Centromochlus reticulatus

[CatWhat]

I just placed an order to come in this Thursday for 16 Centromochlus reticulatus. I have been trying to get my hands on some sort of wood cat for some time now and these were the first to pop up. They will be going in a 30G bare bottom, with lots of wood and pvc pipes. I have been thinking of adding some Indian Almond leaves as well but I will let them settle in first. If I add those I am sure I will never ever see them lol. My hopes, as with all the fish I keep is to eventually breed them. I will post pics as soon as they settle in, if I can get any pics that is.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

They will be going in a 30G bare bottom, with lots of wood and pvc pipes. I have been thinking of adding some Indian Almond leaves as well but I will let them settle in first. If I add those I am sure I will never ever see them lol. My hopes, as with all the fish I keep is to eventually breed them.

I haven't kept them, but I would definitely put in a substrate (thin layer of sand would be fine) and some dead leaves straight away. If you can find "structural leaf litter" (I use Magnolia grandiflora, they sell the leaves for Dart Frog vivaria) I'd use that as well. I think the more cover you have for them the better.

I would also add some plants, a floater like Pistia would be good. Have a look at <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... up#p290374>.

cheers Darrel

[catfishchaos]

Be sure to properly quarantine them and watch them closely for the first little bit, I got a group of 6

Centromochlus perugiae

and I'm now down to 3 and many other fish have perished from the ich they brought, they seem to be very susceptible and stress easy. I recommend acclimatizing them in the dark and have a piece of wood that looks like swiss cheese in the bucket with them or else they will just fly around and hit their heads against the sides of the bucket or bin (sound like pebbles being thrown at it). I aclimatized mine in a bucket with some

Amaralia hypsiura

who they used as a hiding place until I added the wood.

Good luck with them, hopefully you can get them spawning!

[CatWhat]

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. They are going to be in a species only tank so I hope duel purpose it as a stock/quarantine tank. I have pulled a few of the best drift wood pieces I had, ones with loads of crevices along with some pvc piping. Funny you mentioned about the complete darkness conditioning, I just finished blacking out the tank with black cardboard and off course taking the light off the timer. They should be getting in on the flight tomorrow around noon time.
I'm curious to see if they will take flakes or pellets, I plan to start them with frozen foods until they get settled then try the dry foods.

[catfishchaos]

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. They are going to be in a species only tank so I hope duel purpose it as a stock/quarantine tank. I have pulled a few of the best drift wood pieces I had, ones with loads of crevices along with some pvc piping. Funny you mentioned about the complete darkness conditioning, I just finished blacking out the tank with black cardboard and off course taking the light off the timer. They should be getting in on the flight tomorrow around noon time.
I'm curious to see if they will take flakes or pellets, I plan to start them with frozen foods until they get settled then try the dry foods.

If your curious you should grab a fruit fly culture and pouring a few in, they will be some of the happiest fish

[CatWhat]

Here's a quick video and a blurry pic.
http://vid1110.photobucket.com/albums/h ... zzc5h6.mp4

[CatWhat]

They are settling pretty good, finding their own crevices in the driftwood and pipe work. I started them on frozen blood worms, spirulina brine shrimp and freeze dried blood worms. I throw the freeze dried in with the frozen as I am finding that there is a portion of the cats that feed at the surface in their true fashion of darting around at the surface.

[CatWhat]

I was surprised to see how territorial these guys are. They all have their own hiding places and they certainly to do not like any others near it. They vary in sizes from roughly 1" to 2.5" but I am having a hard time sexing them. Am I correct in assuming you sex them just as Centromochlus perugiae? I have been trying to keep an eye to their anal fins as they are darting around but it is hard to pin point the shape of their anal fins. So far I can only see females going by their typical anal fin.

[catfishchaos]

I thinks its the same but thats only because I have not been given any evidence that says otherwise, hopefully some one with some woodcat knowhow can chime in. Interesting to hear they are territorial to some degree though.

[KungFish]

You do sex them in the same manner as C. perugiae. Here's an example of a male. http://msjinkzd.com/freshwater/wp-conte ... ulatus.jpg

[CatWhat]

Thanks for the info and pic. I have been trying to catch a glimpse of their anal fins but as you can imagine it isn't easy. Whether they are dashing around feeding or wedged into a crevice it makes it difficult to spot for sure. I think I may try them on some pellet food soon and see if they take to it.

[CatWhat]

With the aid of the up close pic that KungFish kindly provided I was able to see the difference while they were quickly darting around. I found the trick was to look at more so the flesh versus the modified fin as such because their fins look very similar while they are swimming near the bottom of the tank. Being collapsed in nature while on the bottom they somewhat all look males but the distended flesh is apparent regardless, being obvious in males and not all in females. Thanks again for the help.

[CatWhat]

Oh and on a side note, I think there may be one stow-a-away in the bunch of 16. Though I cannot say for sure but there is one that looks different then the rest, similar but different kind of thing. As you can imagine it is near impossible to get a decent picture of these guys but from looking at the species profiles on here it could be a Centromochlus macracanthus perhaps due to its blotchy pattern.

[catfishchaos]

Oh and on a side note, I think there may be one stow-a-away in the bunch of 16. Though I cannot say for sure but there is one that looks different then the rest, similar but different kind of thing. As you can imagine it is near impossible to get a decent picture of these guys but from looking at the species profiles on here it could be a Centromochlus macracanthus perhaps due to its blotchy pattern.

I think you already have a picture of it, is it the fish in the middle of the "ball" in the left corner of the bag?

[CatWhat]

Ah yes, keen eye catfishchaos. That is indeed the pictureless one I am talking about. First I thought its pattern was more so faded to due the shipment through the airlines but he is still the same color. Everything looks good with him, eating and hiding like the rest. Any ideas of the species? Like I mentioned prior he might be C.macracanthus perhaps.

[catfishchaos]

it could be

Centromochlus macracanthus

but the picture is a bit blurry and its in stress coloration (in the picture anyway).

Tatia musaica

is another possibility though. Have you seen it since it coloured up?

[CatWhat]

The coloration is still the same in the pic pretty much but minus the fading from the stress.
Oh here is a quick cell phone pic of the setup.