PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,

Being a catfish fan, I have been scouring the UK for what I feel is one of the most truly stunning catfish available.

Finally found somewhere that had 3 of them at £50 each and went for it. They arrived today and I have to say they are even more beautiful than pictures can show.

I currently have them in a 13G QT tank (with a medium gravel and one small piece of planted bogwood) They are approx 3-4" in size. Having never owned this kind of catfish before I do have some questions and would be grateful for any answers.

Is this size tank sufficient to QT for at least 2 weeks? Is this species shy (as they have barely moved from the piece of bogwood since they arrived at 12pm yesterday)?
Would it be worth my while putting a couple of plants in foreground to help them feel a little more secure (tank is located at ground level and I have to walk past it whenever I enter the room)

If it helps I have a basic video which shows the tank here


Thanks guys

Fun video! Nice looking fish too.

Is this species shy (as they have barely moved from the piece of bogwood since they arrived at 12pm yesterday)?
Would it be worth my while putting a couple of plants in foreground to help them feel a little more secure

All woodcats are very shy indeed, and I guarantee that once you put them into either of your main aquaria that you will never ever see more than a tail again.

I would say the tanks need a major redesign before being good for woodcats. In their current state, I would liken them to a Guantanamo Bay for auchenipterids! It's good that you posted the video though, as it helps us give you useful advice.

If you're serious about woodcats (they're called woodcats for a reason!) then I would head to the LFS and buy all the bogwood they have, and stack it floor to ceiling in your tank.

Woodcats like darkness, and dense structure to feel comfortable. Here's an old tank of mine that would have been ideal for them.



Hope this helps.

Is this size tank sufficient to QT for at least 2 weeks?

Looks like they should be okay in there but only for the quarantine period,depending on the food you intend to give that gravel seems a little coarse and food may fall between so I would suggest keep an eye on that.
What food do you intend to feed to start them off?

Is this species shy (as they have barely moved from the piece of bogwood since they arrived at 12pm yesterday)?

Very...at first, then they will get used to your feeding schedule(this may take months) and start looking forward to it.They will never be very active through the day though, but will cruise around during late evening and night(of course this is based on the fact I feed mine late eveing.

Would it be worth my while putting a couple of plants in foreground to help them feel a little more secure (tank is located at ground level and I have to walk past it whenever I enter the room)

Yes, they would love caves like the one I saw in the other tank in your video(especially one for each) and more wood.

The COTM on these http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=381

Birger

Racoll funny you say that about wood .. sadly my LFS's don't stock the kind of thing in the pic but I did get a nice biggish piece of wood this last weekend which I was going to ask, should I remove that dinky piece of planted bogwood and replace it with this (which was intended for these guys in the main tank but has only soaked for about 4 days now).. see pic

Given its soak time I know its likely to give a teaish staining to the water but ...

Only thing I would say is that my tank lights (in main aquariums) are fairly bright, is it an idea to reduce the "on" time to maybe 6hrs instead of my usual 8 -10hrs once they're in there?

Birger - I have started them off with a couple very small pieces of prawn (left over from what I feed my crab) just in case they get peckish through the night lol .. Actually the store I ordered them from sent my a real nice laminated care sheet specific to these actual fish and 4 packs of jellied bloodworm

As for the gravel that's just what is in that tank that had previously been used (did wash it before setting it up today) tank these guys will be going in has sand bottom substrate with a 2" finer gravel on top of it.

I think that cave you saw is actually another piece of planted bogwood and is pretty small tbh

Cheers for your replies guys, I really want to make these guys as happy as I can. The tank they will be going in is my biggest (65G) and I already have plans to re home the Sailfin plec that currently lives there (he's approx 6" and craps like crazy lol).

Look forward to your input again

redfan wrote: Only thing I would say is that my tank lights (in main aquariums) are fairly bright, is it an idea to reduce the "on" time to maybe 6hrs instead of my usual 8 -10hrs once they're in there?

I would reduce the intensity, not the duration. I a gorge the period of daylight may be short, 6, 8 hours, but anywhere else, it's more, and your 8-10 hrs is already fairly short.

But with enough wood in the tank (don't replace anything, just add more) a day of 10 hrs would not matter to them

Mine are currently with a friend, but they are shy indeed. However, with food, they tend to come out. I have a reasonably long light-period, but lots of hiding spaces. They come out to cruise at night, but during the day, they are hiding - often together in the same cave.

The also make noises when "arguing" about who's getting the best place to hide... Sounds like a mobile phone "vibrate" left on a table.

--
Mats

aditionally the light getting into the tank can be reduced by the addition of floating plants which is aesthetically pleasing & appreciated by the fish.

did you try search function? you might find stuff like that... not all of it helpful but sift thru and it will be worth it

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... osomadoras
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... osomadoras

Patterns on jaguars vary a lot. They have a wide distribution and the pattern likely indicates where the jaguar comes from. I wonder if this makes them all sub-species of L Oncinus, not yet named.

The prettiest jaguar I've ever seen is/was at Sweetknowle Aquatics. They are 'looking after' it for a customer. My offer to buy it was passed-on, but flatly refused by the owner... drat!

Here's one of mine... a big spot jag.

racoll wrote:Fun video! Nice looking fish too.


Woodcats like darkness, and dense structure to feel comfortable. Here's an old tank of mine that would have been ideal for them.

Only "issue" with your tank is the cardinal tetras.. those can be some expensive "treats" for the jags.

Mine are in a tank at my parents house which we used to empty into an outdoor pond in the summer, but lost a couple due to raccoons one year, so now they just stay in the tank year round. I love my colony and am looking forward to the day I can build a large enough tank to move the colony to my location. I make sure to check on them regularly, but have never tried to photograph them ( I always forget to take pictures of any of my interesting fish kept there.. sucks being such a scatter brain, I forget half of the projects that I intend to do...)

They can and will become more active with time. My tank is very minimal light, but does get some light from the window. There is more wood in there than I care to admit now as everytime I find a nice piece at the local river, I bring it home, bake the **** out of it and then put it back into the outdoor pond until it is waterlogged.

YOu will love these cats and a dedicated tank to them is not out of the ordinary with people who keep them. My colony regularly get fed fry from other fish that are slow moving that my parents throw in there. They are the "cullers" at my parents house as they will eat just about anything that fits in their mouths. Their favorite treat is earthworms!

Only "issue" with your tank is the cardinal tetras.. those can be some expensive "treats" for the jags.

Haha, yes indeed. Was only recommending decor/tank design, not tankmates!

Jaguar catfish, no doubt an amazing fish.
My Jaguar is located in a 500 liters tank with Red Eye Tetras , he does not touch them.
I feed him very well, bloodworms, earthworms, Tetra Bits and other foods, so the jaguar is not hungry most of the time.

This is my Jaguar:

Many thanks for all the replies again Am wording this based on the replies and points made if that's ok.

Love your Jag pic wrasse and the video Mike

Bas - I have a couple new pieces of wood that are going in the tank and am looking at taking them out of QT this week sometime with any luck.

Mats - the arguing noise thing sounds interesting lol

Richard - Have just added 3 Frogbit plants to the tank as it happens

Wrasse - Not sure of the pattern these 3 have, they came from Wildwoods the only other place other than Ferrybridge aquatics that had them tbh.

nvcichlids - I know what your saying regarding the tetras and do have a question about my stock which is at the end of these replies

The tank has 12 Cardinals, 9 Glass Bloodfin, 7 Black Neon & 6 Lemon Tetra in it. Also I have a magnum plec and sailfin plec in there with 4 Cuckoo Catfish ... Have already thought about the Sailfin and potentially having to get rid of some of the tetra.

However, are the jaguars going to be ok with the cuckoo cats (they are approx inch or so atm)? I would love them to be in the same tank have added 3 more decent pieces of wood to the tank, lots of hiding places (the cuckoos are always in plant leaves tbh).

Or would the cuckoos be better off in the 30G with a phantom & L202 plec?

Apart from the plecs I am happy re homing most of my fish to ensure a happy tank .. just looking for some guidance tbh

Thanks

The cuckoos do seem to be the odd ones out.

ideally they want to be in a rocky hard water tank which would not suit any of the other fish listed.

Cuckoo cats do not belong in any setup with l numbers, tetra's or especially Auchenipterids

it'll be bad for the fish.
they need very different water, the substances leeching in the water from the bogwood is harmful to them and they're far too feisty to co-exist with a fish like the lio.

they'll mistake him for a relative and ptobably harass him.

do not mix East African rift lake fish with any rainforest fish.

if you like cuckoo cats so much; add a tanganyika or malawi tank with hard, alkaline water and rocks; they'll be fine in there.

a planted tank full of bogwood isn't suitable for them at all.

sidguppy The cuckoos will be going back to the LFS so that I can just keep the Amazonian tank with Amazonian fish