PlanetCatfish.com

Hi everyone, have a question here:

I am setting up a 265 US Gallon tank (94inch x 24 x 36) to house a tigrinus (zebra) shovelnose catfish, its about 8 inches right now, not counting the lyre tail. I am also thinking of adding a school of 8 to 10 climbing perch fish
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/cteno-ac.htm
would the tigrinus eventually start eating these fish when it gets bigger? the perch get up to 8 inches each. Would the perch nip at the shovelnose's lyre tail?

Also, the perch like plants and bogwood, and the shovelnose likes open spaces with flat rocks, how could I decorate the tank to suit them both.

thanks for the help in advance.

Sorry, I meant leopard bushfish, NOT climbing perch.

I know the Ctenopoma won't bother the Merodontotus one bit, but i don't know about the other way round. I know I wouldn't trust a predatory pim with anything that is even vaguely bit enough to fit into it's mouth.

you're correct to assume that Ctenopoma like dense plants and bogwood. they are very shy, you won't see much of them, especially with a big pim in with them!

the only way to provide both types of habitat in one tank will give the merodonotus less swimming space. something that is probably best avoided in the limited size of an aquarium.

the other thing is that Ctenopoma don't school. they don't like each other, especially males. my two are always scrapping, and they have a five foot tank!

i would get the ctenopoma for another tank, and put something more suitable in with the merodontotus, such as rays or peaceful cichlids. you could even get away with Crenicichla as long as they're not breeding!

Thanks for the reply, I wanted fish for mid level water, I wanted the tigrinus to be the sole bottom dweller, although a stingray does seem interesting, I will look into that.

The cichlid you suggegsted seems pretty good, but would they get territorial? also I wanted fish that would compliment the patterns and color scheme of the tigrinus, what about Tilapia butterkofferi?

thanks

Butti's are the devil incarnate, i wouldnt put one with anything i would be upset to find ripped up and dead in the morning. I had two a few years ago which were bought as Tilapia joka which started to cause me problems once they hit 4 inches, soon after that i was down to one as the other killed it and then it started on my other fish so i gave it to a public aquarium where it is happily terrorising a tank full of mbuna still to this day.

Ctenopoma aren't midwater fish. they just sulk on the bottom or hide in bogwood and plants!

they only come out when it's feeding time!

I would think pike cichlids (Crenicichla)would be good tank mates.

as far as i know (i've only kept dwarf Crenicichla), as long as they aren't breeding they will leave the pim well alone.

here's a good site on them....

http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/articles.html

A single Crenicichla is completely harmless!

they're very territorial to each other and often to similar shaped cichlids or even different species, but unless they have fry, they completely ignore catfishes......

I got a highly agressive female Dwarfpike in my riverine tank, in with small Doras, Mochokiella, Amphilius, Cory's etc.

perfect match! she doesn't even look at the cats.

she DID kill three potential husbands, though

another good choice would be medium large Eartheaters, these are also very peaceful, and are highbuild, wich is an asset to a catfish that reaches 2 feet or more. less likely to be eaten. Earth eaters do best in groups, they're even nice when breeding, and only chase each other.

single Oscars tend to be quite docile too.

IMO the BEST choice for a tankmate would be Cichla ocellaris!
of a size with the tigrinus, swims midlevel and upper level, and you need a big tank anyway; what's roomy enough for the tigrinus will be OK for Cichla's too.
These piscivore cichlids tend to be very peaceful, shy even.
they look absolutely stunning.......

this one's already in a catfishtank