Feeding Juvenile Striped Raphael Catfish

[sakurablossom]

We got three juvenile striped raphael catfish a week ago. They are about 2 inches long and are in a quarantine tank right now. They have plenty of hiding places and will come out after the lights are turned off to feed. My question is, how much do we feed them? Right now, we are dropping 4 Hikari carnivore pellets every night for them. I also have a snail in there and three honey gold gouramis in the tank that are also under quarantine. We started to drop in half of an algae wafer for the snail and for the gouramis, since they seem to like the algae wafer, and to get some veggies for the catfish. But I am afraid we now may be dropping too much food. We saw the one's belly tonight and it was very round so I don't know if they are getting too much food or if he just ate or if they are supposed to have round bellies. This is the first time keeping this type of catfish. Tank parameters are: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate. Ph is 8.0 in the quarantine tank. Temperature is 78.6 F.

[Bas Pels]

Firstly, Platydoras are American, not African. They do eat anything, and can live very long. That is, I got mine in 1989 and they are still alive.

Long lived species generally do not grow very fast, but they do like to have their belly filled every now and then. The thing is, however, I´ve always fed my fishes on feeling - I never ever counted or weigthed howe much I feed.

So I´d say / don´t be too afraid of overfeeding them every now and then

[ThePsychotiCatfish]

I have 2 raphaels and regarding their diet, they eat mainly pellets and algae wafers. From what I've noticed of their feeding habits, they tend to just wolf down any food that goes near them if they're in the mood( half the food they eat isn't even meant for them!) and will just keep on eating until they resemble little, striped balloons. I wouldn't be too worried about them overfeeding as in my experience this is what they like to do.

If you get worried you can always stop feeding them for a while (2-3 days give or take) to let their bellies empty out. I've had to do this a few times as mine like to gorge on food meant for tankmates as well as theirs. I wish you the best of luck with your raphaels, I find them a truly rewarding fish to keep.

[pleco_breeder]

Good info from both responses. These guys are notorious for gorging themselves with all the food they can take in, so wouldn't worry too much about a swollen stomach unless you see that it's causing trouble for the fish.

Saw your user name, and had to respond because it's too much coincidence. I'm currently in the process of getting settled back in, in Florence, after moving back from Tokyo a couple of weeks ago.

Larry

[Mistyotis]

I was worried about my striped Raphael Catfish too. He is in a tank with Pea Puffers and 3 Emperor Plecos. I put in extra food for him. The Emperors will come out and eat anything I put in at any time of day I feed on top of their yams and zucchini they get daily. I almost never see him move around, sometimes he sleeps in plain sight even with plenty of hiding places. I've seen him sharing with one of caves the Plecos before. thank you for the information I will make sure to drop the food right next to where he/she is resting.