PlanetCatfish.com

Hello:
I am new to this site. I presently just purchased a 36 gallon corner aquarium in which I am keeping Koi and Goldfish species. I used to have a 10 gallon as a child and always had some catfish. They were always among my favorites.

My question is I am interested in adding some catfish (3 to 4) to this tank. I do not want delicate species. I also am not keeping the tank heated nor do I want to. I will assume the water temperature should vary between 60 to 80 F. I am looking for fish anywhere between 3 to 12 inches long. I would like something interesting looking that is a little more colorful than a brown.

Are there any recommendations of species I should look into that would be comfortable in this temperature range.

It's a new tank. I have seven 6" koi and two 6" goldfish in this tank. I have a bunch of plants (mainly pondpennies) and a doublesized top of the line Eheim canister running full blast with a lot of charcoal in it.

I haven't decided on what to do for maintainence but usually, if I see any debris on the gravel surface, I siphon it out.

I always though most catfish were pretty hearty? I had tropicals as a kid. I never had carp species until the last year or two.

I can't really recomend anything. Your tank is already way overstocked as is. Koi are more or less exclusively pond fish, and should never be in tanks (except for some very rare exceptions). The same deal pretty much applies to the goldfish. Just 2 would really be pushing it in a tank that size.

So I guess goldfish living in goldfish bowls should die within a few days sccording to this statement. I have about 4 gallons per fish. Most goldfish bowls are about half a gallon.

No matter, the tank is pretty new. I guess I'll let it sit for at least six months before changing any of the fish in it. I may add a few more plants though.

So according to you, there are no good catfish for ponds too?

I can keep a full grown human in my closet alive for years. Should I?

Also, catfish make great pond fish as well as aquarium fish. In a 36 gallon tank you could easily keep a school of cories, a dwarf bristlenose, or any number of species. Just not happily with the goldfish and koi. With a coldwater pond you could keep bullhead, channel cats, or matadoms (though the former two species tend to become quite agressive ime). In an appropriately heated/sized pond, you could keep almost anything.

Leaving the discussion aside whether or not your tank is overstocked.
There are many corydoras species which are quite small and fun to look at, most are pretty hardy fish, which can stand lower temperatures. I've heard of common pleco's withstanding pretty low temperaturs, but these will also get really big. But I have seen them in unheated goldfish tanks.

'unheated' catfish:
#1; Corydoras paleatus!

this is THE cat for unheated tanks indoors, if you live in a moderately warm climate (Autralia, Florida, Mediterranee etc) you can keep it in a pond all year round.

there are a few others that can cope with unheated tanks, but apart from Goldies, I don't think they appreciate the sheer pressure on foodcompetition of Koi carps.

They'd be Ok with a few Goldfish, but you sure need to make sure the cats get enough food.
fish like Rhineloricaria latirostris, Chaetostoma spp, Scleromystax barbatus, Erethistes, Hara and Akysis are all quite happy in a cool tank, but they're not the easiest fish to keep; especially the ltter 3 need plenty of current and easygoing tankmates; Akysis is by far the hardiest of those 3.

But I'd try it out with C paleatus first before getting into any rare stuff.

I'm going to leave the tank population alone for a couple of months to assure things are going OK. After that, Corydoras paleatus it is.

After I get a few, I'll post to let everyone know how it works out. Thanks much for your help.

As an addendum to my last comment, I have been feeding my carp species flake food. I have noted how quick they are to get to all the food including the flakes that make it to the bottom. If I am to introduce catfish to this tank, I will need to have some food that falls to the bottom faster so the catfish will have a chance to get to it. I will try sampling some pellet food to see what it does in my tank before even considering introducing catfish. I do not want to introduce a species that will starve to death in my tank.