"Why catfish?"

[Narelle]

I'm sure I'm not alone in this - every time someone finds out I keep aquariums, and especially how many, they want to know what kind of fish I keep. And when I tell them, I'm always met with the same question: "Why catfish?"

They never seem to be happy with the honest answer, "They're beautiful and perfect in every way, look how cute my fish are." Followed by all the (generally terrible quality) pictures I have of my fish.

I can list a bunch of cool facts about catfish for them when that is inevitably not enough, but it really does come down to them just being super cute.

So what are your answers to this question? What actually drew you in and what's the answer you give to satisfy all the people that just don't get it?

(I know that a big part of the problem is that anyone outside of the hobby especially generally thinks of things like bullheads and channel cats and has no idea that there are so many small, beautiful ornamental varieties. Not that explaining that does much good, as I like and keep some of these NA fish too.)

[TwoTankAmin]

What got me into fish was not what got me into cats, in my case mostly Hypancistrus plecos. I want a nice community tank with fake plants and none of those ugly fish that sucked onto the glass with their mouth. No I spawn them.

What I find the best part about the hobby is the potential and possibilities are limitless. I got hooked on the B&W striped Hypans. But I have kept all sorts of fish and an assortment of live planted tanks as well. Over time what I have evolves. I would like to keep it all but that is impossible.

And if there is anything cuter than cory or pleco fry, I have not seen it yet.

[BullFishkeeping]

I was new to fishkeeping, my biggest tank at the time being a 36 gallon aquarium I had picked up - it had a bristlenose and a mystery snail in it. I had wanted the bristlenose just because I knew that he was a good fit for the tank, and I knew the "common pleco" species weren't. Essentially I was just capitalizing on that little bit of knowledge I had.

I went to the LFS as I usually do about once a week, and saw a

Platydoras armatulus

in a dimly lit tank. Guy didn't have any eyes. I did some iPhone research and picked him up for $5 due to his blindness. Not bad for a 6" fish! He was my biggest guy, and super active. He felt like a pet to me, he would always come out for food, he reacted to me fiddling with the tank. He sold me on getting bigger fish, bigger tanks, and catfish as a whole. He looked awful cramped in his 36, so I got him a 65, and then I saw a Jaguar catfish for sale on a local classified ad. Then it spiraled from there, with my only non-catfish being my Jack Dempsey, which I got so my girlfriend would stop complaining there are no fish in my tanks.

Then I got an AUSD, which was a challenge to keep and that really hooked me in, so I built a 125 gallon around AUSD catfish.

But the best part of catfish is their reclusive nature. That way I can go buy $200 of fish, and my girlfriend doesn't even realize it! "Oh, is that one new?" "No no, he's always been there, just doesn't come out much."

[Bas Pels]

When a kid, I liked ther Corydoras the most

[Eamhhair]

Well, I don't know if this applies, since I like catfish of the armored variety, but I really like common plecos. (Plecos in general, but I have a soft spot for underappreciated fish ) I really love the look of bottom feeders, they look so streamlined against the ground (or wood or glass) and plecos, in addition to the streamlined body, have gorgeously full fins when they swim and move around. They look strong and reliable, and they're so chill but have tons of personality! I wish they weren't so messy, but it's also fun to watch a fish eat 'people food' for lack of a better term!

Most of my friends don't like plecos (mostly the common variety, if they're even aware of the other species), but when they see how big mine is, they're always impressed!