Why can't I keep catfish?!

[larmer120]

CFC Posted on Jun 7 2004, 11:56 AM: a unplanted tank is prefferable as they do not enjoy the bright lighting associated with planted tanks

But wouldn't live plants help in keeping the nitrogen levels down? I currently have plastic sword plants in the tank, but I was considering getting some live ones to replace them. The plants naturaly use the nitrogen as food and oxygenate the water, or am I mistaken? I truly want to do the best I can and am willing to wait as long as necessary to provide the best environment for them, outside of the wild of course. I'm going to look into replacing my substate with sand, or should I just mix sand with the gravel I have? It's soft rounded stream pebbles, natural browns.

 

[CFC]

While plants do use some nitrate as they grow unless your tank is very heavily planted it really makes very little difference on the nitrate level, the most efficient way of oxygenating the tank is by surface movement of the water. Plants look nice but do not really work in catfish tanks as the 3 watts per gallon of lighting they require is too bright for most species.

I recomend changing all the substrate for sand, it is much safer for the cats and prevents damage to their mouths and whiskers.

 

[larmer120]

Thank you verry much CFC. I started my water changes last night and I'll change the stones over to sand this weekend... I still have a Pleco to save. I've been using RO water from my LFS in all of my previous changes, should I continue to use it or should I just use the pH neutralizer to condition new tap water? The product I used to start the tank is"pH 7.0 Seachem Neutral Regulator". It also removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.

One more question. As I have learned not to trust my LFS when asking questions, should my filter tube be lower in the tank, or toward the middle? I have looked around but can't find any definitive answer to this question and since I feel I can trust your knowledge, would like to know what your opinion is. Thanks again.

 

[CFC]

With the RO water i trust you have been replacing the trace elements that are lost from the water during the purifying process? I always recomend RO water to those that have access to it, it offers the ability to tailor your water to the exact needs of your fish via the ammount of mineral content you replace and is free from the pollutants that are found in tapwater.
The filter intake should be positioned about 2 or 3 inches from the substrate, this way it isnt so close that it sucks up sand but still supplies good water movement in the water column, the return should be positioned just at the waters surface.

 

[Teelie]

While plants do use some nitrate as they grow unless your tank is very heavily planted it really makes very little difference on the nitrate level, the most efficient way of oxygenating the tank is by surface movement of the water. Plants look nice but do not really work in catfish tanks as the 3 watts per gallon of lighting they require is too bright for most species.

I recomend changing all the substrate for sand, it is much safer for the cats and prevents damage to their mouths and whiskers.

I have to disagree on this, at least partly. Depending on the species of catfish and type of plant, it's possible to do a planted catfish tank. In fact the only reason plants aren't in my Cory tank is because the snail in there eats the plants despite how well he's fed otherwise.

Low light plants or even some medium light plants will suffice, just makes sure you have a decent space that diffuses the light or even blocks it for the fish to stay in. In my Gourami tank I have real plants to one side of the tank and fake ones on the other with a suction-cupped fake plant to diffuse light on that side so it's not so bright on them.

I do agree on the nitrate feeding though. The plants don't make a big impact unless there's a lot of them in there, which means even more lights which just worsens the problem in this instance.

 

[CFC]

This topic is specificly dealing with Pimeloid catfish and more specificly mainly Pimelodus pictus. This group of fish are mainly nocturnal and are predators which preffer to lurk in dark spaces waiting for their prey to swim past, in a brightly lit tank they will find the darkest place in the tank and stay there until the lights go out. In a tank with dimmed lighting they are more likely to be active and outgoing but at the cost of being able to successfully grow plants.

 

[Teelie]

It looked more like general advice on catfish... Must've missed that. Pictus though, yeah you are right. I rarely see them in any aquarium at a store with lights in it if they have a cave or hole to hide in.

 

[ryan]

It looked more like general advice on catfish... Must've missed that. Pictus though, yeah you are right. I rarely see them in any aquarium at a store with lights in it if they have a cave or hole to hide in.

I do, most stores I visit no nothing of the fishes needs and put alot of Pims in with livebearers and a full blow of lighting aswell as feeding the wrong foods etc and they wonder why half the stock dies.

 

[larmer120]

It looked more like general advice on catfish... Must've missed that. Pictus though, yeah you are right. I rarely see them in any aquarium at a store with lights in it if they have a cave or hole to hide in.

I do, most stores I visit no nothing of the fishes needs and put alot of Pims in with livebearers and a full blow of lighting aswell as feeding the wrong foods etc and they wonder why half the stock dies.

The store I've been going to keeps nothing in the tank with the pictus. There are generaly about a dozen in the tank, but nothing else in the lines of fish or decoration. The lighting is low though.

Aside from that, I chose the store I've been going to because it has been around for 25 years, it is still the original owner and most of the people I know with tanks recomended it. I stay away from one of the sales people in particular because I know he is an idgit... told me that thay didn't have any other pimelodids besides the pictus, then cashed me out when I bought my blochii . The rest of the staff seamed to know what they were talking about and being a relative novice, I trusted them. Now, here I am trying do remove salt from my water, change the substrate to sand and keep my pleco alive in the process.

Not finding the right information untill it's too late realy sucks