Awesome Catfish

[Liquid_Pyro]

Looking for an interesting catfish for my 55gal tank...didn't really know which topic to put this thread in, so hopefully this works...

I really like the look of the pictus catfish, but I was wondering if their are any similar looking species that are known the breed in the home aquarium. I would like to stay away from plecos and cory cats....

Preferably a catfish that will tolerate warmer waters and is an active swimmer

[MatsP]

You don't ask for a lot, do you?

I don't really think there are many that match ALL of your criteria of being easy to breed, colourful, active and fits in a 55g tank. Oh, and likes warmer water...

Matching SOME of your criteria:

Synodontis decora

- certainly colourful, may get a bit bigger than a 55g will allow, but not by much.

Pimelodus pictus

- highly active at least when food is available. Needs to be in a group.

Pimelodus ornatus

- another pimelodus species. Different colours, but same idea as above. A bit larger.

Corydoras robineae

- one of the prettiest fish I currently own - yes, it's a cory, but it's a bit larger than the usual ones, and mine are all over the tank and always on the go.

None of the above are bred with any regularity. Aside from Callichthyidae (corys and close relatives) and Loricariidae (plecos, etc), there aren't many that breed very frequently.

If you are looking to breed, perhaps:

Synodontis lucipinnis

Synodontis multipunctata

(probably needs some mouth brooding rift lake cichlids)

These are of course just a few of MANY catfish that match a few of your criteria. There are certainly hundreds of others.

--
Mats

[Liquid_Pyro]

Hahaha, yeah I know I was asking for alot (but you answered fantastically 'MatsP')

Perhaps breeding is not necessary, but I just enjoy having the possibility of that challenge (currently all the fish I own are somewhat easily spawned.

Just wanted something unique to use as a good center piece fish for my 55 gallon tank.

[MatsP]

Of course, all fish spawn in nature. It's just a case of replicating the circumstances that condition the fish and trigger breeidn in your home aquarium that is the trick. This is sometimes easy, but for many fish, it can be quite tricky.

The other difficult part is of course to find fish locally that are on your wish-list. It is sometimes better to figure out what you can get, and go from there, rather than setting yourself up for getting X, when it's nearly never available in shops.

--
Mats

[Liquid_Pyro]

Very true!

I will definitely look into whats around me this week

Damn too many options!

Thanks again MatsP

[Birger]

Preferably a catfish that will tolerate warmer waters and is an active swimmer

Why the warmer water...is there other warm water fish already that it must get along with? If there is it could make a difference as to recommendations.

Might as well specify what temperature it is you consider warm water.

Birger

[Liquid_Pyro]

I have this current facination with tiger barbs. Recently I discovered how easy they are to breed and thought a large school in a 55 gallon tank would look awesome as they are so active. However, I was thinking I wanted a nice center piece fish. I was picturing in my head a dark sand bottom or black 3M color quartz, with one or two pieces of driftwood...maybe some moss and anubias as well

All my other tanks are quite busy looking, so I wanted a fairly simple looking tank. I was even thinking since the tiger barbs are so easy to breed I wouldn't mind if one got picked off every now and then by the center piece fish.

But that was just what I had pictured in my head...might be too far out of an idea, still working on it....thats why I posted here

[MatsP]

Tiger Barbs don't mix well with ANY catfish, as in nature, their main predators are catfish. They will, collectively, harass any catfish.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

In a very large group, the fin nipping and harrassment tendencies of tiger barbs can be reduced to almost negligible levels - however i personally wouldn't mix them with anything small, peaceful, long whiskered, high finned etc

[Jools]

Tiger Barbs don't mix well with ANY catfish

Really? All 3000 odd species? Reckon they'd do quite well with

Ompok

for example and I've (a long time ago) kept them quite well (in a large shoal) with

Megalechis thoracata

.



Jools

[RickE]

How about a nice little shoal of

Mystus bimaculatus

or similar?

[racoll]

My friend is currently keeping tiger barbs with

Sturisoma

, and that seems to be working out okay.

[Liquid_Pyro]

Yes I understand tiger barbs are not the best fish to be housed with catfish, but I thought something might work...currently I have 9 tiger barbs in a community tank with 2 bristlenose and 3 roseline sharks (Puntius denisonii), so far no problems what so ever.

Tiger barbs are pretty active, so I thought it would be interesting to have something larger just slowly cruising around the bottom. However, if its not something that would be recommended, then I will just stick to a species only tank...

[MatsP]

Maybe I was expressing myself a bit badly - clearly there are some catfish that can mix with tiger barbs. Having a larger number of them certainly will help. If there is a second tank available for "quick rescue", it's probably possible to experiment. I would still avoid anything with long barbels or long fin extensions (e.g. Synodontis decora).

Of course, as soon as you say something like "ALL", "NONE" or anything else that is "absolute", there's always some exception somewhere that shows you can't be "absolute" about it.

And of course, some of the larger catfish will certainly find tiger-barbs a nice snack...

--
Mats

[Liquid_Pyro]

Yes I do have a hospital tank at my disposal, so if anything were to not work out as planned then I have that covered.

The plan was to put juvenile tiger barbs in the tank to grow up with whatever centerpiece fish I end up deciding upon. I was hoping that would make them more accustomed to the fish and possibly leave it alone...