Which Catfish?

[tropical fishies]

Well Ive decided i want some cat fish, but i know little about catfish so i was hoping that somone could help choose the best catfish for me?

my tank is 60cm by 30cm and i want plecs or loricariids becuase they eat away at the tanks algae dont they?

but what heat should i keep the catfish at, and which type should i buy??

 

[JenCliBee]

heat is dependant on wot species u go for around the 76-80 mark is probably average , probably the most popular plec would be a bristlenose excellent algae eater and stay relitivley small other alt is a small group of oto's but it's all dependant of prefference


jen

 

[nmonks]

Well Ive decided i want some cat fish, but i know little about catfish so i was hoping that somone could help choose the best catfish for me?

By default, you can't go wrong with a school of Corydoras. They're easy to keep, small, available in lots of colours, and widely sold.

my tank is 60cm by 30cm and i want plecs or loricariids becuase they eat away at the tanks algae dont they?

The algae-eating abilities of plecs are overrated and misunderstood. No catfish will keep your tank so clean you won't have to remove algae. If your tank lacks plants, it will quickly develop an algae problem anyway, and some forms of algae, particularly blue-green algae and red algae ("hair algae") aren't eaten by catfish. Moreover, as you add fish to the system, nitrate and phosphate levels go up, speeding up the rate at which algae grows. So by all means buy an algae-eating catfish species if you want, but don't feel like you have to. The reality is it'll make no difference to how often you have to wipe the glass with a scraper.

but what heat should i keep the catfish at, and which type should i buy??

Corydoras and whiptails broadly prefer low-end temperatures between 20 to 24 degrees C depending on the species. Some actually prefer even cooler conditions, for example bearded Corydoras (Scleromystax barbatus) which would prefer 15-18 degrees C. Only a few Corydoras actually thrive at high temperatures. Your standard plecs and bristlenose cats are happy at the normal 24-26 degree C range, while anything from the Rio Xingu will need slightly warmer conditions, around 26-30 degrees depending on the species. In other words, it will depend on the catfish in question.

I'd actually start by looking at what fish you have. If you have danios and minnows, these like cool water, so Corydoras and whiptails would be ideal. Neons also like cool water, so they're good too. But most other tetras prefer warmer water and will be better companions for catfish that thrive at around 25 C. Angelfish, discus and gouramis like even more warmth, as do Mikrogeophagus, so in those instances one of the Rio Xingu species would be a possibility, or a warmth-tolerant Corydoras such as Corydoras sterbai.

Water chemistry may be an issue too. If you were keeping livebearers, particularly Mollies, then adding salt to the water is beneficial. In this case, you'd want a brackish-tolerant catfish like Hoplosternum littorale or Hypostomus plecostomus.

Cheers, Neale

 

[tropical fishies]

Thanks guys your a big help, and umm, Siamese fighting fish soon to be... will they make good tank-matyes?

and i also like catfish becuase its amusing to see they suck the glass

Wait a second, are you neale monks from practical fishkeeping magazine?

 

[nmonks]

Thanks guys your a big help, and umm, Siamese fighting fish soon to be... will they make good tank-matyes?

Betta work great with small catfish. There's no competition for food, and provided you ignore "body sucking" catfish like Otocinclus, you're fine.

and i also like catfish becuase its amusing to see they suck the glass

A fine reason to buy them. So could I suggest something like a group of whiptails or one of the smaller Panaque species like Panaque maccus. Whiptails like Rineloricaria parva are widely sold and incredibly good fun. They walk about on the sand using their back fins and mouth, and feed on a bit of green algae as well as bloodworms and catfish wafers. They are gregarious, and in a group it's fun to watch the males display to each other. They only get to about 12 cm in length, but most of that is tail, so there's little loading on the filter. They do stick to the glass, and examining their bizarre bodies from underneath is fun. For serious algae control, just get some Nerite snails instead.

Wait a second, are you neale monks from practical fishkeeping magazine?

Yes indeed.

Cheers, Neale.

 

[tropical fishies]

cool will do, will any of my other fish try to eat the catfish food?

 

[nmonks]

Bettas won't eat catfish food, no. Obviously catfish and loaches will, and so will bottom-feeding cichlids like kribs. But I'd not recommend mixing Bettas with loaches or cichlids -- the poor Betta would be hammered!

I keep my whiptail in a small tank filled with plants, shrimps and various types of snail; see here for more.

Cheers, Neale

cool will do, will any of my other fish try to eat the catfish food?

 

[tropical fishies]

cool is a siamese fighting fish a type of betta?

 

[nmonks]

Yes. "Betta" is a genus including 70 species including Betta splendens, which is the Siamese Fighting Fish. Other species include Betta imbellis, Betta pugnax, and so on. Some are quite big, piscivorous mouthbrooding fish that live in fast water streams. Others are smaller and live in brackish water swamps. So there's a lot of variation. But the species you're keeping is a fancy form of Betta splendens.

Cheers, Neale

cool is a siamese fighting fish a type of betta?

 

[tropical fishies]

Thanks man!