Thanks for all the replies.

The post about the Philipines owber who keeps L.Pardilis in a pond sounds interesting.
My Koi benenfit from having a heated environment, the temp is constantly maintained and never drops below 15oC.

I have read that they grow to a max of 30cm, but have seen a picture ...

Oh dear !

Looks like my new tank is still to small, I worked out that at 90 x 30 X 30cm thats 81litres, and not 130 as worked out previously.

The L.Pardalis seems much happier in this larger tank, and so do the Clown loaches.

I have a solution that may work, I also own a 10,000 Koi Pond.
I've ...

Hmmm, I think you must be trying to say that the smallest edge needs to be x2 the size of largest fish. So 12" fish needs 24" tank to turn.

Fair point, but I have trained my catfish to bend !

Also he can squeeze into a small flowerpot to hide....he thinks I can't see him, but I know hes there ...

The pleco was in a 55 litre tank, but is now in a 130litre one.

Not sure where you have come to the conclusion that it needs to be in a tank 4 times the size of the fish. Then have calculated the tank to be at 300 litres

If the tank was 4 times the size of the fish, for example : 4ft x 1.25ft x 1 ...

Wow - Thanks !

It certainly is a Liposarcus pardalis I have looked at the Cat-eLog and the pics are just the same.

Well done on rescuing hoov, Gail. I hope it brings you years of fun.

Two other questions :
How do you tell if its a Boy or Girl (reckon this is pretty hard!)
How long can they grow ...

I have always been lead to believe that the following pictures of my catfish make it a Hypostomus plecostomus.

Its name is Bruno, and is 12" long and nearly 11 years old.

How old do these catfish live for ?

Pictures can be found in my Tropical Fish Album on the following link:
http://community ...