catfish in a reef tank

Post by **Birger** » 31 Jan 2004, 18:01

Does anyone have any experience with marine catfish in a reef tank?
I am just beginning to research what, if anything, will work.
I do have experience with freshwater cats and think it would be interesting to try this,the whole reef experience is new to me and is quite a project in itself.
I have a copy of the Burgess atlas on its way I just haven't received it yet.

Post by **Silurus** » 31 Jan 2004, 22:28

The most suitable catfish would be , as these are the only catfish encountered in reefs that are encountered fairly frequently in the trade.
The other marine catfish family, the Ariidae, is found mostly in inshore habitats that have a sandy/muddy botttom.

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 31 Jan 2004, 23:21

Safe on the reef only real problem is they dig in the sand constantly when searching so no sand anemones or anemones too low down in the tank. Needs a cave or dark place to rest in.

Post by **Birger** » 02 Feb 2004, 05:26

Thanks for the info.

Am I right in assuming the 30 mm TL for the Plotosus lineatus in the Cat-ELog should be 30 cm going by some of the other info I have found.

Also I found this:

The fish demands respect through its poisonous spines on the dorsal and anal fins.

How poisonous is it, is it the irritation from mucus on the spine or an actual poison of some kind?

Cheers, Birger

Post by **Silurus** » 02 Feb 2004, 09:38

Am I right in assuming the 30 mm TL for the Plotosus lineatus in the Cat-ELog should be 30 cm going by some of the other info I have found

Yes.

How poisonous is it, is it the irritation from mucus on the spine or an actual poison of some kind?

Quite venomous (not poisonous), actually. Plotosid spines are connected to venom glands.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 02 Feb 2004, 14:37

just curious, as both words translate to the same word in Dutch....

What's the difference between venomous and poisonous?

Post by **Silurus** » 02 Feb 2004, 14:42

Venomous is when the venom (poison) is administered outside the body (via a device that punctures the skin), while poisonous is when the poison takes effect inside the body.
Cobras are venomous, not poisonous (you will not die eating cobra meat). Pufferfish are poisonous, not venomous (they do not give you sting that will kill you, but you will very likely die if you eat one).

Post by **Dinyar** » 02 Feb 2004, 16:50

Thanks for the explanation, Silurus.

Don't worry about your English, Sid. I had exactly the same question. Perhaps I should start worrying about mine. Still have "teratogenic" to look up.

As Confucius said, "San ren xing, bi you wo shi yan." (Don't worry Sid, just trying to get the ball back in Silurus' court.)

Dinyar

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 03 Feb 2004, 16:25

Heck, I'm in for Confucius' wisdom any day.
That was one man with a world of thoughts.....

Care to send me a PM with the translation?

And it's pretty fresh to see why English has more words than any other language.
with the exception of Chinese perhaps?
ooops, there's no "Chinese" is there? Kantonese, Mandarin etc etc....

Teratogenic means "causes monstrosities or deformations" or something close to that if I'm not mistaken...like those chemicals that give you all those weird mutations that aren't cancers but something akin to it.

"teratos" is monster in Latin?

Post by **Dinyar** » 03 Feb 2004, 18:26

In return for your kind English and Latin lessons, Sid, I am happy to reciprocate with a brief Chinese lesson...

San [three/many] ren [people] xing [walk], bi [must] you [have] wo [my] shi [teacher] yan [final particle with many functions, here serving the purpose of both "there" and "!"]

Literal translation: When three people are walking together, one of them must be my teacher!

Idiomatic translation: In any group of people, there is bound to be someone who I can learn something from.

Dinyar

PS: I'll answer your other questions by PM, since they would stray rather too far from the topic.

Post by **Birger** » 04 Feb 2004, 06:14

You guys have too much extra time

But it is amusing how these threads will take a turn
Thanks for your help.(really)

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 04 Feb 2004, 08:56

Silurus wrote:
Am I right in assuming the 30 mm TL for the Plotosus lineatus in the Cat-ELog should be 30 cm going by some of the other info I have found
Yes.

Just spotted this one now. This has been corrected.

Jools