Tatia perugiae

[Luis.Ventura]

I think here is the best place to make the post.
i´ve been reading some info about T. perugiae but i can´t find any info about if they prey smaler fish, smal shrimps.
I have a tank whit only C. Pygmaeus, C. Stebai, a comunity of red chrrys and loads of plants, i was thinking in introducing some Tatia perugiae there for breeding porposes and show tank.
also i´ve read that they like pvc caves whit 1.5 cm isn´t that to smal for them? only 1.5cm large? i´m afraid that they get traped there, even more the gravid.

So i have a few questions if you guys don´t mind.

1- Do they prey on smaler fish?
2- Whats the best size for theirs hiding places?
3- Out of curiosity, why are they called oil fish? (woodcat i kinda undertand, they hide on the driftwoods)
4- They feed in all seccions of the tank? i mean, bottom, top....
5- They will come "wild", so i should Deworm them no? are they sencitive to hexamita?

[MatsP]

I think they may eat small fish - but most likely only if they are at the freeswimming at the surface of the tank. They are surface feeders primarily - which is rather rare for catfish. Most active after dark or during dusk/dawn.

Whether you need to deworm them or not depends on the supplier. They may have done that already.

I have no idea where the common name comes from...

--
Mats

[panaque]

Mine share their tank with baby Endler guppies and even those don't seem to get eaten, apart from maybe the odd one occasionally. The shrimp in the same tank are also left alone. These fish really seem to be specialised in feeding on insects at the surface. They love frozen 'blood worm' (midge larvae) and white mosquito larvae and basically. I have also tried frozen mysis shrimp and they completely ignore it. Every now and then I feed them live crickets and I am amazed at the prey size these fish can handle. If it's an insect, they'll eat it. Crickets are great for condiotioning the females for breeding by the way, especially if you feed the crickets on a good quality flake food and some greens for at least 24hrs beforehand. You don't have to feed them on crickets though. They get by fine on the frozen stuff. Note that it has to be at the surface and they feed only after dark, unless they are really hungry.
I'd say that about 2cm is a better cave diameter. For breeding purposes they need to be closed at one end. PVC works and so does bamboo, which looks nicer.
No idea about common name and I never de-wormed mine or used any medication. They can take some time to settle in. When I first got mine they refused to come out for 2 weeks before starting to feed. When they moved house with me they refused to come out for 2 weeks again. Once they're settled they'll eat from your hand (handy for feeding sinking foods at the surface).
You say you want to introduce them for breeding purposes and show. Well, you won't get much 'show' out of them in the sense of swimming around being pretty when the lights are on. They will be in their tubes all day until it is dark and there is food in the tank at which point they'll race around like mad for maybe 1/2 hour before returning to their hiding places. Sometimes they stay out a bit more but never with lights on.
Hope that helps

[Luis.Ventura]

in this tank i have mostly only moonlight turn on, all i have in plants there is anubias, that can handle the low light time they have.
you say that the cave needs to be closed in one end, can i do that to all caves or should i leave some open in both ends?
Besides crickets can i give them some Tenebrio Molitor?
When i said deworming them was because they will be wild cought, thats only because of that, you say that i shouldn´t do it, even if they are wild??

[Bijn]

Besides crickets can i give them some Tenebrio Molitor?

you have to be careful with these larvae, they are hard to digest and contain to much fat. The freshly shed larvae (the white ones) are easier to digest but still very fat. And I think they sink, floating insects are better.

I think roaches are very good food. Easy to breed, the make no noise and don't smell. They float and are easy to gutload.
Just choose a species that doesn't fly, can't climb on smooth surfaces and won't breed under 25° degrees celcius. I think you can guess why.

[PeterUK]

Just choose a species that doesn't fly, can't climb on smooth surfaces and won't breed under 25° degrees celcius. I think you can guess why.

I would suggest Blaptica dubia as this species fits all of the above requirements.

[Bijn]

Blaptica dubia would be fine, Blaberus species too although not all off them (B. gigantea for example) are fast breeders. Blaberus discoidalis is a very fast breeder, they can compete with the dubia's but they are more skittish, some people don't like that. That the adults are bigger isn't an advantage in this case.

[Luis.Ventura]

I think i´m going to stick whit bloodworm and crikets, not realy fond of roaches
i don´t think they are a specie of shoal but i would like to keep "some", like 10/11 in a 200 liters tank, well plated and full of caves to them, would that be a problem due to numbers?

[MatsP]

I haven't kept this species, but I'm fairly confident that keeping many in one tank is just a matter of "enough hiding spaces" along with enough food (and keeping the water clean, etc, but that shouldn't be a huge problem). And from what I understand, they are OK with "sharing" hiding space too, not territorial at all in that respect.

--
Mats

[panaque]

10 or 11 in a 200l should be fine I think. The most I have kept together in that size tank was 6 and they are actually great fun in a group. The males can fight quite a bit over females but they don't seem to cause any significant damage. I have seen them bite their rival's pectoral fin and drag them down to the bottom of the tank without any apparent harm being done, and these are rare occurrences anyway.
With a large group you do have to be careful that they all get their share of food. Dominant individuals tend to get the lion share and they can eat a ridiculous amount in one sitting, potentially leaving none for those at the bottom of the pile. The easy way to avoid this is to make sure that the food is spread over the entire surface area of the water.

[Marc van Arc]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the two above made comments.

In order to avoid writing things down (too) many times, pls have a look at
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=390

[panaque]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the two above made comments.

In order to avoid writing things down (too) many times, pls have a look at
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=390

Although this relates to a different species, they are similar enough in behaviour that I would follow Marc's advice and stick to a smaller group. Like I said, 6 worked for me. These were an adult pair and 4 of their young adult offspring by the way. 3 males, 3 females.

[Marc van Arc]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the two above made comments.

In order to avoid writing things down (too) many times, pls have a look at
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=390

Although this relates to a different species, they are similar enough in behaviour that I would follow Marc's advice and stick to a smaller group. Like I said, 6 worked for me. These were an adult pair and 4 of their young adult offspring by the way. 3 males, 3 females.

Oh crap, pls ignore!! Must have been very tired and too focussed on the Tatia part.....
Centromochlus perugiae is NO problem in a larger group. Very friendly fish in comparison to T. intermedia.
I have 14 atm and they're doing fine.
Thanks Panaque.
Terribly sorry for any confusion I've caused.

[MatsP]

Yes, I was thinking that "My C. romani seems very friendly to each other", and that "T". perugiae isn't that far off...

--
Mats