PlanetCatfish.com

Would love to find a Rhinodoras dorbignyi... Does anyone know how readily available this fish is?

I have seen these fish on importers lists over the years. I had four of them which were collected by a friend. Unfortunately I had a problem with their tank and lost them. They are not readily available.

Mark

Thanks. Yes, I had a feeling they wouldn't be easy to find. Can you recommend any other doradid cats that stay in this size range? Looking for something to stir up the sand in my tank, but didn't want anything as large as a niger, for instance. Must be 8-9" at least though to avoid being eaten... I welcome any and all suggestions or ideas...

If there is a risk of being eaten, I'd advise a somehalt more bulky species, such as Platydoras armatulus (often sold as P costatus) or Orinocodoras sp

these are easily recognized by their white/yellow stripes on their body. Platydoras is a much more hardy fish then Rhinodoras, and while the same length, they will weigh much more, thus facing less risk of predation.

Further the typical Dorarid line of spines is very small in Rhinoidoras - thus uneffective, while they are large in Platydoras, thus effective

Thanks - good tips. Would the Platydoras or Orinocodoras be fairly effective at sifting in the sand?

Mine were. In fact I got them in order to sift my sand

The problem was, the cichlids were too messy, and a lot of food was spilled on the sand - needing someone to clean it

Normally using a catfish to clean things up would result in a starved catfish, but mine would have had far too much to eat - so I got 3. However, as they did not get anything else but the leftovers from the cichlids, they did not have any choise.

Assuming you will take good care of the catfish, I can not predict whether the will behave as nicely as mine did. And do

Sounds good - thanks again.