Whip Tailed Cat

Harden61 · Post by **Harden61** » 21 May 2004, 15:42

I know that it is hard to identify a fish without a picture, but I will give a description and see what happens. It is not a banjo cat. It has a more angular head. Almost resembles a Stergeon in the head area. Light brown in color with darker brown or black markings. Has a very long slender tail. Maybe I can get a picture in the near future. I have a pair of these cats that have spawned twice in the last two weeks. I went to take the eggs out of the tank yesterday, and found that they have already hatched. I managed to save 20 fry before a Discus tankmate ate the rest. Looking for any information that I can find.

Post by **Silurus** » 21 May 2004, 15:50

Is this it?

Harden61 · Post by **Harden61** » 21 May 2004, 18:46

After doing some more research, I think that what we have is a Sturisoma panamense. Still trying to narrow it down but this has got to be real close. The fry are doing fine this morning and have been seperated from the parents.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 23 May 2004, 11:16

stick to veggie food the first few weeks....
and only feed when they have "changed shape".....the first few days they will still rely on the yolk, and they have spherical bellies. when you dump in food then, it'll spoil the water and you will loose the nest.

a few Ramshorn or MTS snails to clean up leftovers is a good plan.

best way to raise baby sturio's are peas from the freezer (tincan-peas are slimy and will faul up the water); thawed and squeezed open so the peel bursts.

other excellent baby sturio food is slices of cucumber, lettuce that has been soaked in hot water and anything with green algae on it; rocks, plantleaves etc. after 1-2 weeks you might add pleco-tabs or spirulina. After 2-3 weeks you can think about adding live artemia nauplii (larvae).

two other things: saturating the water with oxygen is a must; use as many airstones as you can get away with.

and pristine water!! but when adding fresh, let it run though an airhose (!) so it enters the breeding tank very slowly.

They will NOT be able to cope with sudden waterchanges!!
Esp pH, hardiness and temperature shouldn't vary too sudden.

Harden61 · Post by **Harden61** » 25 May 2004, 13:08

Thanks. They are eating a processed algae right now and have almost doubled in size. They seem to be doing fine. I had read somewhere that if they didn't recieve algae in their diet, the ones that survived would have a high rate of sterility. We are watching the pair to see if they spawn again within the next two weeks.