Whiptail catfish

[Dwarfs]

Do they eat algae? I saw one at a fish store a month ago and was interested because I need something big and tough to get algae out of my 55 gallon large community. If it does eat algae, will it suck on my ropefish? I know that plecos will, I don't know if a whiptail would though.

If it doesn't work then maybe I'll get some kind of big snail Until I find something it's just me and the algae scraper

55g
3 pictus cats
2 Purple spotted gudgeons
1 Gold severum
1 Rainbow cichlid
1 Surinam geo
1 Ropefish
1 African buttefly fish

This is what it looked like:

 

[lilmolly]

I love these fish. Yes, they eat algue but it's best to not rely on only algue for them. The most common cause of death for these guys is starvation. I bought one of these acople years back for a tank that had a ton of algue in it. You could almost not see into it. The algue was on everything and it was in long strings. I got him and a siamese algue eater for clean up duty. Together they cleaned up the tank in acople hours. Beware that if you don't keep a constant supply of food for them they can and will die. That's what happened to mine because I didn't know enough about them at the time. I wish I did because he was a wonderful fish. The siamese algue eater lived for about three months and then one day it just stopped eating and a week or two later it died also. I haven't able to find the whiptail since the day I got mine. If I came across it again I'd get him in a second. I mine whiptail never sucked on other fish, this doesn't mean your won't. Here's some information about from a book I have.
Description A very long, slender sucker-mouth catfish,
twig-like in appearance. A very long snoutsticks way out in
front of the mouth. The body color is light brown with a dark
brown stripe running along the sides. Maximum size nearly 5 in.
Distribution Amazion.
Temperament & Care A shy, retiring species which
should be kept with quiet fish in a tank that has an abundant
growth of algae. Most specimens will starve to death in
captivity without such an adequate supply.
Breeding Pairs spawn on vertical surfaces. The male
guards the eggs from harm. When they are ready to hatch, he
helps break them out of the egg shells. Aqurium Fish
Identifier Derek J. Lambert, 1997 Quintent Publishing
Limited.
Their tempature range is from 73f to 82f. The scientific name is Farlowella Acus I think I did my parenthetical citation wrong. Oh well.

 

[breezer40]

I have one of these named stick When I first got him I used to think he was dead because every time I saw him he was still even when you touched him. He has never be one to hide away which is quite unusual and now he just gets right to it whenever food goes in.

 

[nightlife20]

i hjad one it died, i realy loved this fish...


if i could get another one i defo would

 

[samthefishman]

arnt they bristlenose?

 

[cryosi]

ummmm thought we where on about whiptails, someone just gave a great description of farlowella ( twig catfish) totally looks different to the whiptail pic shown in 1st post!

the fish in the 1st pic are whiptails i had 2 a while ago, local has them for 7quid each.

farlowella are long and thinner than the whiptails in the pic and more difficult to keep due to water conditions they like a mature and will let you know when they dont like it lol

 

[lilmolly]

ummmm thought we where on about whiptails, someone just gave a great description of farlowella ( twig catfish) totally looks different to the whiptail pic shown in 1st post!

the fish in the 1st pic are whiptails i had 2 a while ago, local has them for 7quid each.

farlowella are long and thinner than the whiptails in the pic and more difficult to keep due to water conditions they like a mature and will let you know when they dont like it lol

Sorry, I didn't see that picture before. I'm just quoting what this book said. It said whiptail and had a picture of one next to the description. Too bad it's wrong, but I didn't write the book.

 

[Dwarfs]

What I really need to know is if they will suck on ropefish, like plecos do May not sound like a big deal but it can lead to infection and death

 

[samthefishman]

they look similar to bristlenose...

 

[cryosi]

can not see how they look like bristlenose?

they should not suck like the normal plecs we keep, althou there is always an exception!

good luck with them