Post pictures of your beloved catfish aquaria here. Also good for pictures of your (cat)fish rooms or equipment discussions. If you are posting pictures of identified catfish, please do so in the appropriate husbandry and reproduction forum above.
after doing some reading on the forums, i've noticed that some catfish keepers prefer a bigger footprint for their tanks... i have a rio125 at the moment with external filtration.
are there any specific brands that you can recommend? i've also noted that some users go for "shorter" tanks ie less height to allow easier care (?)
Depends on what kind of catfish, first and foremost. If we start with "what size tank do I need", a basic formula is 4L x 2L x 2L, where L is the length of the fish. So if you want to keep a fish that grows to 30cm, you need a tank that is 120 x 60 x 60 cm.
Common commercial tanks tend to be taller than the size "back to front" = depth. This is good for tall fish, but most catfish are bottom dwellers, and as long as there is sufficient height to give about 2 times the length of the fish, the tank doesn't need to be taller... I have tanks that are shallower than their depth - 48 x 24 x 18 inches (height last), 48 x 18 x 15, 24 x 18 x 15 - all these tanks are ideal for bottom dwelling fish, as there is a lot of bottom area, rather than a tall tank (suitable for Discus, Angel fish etc).
Next, I'd say brands are pretty unimportant. Of course, there is a slight difference in what the individual components you get when you buy a kit tank, complete with lights, filters, etc. Juwel tanks are nice, AquaOne and Hagen does some pretty good kit tanks too, not to mention Eheim and Rena tanks that are higher price, but give you very good quality tanks with nice features. Of course, everyone has their own favourites, and someone may have bad experience with one tank, someone else has had a tank of brand X break, etc. It's hard to find any popular product that hasn't got _some_ unhappy customers.
My tanks were custom made to suit the fish-shop that used them for stock-tanks. I also bought some new tanks to match the same size, custom made.
having had a look at most common brands, they seem to have the "tall" tanks. are there any good custom manufacturers in the UK that you can recommend... i've spotted - http://www.aquariums.ltd.uk/ and http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/p ... _62785.php plus a few others... can you "trust" their build quality though? i suppose it's the same as buying from the common brands
acaquatics.co.uk is probably a good place, at least their prices are good - I don't actually know anyone who's bought a tank from them, but only if you live close enough that you can go pick up your tank.
My tanks that I had made were from a company called seabray - they don't sell direct, but my shop ordered from them.
And most of these companies make "any size you like" for a small extra fee.
the reason why many people go for shorter tanks (height wise) is because:
a) majority of catfish are benthic (bottom-dwelling), and unless there are midwater fish in the tank too, a tall tank isn't really necessary, and is just gonna be a waste of space and water.
b) having a larger footprint for the tank (length x width) has 2 benefits, which are more swimming space for the fish, and also because oxygen enters the water via the water surface, a larger footprint means a bigger surface area for oxygen to diffuse into the tank.
As mentioned before, tank brands aren't that really important, and the exact look is pretty much up to personal preference. However, f you provide a list of some of the types of catfish you're interested in keeping, I'm sure members here will be able in providing advice as to tank size and other important features
I speak 12 languages fluently. English is my bestest. - Bush
the reason why many people go for shorter tanks (height wise) is because:
a) majority of catfish are benthic (bottom-dwelling), and unless there are midwater fish in the tank too, a tall tank isn't really necessary, and is just gonna be a waste of space and water.
b) having a larger footprint for the tank (length x width) has 2 benefits, which are more swimming space for the fish, and also because oxygen enters the water via the water surface, a larger footprint means a bigger surface area for oxygen to diffuse into the tank.
To expand on this a bit more...many catfish are also territorial so more floor space for these protected areas the better, even a small fish a couple inches long can sometimes claim a space of 1 or 2 sq. ft.
Birger
ps.the only bad question is the one you wish you would have asked!!
think i found a great tank measuring 140x60x45. i won't mention the manufacturer, it's a shame it's expensive though :C, but braceless etc. i guess that's irrelevant really. one last query, 45cm (height) should be sufficient for most catfish, correct? taking into account the formula as before the catfish should max be 20cm in lenght in a 45cm high tank?
Why won't you mention the manufacturer - sounds like a tank most people would want to have...
Yes, around 20 cm (or maybe, if you "push it" up to about 25cm). Depends on the nature of the fish - if they are constantly sitting vertically [such as Sturisoma or Farlowella], you may want to have a bit more height. If you they never leave the bottom, then you don't need quite so much height.
I have one tank that is 48 x 24 x 18 inches - which is approximately 120 x 60 x 45cm. The tank you describe would be 56" long, which is a nice size too.
Braceless tank is a good and a bad thing - it makes the whole glass "clean". The drawback is that you can't easily have sliding glass covers, as they rely on the brace to support the sliding bits.
I'd prefer to go for the braced variant - a 56 x 24 x 24 tank is only £220, and I expect if you ask them nicely, they can make it 18" tall instead of 24", and that should reduce the price a bit too.
[Looking briefly at the list, if you go for a tank that is up to 18" tall, you can get away with 6mm glass, rather than the 10mm in the above variant - which would make it a whole lot cheaper, I'd say - of course, I'm not the company building the tank, I'm just reading the table on the "Miscellaneous->Technical info" page... If you contact them, you may want to ask them if that's a possibility. Makes it easier to move the tank as well - the tank you linked to weighs 80kg (170 lbs or 12 stone in "old money"), which is quite a weight to muscle around. This is using 12mm glass, so a 6mm glass tank would end up around 40kg (85 lbs/6st) (it may be a tiny bit more because it's using stress bars, but that will not be MUCH).
