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Hi,

My name is Colby D. AKA "SEEDY" aka "CD" (uh yeah...get it?)

I mainly keep African Rift Lake Cich1ids,Catfish and a few "oddballs"...I am addicted to the ellipses...as should be clearly evident in this post...Here are a few pics of my "cats"...and a few other fish...



Synodontis decorus







Ancistrus sp. albino







What is probably Hopliancistrus sp L17 (Thank you for the help getting a probably ID! )







Aethiomastacembelus plagiostoma









C1chl1ds

Hello Seedy! Welcome to Planet Catfish. Lovely pics.
Amanda

That Eel looks quite special, does it have a common name? Get on with it's tankmates etc?

Fella wrote:That Eel looks quite special, does it have a common name? Get on with it's tankmates etc?

It is commonly called the "Tanganyikan Banded Eel". It is a "spiny eel" from Lake Tanganyika in Africa, and seems especially adept at stealing substrate spawning C1chl1d eggs. It gets along quite well with an S. decorus, Ancistrus sp pleco, as well as with the Cyprichromines and Altolamprologines. As far as feeding is concerned, it has taken to a mix of frozen/commercial pellet food and has grown quite a bit for me in the year or so I've had it.

I've just got into mastacembelids, and have got a peacock spiny eel. They're lovely fish, and I'm considering getting a few more.

Mine isn't in my cichlid tank, but could be in the future. I keep a tang tank (multis and paracyprichromis) so it's something I might keep an eye out for. Many thanks!

Fella wrote:I've just got into mastacembelids, and have got a peacock spiny eel. They're lovely fish, and I'm considering getting a few more. Mine isn't in my c*****d tank, but could be in the future. I keep a tang tank (multis and paracyprichromis) so it's something I might keep an eye out for. Many thanks!

Then you'd better start reading and/or gathering information.
There are species from Asia and Africa, riverine and riftlake species, some like brackish water and others don't etc. etc.
I'm definitely not trying to scare you, but I've had very bad experiences with riverine species in a Riftlake tank. And even Riftlake species, like the one above, are no guarantee for success. I knew someone who had to handfeed his specimens in order to keep them alive and even that didn't work out in the end. So see to it that you are well prepared.

Marc van Arc wrote:

Fella wrote:I've just got into mastacembelids, and have got a peacock spiny eel. They're lovely fish, and I'm considering getting a few more. Mine isn't in my c*****d tank, but could be in the future. I keep a tang tank (multis and paracyprichromis) so it's something I might keep an eye out for. Many thanks!

Then you'd better start reading and/or gathering information.
There are species from Asia and Africa, riverine and riftlake species, some like brackish water and others don't etc. etc.
I'm definitely not trying to scare you, but I've had very bad experiences with riverine species in a Riftlake tank. And even Riftlake species, like the one above, are no guarantee for success. I knew someone who had to handfeed his specimens in order to keep them alive and even that didn't work out in the end. So see to it that you are well prepared.

Yes, I agree with what you've said.

I handfeed mine currently, and bury bloodworm for him to scavenge out. This works for me, but, even so, he prefers earthworms more.

I haven't added him to my tang tank,it's something I would only do once he was much bigger, and once I had a larger tang tank.

My main worries are him escaping, and him developing any kind of open wound, I know from advice I've been given while researching the fish that these are the most common killers in mastacembelids, and I know from my own experience that feeding is another problem.

I appreciate advice given though, thank you.