Striped Rafael Catfish

TheUofSC · Post by **TheUofSC** » 24 Jan 2007, 03:03

What do they enjoy to eat? been feeding mine bottom feeder shrimp pellets but he doesn't seem to like them so i bought some algae wafers and as thinking about breeding brine shrimp for his tank. are those good enough? Also, are they good algae eaters?

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 24 Jan 2007, 06:34

This is a Platydoras costatus. I recommend using the search feature here on pc for more info.
They are definitely not algae eaters but basically carnivores. Shrimp pellets. frozen foods are all good foods. They are primarily nocturnal so add the food at lights out. Occassional , once they become acclimated, they will make brief forays out in daylight to feed but only reluctantly. They can grow to over 5 inches long.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 24 Jan 2007, 11:21

See:

--
Mats

kcmt01 · Post by **kcmt01** » 24 Jan 2007, 16:26

I sometimes give our talking cats a few small pieces of venison. Venison is better than beef because it has almost no fat in it. I crock pot it first. It's almost always gone the next morning.

smoothdemon · Post by **smoothdemon** » 25 Jan 2007, 08:26

Luckily I have had luck with mine - he likes to eat, though he does go on random hunger strikes.

In order of favorites: He eats shrimp pellets, broken up algae wafer, frozen blood worms, tetracichlid mini granules, blanched zuccini, live baby ramshorn snails.

I find that he prefers the pellets and algae wafer after i have soaked them in water for a few minutes and then drop them in the tank, if they are too dry and hard he tries to eat them, spits them out and comes back later.

also he does go on major hunger/sleep strikes, about once or twice a month... i have heard this isn't uncommon.

Alyx · Post by **Alyx** » 08 Feb 2007, 21:54

I've had a few of these Costatus over the years, the last of which is around 8 inches long and 14 years old, last survivor of the 4 I bought back in 1993 at around 2 inches long....

he's eatten literally everything I put in the tank small enough to fit in his mouth!! including some neons I thought would add nice color... when the lights go out he would gobble them up and in the morning you just have some really fat catfish

he's eatten flake food, live worms, frozen worms, (blood, tubifex, even earthworms) brine shrimp, catfish pellets, and I even caught him gobbling up the algae wafers I was dropping in to suppliment the plecos.. cichlid beefhart meal (I bought the frozen cubes but the cats ate more of it than the cichlids did)
he wasn't even bothered by a breeding pair of jewel cichlids trying to beat him up as he moved in to try and suck down the babies... needless to say I hadn't even realized the cichlids were a breeding pair until the catfish was over trying to eat day-old fry...

I'm quite sure they would put down just about anything they can get their lips around, and thank you for it later on the next day

zenyfish · Post by **zenyfish** » 08 Feb 2007, 22:33

I've never found them to be picky eaters. But they are binge eaters, they'll gorge themselves. Once they are full, they may not come out to eat for a couple of days.

Striped Rafael Catfish

Striped Rafael Catfish

Varitable Chow Hound....