Acanthodoras Cataphractus (painted Talking Catfish)

[PlecMama]

They look so pretty, I'd like to try some of these but I can't find much about them, anyone here have any personal experience of them and how easy/hard they are to keep?

TIA

Sue xx

 

[Teelie]

"Painted" usually implies dyed, which means the fish isn't its natural color and may die from infection due to the dyeing process.
There is plenty of information on them though if you look at Planet Catfish.
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/dorad...nthod/626_F.PHP

 

[PlecMama]

A very shy retiring fish that, once released in the aquarium, is rarely seen aqain.

Humm, but it says that about our plecs and they have a red night light on so we watch the hell out of them

 

[Teelie]

During the night, with certain light spectrums, it's easy to see nocturnal fish as they don't know they are being watched or can't see anyone around. What that means is during normal day light, aquarium light settings, you don't see the fish very often.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Painted may also be something the supplier used to jazz the fish up a bit, painted is often used for sort of mottled fish with lots of different colours.

 

[Teelie]

Yeah, that's why I said "usually" and not "always." It's sometimes hard to know whether a fish is naturally that color or "painted" when they use generic or fancy-upped names like this. I usually err on the side of caution though as more often then not, the painted fish I've seen advertised are dyed.

 

[PlecMama]

Oh I haven't found any advertised for sale, I was trolling the internet for neat fish and this was the name and common name they put for this fish, I copied and pasted, I couldn't remember all that to type it out

Regarding seeing them - they can do whatever they like during the day, they could be ballet dancing for all I know, I'm at work and won't see them anyway, I just like to see them in the evening after 8pm (when my boy goes to bed) so I can turn off the lights and watch with the red lights.

So has anyone kept them and what did they think of them?

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

I have two striped Doras. And they're lovely. I seem to have a fair bit of luck with my fish being quite sociable and these are no exception. Ralph, the larger of my two and longer term resident, does hide most of the time under his piece of wood but is known to appear in the mornings, especially if Angelicus beat him to the night feed and he's a bit peckish.
Dory is the younger and smaller member and she has a lovely habit of tucking up with the cories on top of the internal filter (I also run an external for the tank). She's often still there around breakfast time and comes out to join them again early evening. Even with lights on she'll be there. They are both lovely fish. Ralph has especially strinking well defined stripes whereas Dorys are a little 'smudged'.
I will add that both mine are still youngsters, no more then a year and a half for Raloh, less for Dory. As they get older and much bigger they will eat smaller tankmates, especially those that sleep on the substrate. But there's no aggression to them at all.
Hugs,
P.

 

[Fishy412]

i have a spotted raphael who spends his days wedged in the back against a piece of wood. if i put in a little bit of extra food he notices my pims and comes out to feed but other than that i dont see him very much.

theyre very good at stealing eggs, can take a lot of abuse, grow slowly, and are top notch cleaners although they are very nocturnal