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does anyone know of any 15 cm / 6 inch catfish that are mid level catfish,

Nothing really springs to mind - dianema spend some time in midwater. There are plenty smaller & larger species but tanks are not really deep enough to have genuine separate top/middle/bottom layers

thanks

Some of the medium-sized schilbeids or silurids spend a considerable amount of time in midwater. The problem is that schilbeids (at least the Asian ones) generally need a lot of swimming room, and many are hardly encountered in the aquarium trade.

my aquarium fish guy can get me anything he travels the world for aquarium fish

benefits of small fish shops

Synodontis nigriventris? Assuming you have some branches in mid-water.
Farlowella vittata may be a bit long for you but mine are rarely on the substrate, though again they need something to rest on in the middle levels of the tank.

Also the amount of light you let into your tank will determine weather your mid-water cats want to hang out in mid-water. In other words for many of these types of catfish, you have to manage the amount of branches and plants at the surface to dim your tank, in order for your mid-water cats to feel comfortable swimming at mid-water.

thanks I am going to the shop to buy bog wood ill try and get some taller things and ways of controlling lighting like surface plants

What about the glass-catfishes, Kryptopterus?

They are, perhaps, a bit smaller then 15 cm (growing to ~10 cm) but they will swim in the middle - but they do like a planted tank. And are rather shy

my plecs eat pretty much all my vegetation no matter what

ive decided to get a few western syndontises and surface plants so 2 foot of the aquarium will be shaded and ill get activity through out the day

asian_bumblebeecat wrote:ive decided to get a few western syndontises and surface plants so 2 foot of the aquarium will be shaded and ill get activity through out the day

I think 2 foot of aquarium is enough for you.

ok