Predatory catfish?

[Yenko]

I've recently started a 10 gallon tank with some wild guppies from Trinidad. Guppies in nature do not die of old age; they are usually eaten by one of the two predatory cichlids of Trinidad; the pike cichlid and the Blue Acara. Of course, so they aren't wiped out, they reproduce very fast. I plan to limit the stocking of my 10 gallon tank by feeding excess guppies to a predatory fish. My preference is to keep the fish out of my planned 70 gallon community tank and in my 32 gallon tank, mainly because most predatory cichlids tear up plants. I could get either a catfish or a cichlid of some sort for a 32 gallon tank, and my preference is for the catfish.

I want to know if there is any catfish that will live happily in a 32 gallon tank and eat guppies. If possible, I would prefer one that is active during the day, but I am willing to reduce the tank lighting to a very low level and not grow any plants in it, or I could possibly just have the lights on at night and have nighttime during the day.


Ideally, I want a predatory, diurnal catfish in my 32 gallon tank. The tank will have some Java Fern for decoration (The current canopy is insufficient to grow anything else) and a large amount of duckweed to add cover and inhibit alage.

Edit: I am not going to listen to anyone who says it is wrong for me to feed guppies to my catfish. If I cannot find a suitable predatory fish then I will have to use clove oil to kill them; it would be cruel to let the population in the 10 gallon tank get too big.

 

[Fishy411]

Ooh this will be much fun to name all these cats. Heres a list

- Synodontis Ocellifer
-Synodontis Eupterous
- Pim Pictus
- Raphael- U wont see much of him
so pretty much any syno species that will fit in a 32 gallon will do teh job.

 

[CFC]

Are there any other fish in the 32 gallon tank and if so what size are they?


Pictus cats are great small predators that if kept in a group of 3 or more will be active day and night or if you want something more unusual then you could try a frogmouth catfish (Chaca chaca), though any tankmates under 5 inches are also likely to be eaten by a adult frogmouth.

There are other members of the Pimelodidae family and several small Mystus cats that would also be suitable but without knowing what you have available to you i wouldnt like to start recomending unobtainable fish.

Synos and raphaels arent really all that predatory, while they will eat the odd small fish that strays their way they dont actively hunt down prey so as long as the guppies stay at the surface there is a chance they will be left alone.

 

[Fishy411]

Chaca chacas mess with the PH though so they can only go in by themselves. I just recommened synos and Raphaels because they get kind of big and could swallow guppy fry.

Pictus's would be your best bet. Most active catfish i have ver owned, they look nice, and they WILL eat yur guppies. Also if u cant find pictus's an African Butterfly fish would get the job done.

 

[Yenko]

So I could keep 3 pictus cats in a 32 gallon tank?

They will not have any tankmates other than the guppies.

 

[andywg]

Why not keep a single sex of guppies, or split the sexes (like I had to).

I would be careful about believing you can always feed these fry to the catfish. I had 4 Pictus in with guppies and as mentioned above have had to seperate the females as the pictus just weren't interested in the fry, even if starved for a few days.

I'd go with CFC's suggestion of the pimelodidae family but be wary of the above.

 

[Paul_MTS]

Also if u cant find pictus's an African Butterfly fish would get the job done.

ABF's will also eat the adult guppies

 

[Fishy411]

Also if u cant find pictus's an African Butterfly fish would get the job done.

ABF's will also eat the adult guppies

i thought there was only going to be guppy fry in the 32 and no adults.

 

[Paul_MTS]

oh yeh, slight mis read my bad!!

ABF would do nicely aswell.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

actually, my colomesus asellus (S. American Puffer) has a special place in his... stomach... for guppy fry. he loves them. will eat fry even a half-inch long.

i've also seen my kribensis pair go after tiny guppy fry. but i think they'd have trouble munching on larger ones.

if you're going to keep the guppies in a brackish tank, then you have the option of Figure-8 puffers as well. they're sweet diurnal babies...

 

[chris_harper]

i have a four-line and 3 grasscutter catfish that eat rosy reds like crazy. also my bichir eats them and feeder goldfish. might want to look at one of them, at petsmart they call it a dinosaur eel.

 

[Paul_MTS]

any birchir will get too big for a 32gallon.

 

[chris_harper]

any birchir will get too big for a 32gallon.

yeah, but a senegal bichir stays smaller, usually 10". senegal bichir info

 

[Paul_MTS]

yes they do stay smaller but i don't think a 32g tank is ideal for them. either way it was a catfish he's after which these aren't.