Hoplo Catfish

[m00ms]

hi all,
 
currently stocking my 200 lt tank after changing from 120lt and am drawn to hoplo ctafish.
 
i have read neon tertras are a no no with them but will my bloodfin tetras be safe with them as they are bigger ?
 
i have read hoplo can mix with cory cats safely.i have adult cory cats and have just added 2 little young corys.
 
will the young corys be safe around hoplo cats?
 
finding it hard to stock my 200lt as i am drawn to same fish as i had in the 120lt!!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Never seen my four Hoplos attack smaller fish. One of the biggest factors with keeping these is that Hoplos are vultures at feeding time, any fish that hold back will struggle to get their fair share.

 

[DerpPH]

they will be safe. but you have to uptheir numbers a bit. they need to be in groups of atleast 7

 

[m00ms]

being greedy has just put me off as my some of my other tank mates are little shy.
 
back to the drawing board of what fish to get.
 
thanks for your advice.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

They are great catfish, my ones used to pro-actively come and say hello whenever I put my hands in the tank, swimming around my fingers and sitting in my palms.
 
But they piggy eaters, making them good with most loaches besides the shy "kuhli" types, but Hoplos will eat from all levels including the surface. Only a few fish in my collection (see profile if you want details) are more fiesty feeders than my Hoplos, namely my Ilyodon xantusi, Giraffe Catfish and to a lesser extent my Pareutropius mandevillei (but they only go bonkers midwater).
 
So what species and numbers are in this 200l tank already, that newcomers need to be compatible with?

 

[m00ms]

i changed to a 200lt after massive ammonia spike in the 120lt and lost almost everything,including my interest.
 
the 200 has 1 albino bristle,2 panda garra,2 bolivian rams,4 cory cats,4 bloodfin tetra.
 
tank has been running now for 3 months and i have sights set on a green phantom pleco which thinking of getting on a week off work shortly.
 
i had glass cats in the 120 which i did like but if i get more then new tank is going to be like the old tank just a little bigger.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

To be honest, once you have sorted out your current stocking, you will have very little if any new stocking room left at all IMO...
 
Keeping two Panda Garras is risky, I've "been there and got the t-shirt." I lost the third one through some sort of eye embolism and then two seemingly perfectly healthy ones turned on each other in my 5x2x2. In a 3+ group they are social (one per 30x30cm footprint is a decent ballpark), as a singleton they are fine, but two is a bad number (as is the way with a few fish species).
 
Which corydoras species? Hopefully one happy at ~24C (which your Bolivian Rams need) all year round, not a temperate species like Peppered or 3-lined. A group of 10 would act far more naturally and look great.
 
Bloodfin Tetra (not Glass Bloodfin) are lovely looking fish I see rarely near me. Like the Corydoras, a group of 4 is not enough, again these would act far more natural in a 10+ group.
 
So by adding 2 Panda Garras; 6 Corydoras (of the same type); 6 Bloodfin tetra you will have a stocking level of ~155cm (rather overstocked). Even if you only made the tetras and corydoras upto groups of 6, that is still ~115cm, which is about the upper limit for a 200l tank IMO.

 

[m00ms]

i have heard people 2 panda garra is bad but i have never had any trouble.one time i did try up the numbers and new ones picked on the older ones.my two i have now are best of mates and i do not not wish to risk changing that.
 
my corys are 2 adult bronze and 2 young albino.
 
glass bloodfin tetras are what i have.i did have 11 but lost them due to jumping.tank is fully covered but still have found them dead outside tank and in between filter pipework above water level.the 4 i have left seam happy enough doing either there own thing or chasing each other around.
 
might go few more corys but the four i have seam plenty happy.not getting more glass bloodfins thats for sure.