder to feed them and I'm sure mine haven't eaten since i added a power head a few days ago because i cant get food to flow in right since it pretty much has to hit them in the face. since its a 10 gallon tank I'm assuming the filter doesn't give to much so maybe a small pump will give it a place to swim and possibly help it eat, and certainly help you keep track of whether it eats or not.

Answer 2

one thing you could think about is maybe they arn't comfortable...glass cats are schooling fish believe it or not and with just two they may be a bit afraid as they normally have about 5-6 to their school and they like to pack together...i have had these fish and i just got 2 as you did and they just didn't seem right but i went out the next week and got 4 more and they would come out more and eat as much as they could,,,as well as look more comfortable in their surroundings

edit- i don't think a 10 gallon is too small for 5 either i had mine in a 10 gal with a betta and a bushynose pleco and they all seemd happy they lived for about 6 years...deffinately look into it but that's what i would recommend

here's a good site on them btw

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20G...

Answer 3

As Mike said, you'll continue to have trouble feeding them until you get a solid school.  I have 4, and they readily come to the surface for pellets, frozen bloodworms, and frozen brine shrimp (they eat the last two from my hand).  With a proper school, you can do as I said above, or ease into it by thawing frozen food in a cup of tank water and using a turkey baster to squirt it in the Glass Cats' directions.  They'll find it with a few flicks of their barbels, and you won't have to worry.

Keep in mind that you should be looking at a 20+ gallon tank for the Glass Catfish-- they are fairly sensitive, and smaller tanks just don't afford enough stability.  For the combination of fish you listed, you hopefully have at least a 50 gallon tank (Flying Foxes are NOT small fish).

EDIT: I stand by my 20+ gallon tank for the Glass Cats and 50 gallons for the Flying Fox additions.  Aqualand Pets Plus can in no way be considered a reliable site, as reading just about any of their articles will reveal.