hoplo catfish - help me choose please, please. :-)

[Rebecca Wilde]

I want to get some Hoplo catfish after reading how much character they have and watching a number of You Tube videos with hoplos of various sizes. I've also read that some, with patience, can feed from the hand and that they aren't the least bit shy. Active none shy fish really appeal to me.

I have a few questions:

The ones I normally see for sale are the spotted hoplo but I keep hearing of brown hoplos too. Is there much difference between their temperament in terms of friendliness and activity?

My tank is 200 litres (44 Galons) with a powerful external filter and an air pump Which hoplo would you recommend to me under these circumstances and how many?


Yours hopefully,

Rebecca

[MatsP]

The most commonly available fish in shops is

Megalechis thoracata

, which is a brown fish with black spots.

All hoplos are quite boisterus and active when food goes in the tank, at least.

I have only kept two species, M. thoracata and

Callichthys callichthys

, which I've had very poor luck with. Of two pairs, purchased at different times, in different tanks and from differnet sources, both pairs died within a short while...

--
Mats

[crkinney]

Hello Rebecca, I am keeping three hoplo littorale these are wild caught .They are the life of my tanks all will feed by hand and I can put my hand in the tank and one of the females will swim into my hand to be picked up and scratched .They will eat almost any thing you put in the tank but love snow crab and frozen blood worms and brine shrimp.Mine are 5-6 inches long and don't
bother the other fish although I suspect that they have eaten the fry of my ancistrus I cannot confirm this.You will need a good filter system be cause they will stir up the tank bottom 24/7 I never have to clean the sub strait in my tanks They will up root plants rooting for food but they don't hurt them. I put rocks over the root mass to slow them down.As for water quality they don't care I got mine out of a ditch in a swamp .
enjoy mule

[MattP]

Hi, I'd go for the thoracata which in my experience are lively, if a little boisterous. They have tons of personality, and in my tank were not interested in making a meal of even the smallest tank mates. At meal times they're like fish- vacuums, especially for bloodworm!!

Highly recommended!!

Cheers Matt

[zenyfish]

Keep in mind brown hoplos get quite a bit bigger than spotted. Spotted are probably better with small fish.

[Bas Pels]

If you comopare M thoraca with H littorale, you wil lsee the tail is different: H littorale has a forked fin, while M thoraca has a rounded one

a forked fin is a sign of activity, and H littorale are much more active then M thoraca.

Personally I prefer H littorale, but it was hard to get them - a lot of favours went into them

[Taratron]

Just want to add that my H. littorale take food from my hands and despite them ripping up the sand all the time, one of my favorite cats. Even people who don't like my dull drab fish love these guys.

[minkweir]

I have 5 Thoracata in my cory tank...I can say they are a joy to own..they are harmless the other adult fish/shrimp...very peacefull...very pretty...love snuffling around a well planted tank...active during the day...and they love their food so they become really tame and take tubifex from your fingers, I also feed algae flake, catfish pellets and pigmented flake or betta pellets...I also do regular water changes...and then you should see them upto their gills in substrate looking for yet more food!

[minkweir]

For hand feeding try less meals and fresh washed LIVE tubifex less filling than blood worm(ps they tickle)...hmm but @ the moment from my local supplier in Sussex UK he has to get the tubifex from Russia(expensive and unreliable)....I know cleaning up the Thames was a good thing but they didnt us tubifex users a thought

[Rebecca Wilde]

Thanks so much for the wonderful answers. I am getting very excited about getting Hoplos now. And it seems I can have some Corys in with them too (Yay!). I plan to go for thoracata as I don't think my tank would be big enough long term for the Littorale.

I'm just working on possible tank mates now.

[Rebecca Wilde]

For hand feeding try less meals and fresh washed LIVE tubifex less filling than blood worm(ps they tickle)...hmm but @ the moment from my local supplier in Sussex UK he has to get the tubifex from Russia(expensive and unreliable)....I know cleaning up the Thames was a good thing but they didnt us tubifex users a thought

Is there any where I can buy those online (live ones) - or can my local fish store order them in?