Twig Catfish

[killifish1]

there was some of these at my lps pretty small jsut wondred anyone got info
can they go with
shrimp
tetras
flying fox
RTBS
guppys

thanks

 

[jayjay]

yeah i used to have one and i kept it in my community tank. but some grow alot bigger than other by the way, some 4 inches some a foot. but my didn't really do alot lol.

 

[killifish1]

1 foot wll these were small maybe babys

so theyll be ok

 

[jayjay]

it depends on what species they are there is rineloricaria lima which grows to 6/7inches and there is sturisoma aureum which grows to a foot these 2 are just some of the top of my head but there are others. and even if they are small now doesn't mean they will be small in the long run....

 

[jayjay]

try asking the LFS what species they are....

 

[killifish1]

ill do that
thanks

 

[nmonks]

When you say "twig catfish", do you mean Rineloricaria spp. or Farlowella spp. catfish? Rineloricaria, in the UK at least, are usually sold as "whiptail cats". These are generally fairly easy to keep and eat green algae as well as small animals such as bloodworms. Settled specimens seem to accept all kinds of food, from beef heart to mussels, as well as all the usual plec-friendly veggies such as courgette. They seem to be widely traded, travel well, and settle into community tanks without much fuss. Rineloricaria parva is a fairly typical example. Rineloricaria spp. otherwise resemble ordinary plecs but are much narrower and have whip-like tails.

http/www.scotcat.com/articles/article6.html

Farlowella catfish are a completely difficult, well, kettle of fish. They are very long and narrow, with a distinctive nose, and really do look like twigs. In the UK, these are the cats sold as "twig catfish". They are incredibly timid, often fail to survive long in captivity, and seem to feed primarily (if not exclusively) on green algae. Algae wafers and pellets may be taken, but only in quiet tanks where these fish are not harassed by more active catfish. Fundamentally not community fish! Might be fine with shrimps and tetras, but a red-tailed black shark would hammer these things to death!

http/www.scotcat.com/factsheets/farlowella_acus.htm

Cheers,

Neale

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

I have a farlowella, a royal whiptail and 2 red whiptails and they all do well in my community tanks. I have the whips in with my corys and the farlowella with clown loaches and she gets along fine. She spends most of the time on the sword plants, vallis and wood and only goes on the bottom for food. I might move her in with the whips in the near future as she does get pushed off the food by the loaches.

Emma

 

[nmonks]

Just goes to show!

I think it depends on the community. I've seen too many Farlowella starving to death in busy community tanks or retailer's tanks to view them as hardy fish in the same way as plecs or whiptails. But once settled in, in the right community, they might be fine. I've certainly kept communities of fish _that shouldn't work_ but do. A lot is down to the skill of the aquarist, and their ability to pre-empt problems, whether deliberately or instinctively.

With Farlowella, I'd recommend a mature tank with lots of plants and lots of algae. Provided they weren't actively bullied, they could well get by just fine. But slinging them into an immature, busy aquarium would be a death sentence, in my opinion.

Cheers,

Neale

I have a farlowella, a royal whiptail and 2 red whiptails and they all do well in my community tanks...

 

[Bloo]

Phillip, how big is your tank ? From memory your tank is entirely unsuitable for a twig catfish and too small.

Please can you give us the exact number of occupants and what they are - as well as the tank size.