PlanetCatfish.com

I'd like to run something past you guys before I go trolling through the lfs's looking for Cory's. I've been trying to find a catfish for my 55 gallon and typical me, I'd only come up with things that are too big or too expensive. I had a thought the other day and tried out the advanced Cat-e-log search (which is extremely cool BWT). It told me that C. aeneus would work in my tank. Tank is as follows:

Size: 55 Gallons
Temp: 78F
Ph: 7.0 - 7.2
Occupants: Black Ghost Knife (approx 10")
8 Swordtails (approx 2" including sword)
2 x CAE (approx 6")

I was considering a school of 5 or 6. They're a pretty common Cory here, which makes things easier, but since I've never kept Cory's before I figured I'd ask the experts for their opinions before I do something stupid.

Those corydoras will do fine in your tank, some of the other fish however wil not. Specifically the ghost knife and CAE. The ghost knife can grow very large, somewhere around 18-20". Longer than the width of the tank and about half as long as the tank itself. I would suggest finding it another home. The BGK is also a predator and may try to eat small corydoras. The CAE would work as far as bio-load is concerned but as they age they tend to get aggresive and may harass your other fish or try to suck on the slime coat.

Thanks for the reply, Sandtiger

I'm aware of the potential size of a BGK, this one is my second. He's a rescue fish, handed into the lfs because he kept eating the Tetra's his previous owner put in with him (surprise, surprise). He's apparently already 3 years old, and has been at his current size for the last 2, so I think he's suffering a little from stunting I don't really expect him to grow much bigger than he is now if thats the case, even with the better diet he's getting now, but if he does, I have a 24" wide 150 he can be moved into. And so far the only agression the CAE's have shown is towards each other, they ignore the other fish totally. But again, I know they can be a problem and they can also be moved to one of my more aggressive tanks.

The C. aeneus that I've seen at the lfs's around here are all around the 1" to 1.25" mark. I would have thought given their body height they would have been relatively safe from the BGK, their mouths are no overly large.