New Catfish Tank

[richiej1979]

Hi folks, I am new to fish keeping and am spending alot of time learning about fish before I buy my tank, I am going to get a Aqua One 28L tank to keep a small selection of catfish and maybe some other fish at the top but I won't get too many because of the tank size.

I want to have a really cool tank and saw some cool stuff like black gravel and coloured sand etc, although I want to put the fishes needs first though.

Could anyone help me with this project as I want to take my time and get things right. Sorry this is not in the newbie section but I wasn't sure where to post.

Also what catfish would be good for a beginner? i really like the Pictus catfish they look amazing, or possibly the Corry's.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[OohFeeshy]

28l is too small for most catfish, although a species tank with a few individuals of the smallest species would be fine. Dwarf cories, oil catfish and ottoas are the main ones I can think of, and are probably the easiest to get, so a group of 5 in the case of the cories or ottos, or a group of three oil cats would be fine, with perhaps a single honey gourami for the upper levels.

 

[richiej1979]

28l is too small for most catfish, although a species tank with a few individuals of the smallest species would be fine. Dwarf cories, oil catfish and ottoas are the main ones I can think of, and are probably the easiest to get, so a group of 5 in the case of the cories or ottos, or a group of three oil cats would be fine, with perhaps a single honey gourami for the upper levels.

Thanks for that - Ok I will stick to smaller cat fish. I like otto's and dwarf Cories.

So how many do you think is the maximum to keep them happy?

Are the albino's ok?

 

[OohFeeshy]

Albino cories aren't dwarfs The species you're looking for are C. Hasbrosus or C. Pygmaeus. These only grow to about an inch, so you'd be fine with 5 of these and something like a honey gourami, or just a group of six or seven (these tend to swim on all levels of the tank). Ottos would be the same numbers but with ottos instead. Oil catfish, probably just a group of three on their own.

 

[johnatkin]

I wouldn't put any ottos in until the tank is fairly well established, they don't like new tanks and prefer older water especially with some algae build up, which they clear very quickly.

 

[richiej1979]

I wouldn't put any ottos in until the tank is fairly well established, they don't like new tanks and prefer older water especially with some algae build up, which they clear very quickly.

I thought albino catfish were quite small though, I won't be adding any cat fish until the tanks settled down. Maybe 6-8 weeks. Is that OK?

I wouldn't put any ottos in until the tank is fairly well established, they don't like new tanks and prefer older water especially with some algae build up, which they clear very quickly.

I thought albino catfish were quite small though, I won't be adding any cat fish until the tanks settled down. Maybe 6-8 weeks. Is that OK?

................and are the leopard catfish ok - they only grow to 6cm apparently.

 

[catxx]

albino corys are the albino form of the bronze cory, they'll grow to about 3", and like to be in groups, too big for a 28L.

 

[richiej1979]

albino corys are the albino form of the bronze cory, they'll grow to about 3", and like to be in groups, too big for a 28L.

So if I had 5 oil catfish and 5 pygmy catfish is that too much?

What combination would be good for a 28 litre tank?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[wendywc]

28 liters? isn't that only 7 gallons? I don't know of any catfish to put in there.

 

[richiej1979]

28 liters? isn't that only 7 gallons? I don't know of any catfish to put in there.

Really ! - ok - confused now. should I just stick to Tetra's then?

 

[catxx]

bit tight for tetras too. they're pretty active.

the only thing i'd risk in anything under 10 gallons is otos or dwarf corys.

 

[richiej1979]

bit tight for tetras too. they're pretty active.

the only thing i'd risk in anything under 10 gallons is otos or dwarf corys.

Guppys??

 

[OohFeeshy]

Not really, from what I've heard they're pretty active and prefer to be in groups. If you got 5 pygmy cories and something like either...

1 honey gourami
or
1 peacock gudgeon
or
1 dario dario
or
3 sparkling gouramis

 

[wendywc]

28 liters? isn't that only 7 gallons? I don't know of any catfish to put in there.

Really ! - ok - confused now. should I just stick to Tetra's then?

Well, granted I'm not as wise as others. Hope something works out for you.

 

[mikster]

yeah i would say pygmy cories if you want catfish, have you thought about stuff like snails or shrimp? they are good for small tanks. Or some african dwarf frogs maybe? Maybe you just like catfish but i thought i would throw some other ideas in that you might not have thought/known about.