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Does anyone have experience with <I>Pseudopimelodus bufonius</I>?

I found this lovely catfish at my LFS at the most affordable price of $2.09. He was hiding in a very large snail shell. I have tenatively identified him as P. bufonius:

<a href="http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/ps ... 5_f.php</a>

I'm wondering if this fish is compatible with my Cory cats...after a night in the tank, some of the Corys have split fins...I notice that the bufonius "jumps out" at other fish from his cave under a hollow log when they approach his lair. It could be feeding behavior, or just territoriality, but all of the fish in the tank are (currently) too large to be eaten by bufonius. If he is a fish-eater, things might not stay that way for long. P. bufonius is slightly less than 3 inches (about 7 cm) long at the moment. He has happily accepted some small pellet food already, so he's not a total sight-feeder. The gal at LFS said that she kept these fish at home and they never bothered her other fish, but maybe she just had larger fish up top - I'm still wondering about their interaction with Corys and Otocinclus cats.

Any assistance or information would be greatly appreciated.

Chris Windram

Are you sure you don't have ?

Silurus - thanks for your reply.

I checked out both species online before purchasing the fish - it's hard to be sure, as they look very similar. This fish is already approx 3" long, and the gal at the LFS said that the fish would grow to 2-3 times that size, hence my guess that I might have P. bufonius instead of Microglanis iheringi. I sure would prefer the smaller fish. It is definitely not one of the Asian catfish. I'll try to obtain a photo, but it's been difficult as the fish hides under a log days (actually dug himself a pit there), and comes out at night. My wife has woken me the past two mornings to come and see the fish while it was out in the open, but by the time I came to see it, he was back in his cave (could have something to do with the fact that she shined a tiny flashlight on it each morning in order to observe it more closely before I got down to see it).

Any experience with Microglanis or Pseudopimelodus?

Best wishes,

Chris Windram

Hi Chris,
Some experience, yes. What you will get in both species is that they excel in the "how not to be seen" game.
Time after time I fall for these cats, which are so lively & visible in the LFS. Just until you put them in your tank, then they vanish into thin air. Sometimes I almost forget they are there. But they are tough and when I need to clean or catch, thus having to get rid of all the driftwood, they appear, though unwillingly.
I think Pseudopimelodus is the one liable to eat an occasional fish, simply because it grows larger than Microglanis. Yet I wouldn't trust smaller Cardinals etc. with Microglanis.
A pity that these cats are so nocturnal. That is, for us.
They don't seem to mind.
BTW: I feed an extra time at night, so that they have more than just left-overs.

Thanks for your reply, Marc.

The fish in question is doing well, no longer "jumping out" at fish that approach the entrance to his underwater lair.
He's been willing to come out in late evening after tank lights are off (but room light still on), and get some small pellet food. A truly beautiful fish, and so different in habit from the Corydoras. He reminds me very much of the American Bullheads, which I used to catch with a fishing line as a child, but his habits are different (at least in his current state of captivity).

Chris Windram

Chris,
Just be prepared, if it is a Pseudopimelodus, for it to start eating any and all tankmates. I remeber Lee Finley telling me about a 4" Pseudopimelodus in one of his tanks that ate a 7' Farlowella. He just digested and swallowed more like a long spaghetti noodle. I agree that they are fascinating spp.
-Shane

I agree with Shane. These guys are incredible predators for their size.

Gentlmen,

Thanks for sharing your knowledge about these fish. Conditions were deteriorating again in the tank...the P. bufonius was doing just peachy, but each morning for the past 2 days, I saw fresh damage to the Corys. Sadly, I have taken the Pseudopimelodus back to the LFS - he was in perfect health, and a bit tricky to catch, but we bagged him without mishap. I should've studied up about this fish before purchasing him.

Now we'll wait & see if things improve for the Corys...I'll post again as soon as I see how the trend is going in the tank.

This was such a cool fish, I'll be considering a species tank just for him in the future, though I typically prefer "community" style tanks with plants & a variety of fish, and two tanks is keeping me plenty busy at the moment.
I do pray that he doesn't end up with another undereducated aquariast.

Best wishes to all,

Chris Windram

Just wanted to post and say that everything is fine now in the 20 gal tank...Cory fins are 100% healed. I miss the troll (Pseudopimelodus bufonis), but perhaps this will be some incentive to do a species tank in the not too distant future.

Best wishes,

Chris Windram