PlanetCatfish.com

Hello, I am new to catfish, except for the Otto Cats I keep in my 29gallon. Right now I am setting up a new 55 gallon tank in my bedroom. I'm interested in keeping a couple Striped Raphael in the tank. My only concern is since they are "talking catfish" will they make noise at night? I don't want to be kept up at night by a nocturnal fish making its rounds at 2am. Especially since the tank is about 4 feet from my bed. Does anyone know just how "noisy" they are?

Thanks!

The talking part of the talking catfish is generally only heard when they are removed from the water. They bark/squeek to put of predators. I have kept both platydoras costatus and Agamyxis pectinifrons and never heard them at all in the tank. When you catch them its another matter, great little catfish, good characters and attractive too.

Hope this helps

this is wrong; you certainly can hear Doradids as well as Auchenipterids and even some Mochokids growling and buzzing to each other as they move in the tank.

of course it almost always happens in the dark; when the fish are active and ecounter each other.
Agamyxis, Platydoras etc are quite big enough to emit audible sounds, but even tiny Mochokiella (a Mochokid) makes a sound like a small bumblebee buzzing against a windowpane.

Even the "common" Pimelodus pictus can make a fairly loud squeaking sound when they bumb into each other swimming at full speed.

btw they're noisy, but so noisy to keep you awake!
if that would be the case, the noise from the airpump or filter would keep you awake too

Thanks for the info. My AquaClear power filter is running very quiet right now, the water level is high enough so there's no "Splashing" sound. I was just concerned about sudden strange noises in the night, but I guess I can get used to that. I'm not using an air pump - do you think one is necessary? I was under the impression that they really aren't needed much as long as you have a little bit of surface agitation.

My pictus catfish make noise all the time when fighting for food or swimming into eachother. I have also heard many plecostomus species do this. I once had a talking catfish but he only made noise when removed from the water...but I know they make noise at other times. It is never enough noise to keep me awake or bother me.

true; I only use an airpump with special fry tanks (spongefilters!) and such.

usually the current and surface motion from the ol' filter is plenty, unless you have things like Bulldog Plecs or so.

Hey guys. In my experience, my raphael never has made any noise not even a peep, and I have had him for about a year. Any noise made will probably be muffled by the filter, tank glass, lid, etc. so the sound waves will be very faint with all these obstacles. Hope I could help.
SorubimLima

I sleep right next to a tank with three small S. Robbianus and there are nights when thier squabbling will rouse me from sleeping even, they are that loud. When I used to have Raphael, they were much less prone to make noise, so I wouldn't think they would be a problem unless there is another fish harassing them.

my pictus make noises at night, but the Clown Loaches are the worst!!!!!
the pictus squeak, and the loaches click, its bloody annoying!!

joe_citizen wrote: I don't want to be kept up at night by a nocturnal fish making its rounds at 2am. Especially since the tank is about 4 feet from my bed.

They will certainly not keep you awake, but you may be (falsely) accused of farting in bed.....
There's no intention to offend someone, but I can't think of a better way to describe the underwater sounds of Doradids & Auchenipterids.

Although its a pretty late reply i would say that i agree that the the raphael wouldnt keep you awake. however a fully grown adult S.decorus having a fight and buzzing is a different story lol, the first time I heard it I didnt know what was going on. Since then i have been researching and studying interactions between species that make noise and responses to noise. Just my two cents...


Simon

I've never heard mine at night. They can make a rather loud buzzing noise if they want to though, as illustrated when my large CA cichlid bit onto ones tail and tried to carry it around like a dog carries a stick.

The catfish had gotten too fat to fit in the hiding holes, so I moved it off to another tank with smaller, but not bite sized, fish.

You want to hear a big megladoras rumbling! When I first heard it I thought that something was stuck in my pump. but the master of noises is this doradid.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/incredible/DSCF3337.JPG

I don't know what it is but when it and the megladoras want the same hidey hole I have to turn the telly up!

Speaking of Raphael cats, will they eat smaller sized fish, like under 1"?

nadajdui wrote:Speaking of Raphael cats, will they eat smaller sized fish, like under 1"?

By accident maybe. They will not hunt for them but simply eat anything that comes into reach and fits their mouths.