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I'm looking for a new, rarish, catfish for a 30 gallon. pH will be about 7.5-8 and the temerature I can change to suit. Any suggestions? It has to stay in there permo though, the rest of my tanks are full at the moment.

Oh and by the way, Hi, I'm duncan and I'm new here.

-dunc

Any particular "look" you're after?

Rarity is very much a case of locality as well, since some fish are mainly imported to the US or to Japan, missing out Europe and UK. Others are more frequently in the UK and rarely getting to the US for instance.

High pH is probably ACCEPTABLE (but not ideal) to many south american catfish, but the ideal ones for this condition would be the Lake Tanganyika Synodontis species.

Maybe would be a good choice. Of course, they aren't exactly RARE, but not that common either.

Other candidates that could work are any of the large number of smaller pleco's. Almost any Peckoltia specie would be small enough to keep in that tank, as would Ancistrus species, as well as Hypancistrus. They range from really common to unavailable at prices under £200 . Peckoltia's are mostly reasonably prices, but availability varies depending on specie.

The tank would be a little bit small for any of the Pimelodus species, except perhaps , but that is very common, so maybe not such a good suggestion.

All sorts of Corydoras species are available too. They range from very common to completely unavailable (prices, apparently, in the hundreds or more for some of the rarest species. Of course finding someone who's got one may be more difficult than finding the famous rocking horse poo).

There are literally hundreds of other species that would work well too. Here's a list of all Genera that are available on Planet Catfish.

A 30g tank is usually around 3 foot long and a little more than a foot wide & high, so you can have fish that grows to about 6-7" in it without them being cramped in there.

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Mats

Chaca!

Pretty rare, utterly bizzare, and not too big since it doesnt move much.

Chaca's like acidic water and he's got alcalic water.....although Chaca's can and do lower the pH themselves

Most fish adapt readily, and unless its a delicate species I think pH (and hardness to a lesser degree) are overrated in importance. Its a pretty good fit otherwise, so I thought I'd mention it. Has anyone had problems with the higher pH? (I would love to know, before I get myself a Chaca!)

I have a 2 Chaccas already in a 55 Gallon aquarium with a few silver barbs. I'm trying to get them to breed But they won't get it together yet, any tips?

-dunc

There was a breeding report (by S. R. Sane) in an old issue of TFH (?). I think this is the only reported captive spawning...

IIRC, he had the fish in a bare bottom tank along with some Nandusand the Chaca spawned in an asbestos pipe. The male guarded the eggs/fry.