PlanetCatfish.com

Hi guys.

I'm planning to buy a couple of juvenile Sorubim lima, they are going to live with two juvenile Liosomadoras sp and maybe a black ghost knifefish and maybe a Panaque or similar large pl*co...now I'm wondering if you guys can give me some suggestions on what characin species would go well together with those guys and not ending up as food?...oh, and I almost forgot I'm certainly going to buy a Hemisorubim platyrhynchos if I just can get hold of one.

Dont put them with anything under 4" or any fish with a slim profile,i made the mistake of thinking that congo tetras would be ok to keep with my S.lima and ended up losing two of a breeding group of 6 one night,they were full grown fish of about 3 1/2 " and the sorubim was 8".I would sugest something of at least silver dollar size to avoid them being costly feeders.

You don't really have much of a choice. I suppose you can go with silver dollar-type tetras, but they get really big and need plenty of swimming room. Same problem with the large torpedo-shaped tetras (Anostomus, Chalceus, etc.) or deeper -bodied ones like Semaprochilodus. You may want to try medium-sized deep-bodied tetras like the larger Astyanax species (e.g. A. bimaculatus), but these are fairly dull-colored and don't show up in the trade often.

I'll second that!
Sorubim (like many other Pims too) have an uncanny sense of seeing (and feeling with those long thin upperbarbels) wich fish fits and wich fish won't.

Highbuild fishes are safe, if they're at least half as long as the Sorubim. For your tank Silverdollars (Methynnis sp), Triporteus and Brycon might be safe. Unfortunately the latter two are rare in the trade, but they do reach a fair size. And active swimmers that size need a big tank of course. They're shoalers, so a shoal of at least 8 triporteus or Brycon with your other fish would need a 150G tank . Methynnis do better with more than just 8 (12 or more), and their only drawback is they really eat all plants. Apart from that, fabulous fish and completely harmless.

There are some truly weird Characins that have the same habits of the Sorubim, but stay in the upper half of the tank! ever encountered fish like Boulengerella, Ctenolucius, Hepsetus odoe or Acestorhynchus? All well worth the keeping; all are piscivores and harmless except for prey. Acestorhynchus reaches 7-9", Boulengerella (wich like Sorubim is a long, thin fish) reaches 10-12",the African Hepsetus is slightly larger but quite a bit more heavybuild, and Ctenolucius can reach 15-18" or so.

For a huge tank, fascinating fish! These do well in small groups (they often hunt in "packs" of 3-5) and are among the most imposing looking of all characins. We've had Boulengerella not too long ago and actually they're shy fish.

Hi,
The only drawback for pike characins is that if they get frightened they can breake their mouth in their panick but this is very dificult to happen.Unfortunately it happened to one of my Boullengerela lateristinga.Fortunately he didnt died although he never grew back his beautifull beak.

kind of along the same lines, anyone ever kept Hydrolycus armatus? very interesting looking fish, but I was wondering if it'd even be possible to keep it with other fish of a larger size or at least a similar size...

Thanks for the replys. I was planning on some characins with a high bodyshape. I recon if a S.lima would try to swallow some silverdollar-tetra he would just end up looking stupid, like a dog with a frisbee in his mouth.

Would Poptella orbicularis be a candidate? And if so do you know if they are fairly common in the trade?...oh and do they also strip the tank clean from plants, as Metynnis?

Poptella is no longer that common on the trade. You are more likely to encounter Metynnis.

That's too bad.
I've had Poptella's for years, when I still had the Pterodoras, the Callichthys and other critters like Trichomycterus etc. They're definitely worth keeping, very tough, peaceful,lively and the tank can look nice too; they don't eat plants.
at least not the sturdy ones I use, and anyway; finely leafed plants or fragile ones shouldn't be used in a catfish tank anyway.

They're incredable jumpers so you should cover the tank really well, if you can get them.
They don't get too big, btw; mostly they reach 8-10 cm or so, and are just as high as long. A foot long Sorubim won't bother them (I've had Sorubims that length with them too, for a while). But Sorubims can reach two feet I think; such a large one could perhaps eat Poptella's....

If they are available to you, either one of the Tetragonopterus species (T. argenteus and T. chalceus) is another candidate.

Hi again.
The LFS had Stethaprion erythops on their list. Would they go well with S.lima?

SG_Eurystomus wrote:For your tank Silverdollars (Methynnis sp), Triporteus and Brycon might be safe. Unfortunately the latter two are rare in the trade, but they do reach a fair size. And active swimmers that size need a big tank of course. They're shoalers, so a shoal of at least 8 triporteus or Brycon with your other fish would need a 150G tank . Apart from that, fabulous fish and completely harmless.

I'm going to have to disagree with SG for once. I have three Brycon at work, the smallest is 18", and they are totally unsuitable for anything under 500 gallons. They can each eat a bag of grapes a day given the chance, and I would worry about the health of the Sorubim more than the other way around. I have seen specimens of this genus kill other fish very quickly and efficiently. Some of the species do stay around 12", but IDing them at small size is very difficult. The Triportheus would be a good choice though.

SG_Eurystomus wrote: There are some truly weird Characins that have the same habits of the Sorubim, but stay in the upper half of the tank! ever encountered fish like Boulengerella, Ctenolucius, Hepsetus odoe or Acestorhynchus? All well worth the keeping; all are piscivores and harmless except for prey. Acestorhynchus reaches 7-9", Boulengerella (wich like Sorubim is a long, thin fish) reaches 10-12",the African Hepsetus is slightly larger but quite a bit more heavybuild, and Ctenolucius can reach 15-18" or so.

I'll agree with Acestrorynchus, they are a cool fish. Ctenolucius are OK but a bit dull. A friend bred some that I gave him and he couldn't get rid of all the youngsters.

Stethaprion erythops

That might work. Depends on what size you get 'em.

Here is some big Characins:

Red-Bellied Pacus 16''
Leporinus they can be up to 6'' 15 1/2'' 14'' and 8 1/4''
Also try some Distichodus 7''-16''
Red-Spotted Copeina 6''
Pink-Tailed Chalceus 10''
Stripped Headstander 7''
Marbled Headstander 5''
Ternetz's Headstander 6 1/4''
False Silver Tetra 5''
Disk Tetra 5'' and
Red-Bellied Piranhas 12'' not a very good idea.

Well, thanks for the info guys. Do you also know if Stethaprion erythops eats plants like Metynnis and Myleus?

I have found that catfish are very easy to condition to eat one type food even if it
is not their natural diet. All of my big cat fish are trained to eat floating pellets,the only
way I can get them to eat fish is to hand feed them dead fish. Therefor I think nothing
of putting small fish in with my S. limas, H. platyrhynchos, Leiarius or other predatory
catfish. And I am talking small fish,one inch fish with full grown catfish.
PLEASE don't take this wrong and start throwing small fish in your tanks ,they have to
be raised on the food you want them to eat and I can't tell you how long it takes to
get them to that point.
I often think this type of conditioning is why some of you have problems getting your
fish to eat. Normally farm raised fish are fed commercial bulk foods and if they eat it very long it is very hard to change them over.

I combined my sorubim lima 12 inches with 3 piranhas 8 inches and they didn't attack my sorubimlima