What to add?

Amazonlover · Post by **Amazonlover** » 11 Jan 2007, 00:42

hey all well im still a little new to all these catfish from South America so i wanted a little help on what to add. im looking to add some kind of catfish from south america to my 55 and 75 gallon tanks my 55 currently has a pair of C. regani in it and i wanted to have soem more action in there tank what would be a good choice and for my 75 gallon i wanted to get soemthing that might be a bit bigger and would go with tetras and other SA tropicals.

Thanks alot from henry

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Jan 2007, 12:57

It's about as hard to tell someone else what fish to get as it is to tell someone (that you don't know quite well) what curtains they should have - it depends on the personal taste.

C. regani = Vieja regani? If so, you need something on the slightly bigger side...

You can use the search feature in the Cat-eLog to list fish that are the right size and that like the temperatrure in your tank (note that if you enter a wide range, you'll probably get very few answers, so if your tank is actually 25'C, enter 24-26'C, for example). Here: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/search.php

Bear in mind that the fish shouldn't be longer than half the shorter side of the tank, and a quarter of the longest side of the tank [whicever is shorter].

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Mats

Amazonlover · Post by **Amazonlover** » 11 Jan 2007, 21:35

hey thanks for the reply realy i just want to know what will work best in a 55 gallon tank with soem appel oh and srry the C. Regani is a dwarf pike reaching around 5inches and are semi aggresive there not like the big pikes the regani have the nickname the "peaceful pike" anyway so il give you guys a bit of info on the tanks setup that may help to suggest cats that will work.

size:
55 gallons
Params:
ph 6.5 temp 24/25C
Aquascape:
Sand, Rock, large drift wood piles and branches

so the C. regani are only a 4-5inch fish and not very aggresive.

basicly im asking what would work well but i dont want anythign ot be for the 55, but 75 anything goes!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 12 Jan 2007, 11:28

Of course - that was the NEXT one on the list in Fishbase. I entered "genus begins with" C, "species is" regani, which lists 9 species from that search. Unfortunately, using abbreviated names can cause confusion unless it's clear from the context what species it actually is - names are unique with genus + species name, but first letter of genus + species name isn't at all sure to be unique.

Here's a list of catish that are of the size that would suit a 55g tank and temp 24-25'C. That's a max size of 160mm (6 and a bit inches) and sorted by number of hits [which means the more commonly available and good lookins species at the top of the list].

List

The 75g would allow slightly larger species, so I picked a min size of 150 and max size of 280 for that one, assuming that you have the same temps:
List

As to which fish you like, it's still hard to say.

Unfortunately, the "select geographically" is still under development, so it's currently not possible to specify "South America" or "Amazon region" or some such in the search - you'll just have to look at the fish in the list and determine from the data sheet if it's in South America. [we have got the data structure figured out, we just have to write the code to display and edit it - then it's a case of entering all the data, which will be a BIG task with 1700 species in the database! (we = Me and Jools)]

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 12 Jan 2007, 14:45

Hi Amazonlover.

I too have a C. regani. Mine is very old though and probably won't be with me for much longer.

I think I am right in saying these fish do not have a naturally long life (<5yr).

Choice of catfish is up to personal taste, but if I had your tank, I would choose a group of . These are active, gregarious and under-rated fish that can be bred in the aquarium.

I was going to recommend , but I won't, as these Panaque (although very attractive), are quite aggressive, and may not get on too well with the M. thoracata.

Instead I will recommend , which will be more peaceful, but also great to look at.

I would bump up the temp to around 27C if you want to keep these plecs.

Amazonlover · Post by **Amazonlover** » 12 Jan 2007, 15:54

Hey THANKS! guys thats a tonn of info/selection for me to look through well im at home sick today so i can go through the lists you gave me matsp also im gonna look up the Megalechis thoracata that racoll said would work nicely.

My pair are WC so im aiming to get somethign that they would of seen in the wild before so there not overly freaked out by some aggresive strange fish.

anyway thanks alot guys.

Henry

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 12 Jan 2007, 16:22

My pair are WC so im aiming to get somethign that they would of seen in the wild before so there not overly freaked out by some aggresive strange fish.

Unfortunately this may be near impossible to achieve.

C. regani is distributed across most of the Amazon basin.

There may be no way of knowing where your fish came from, and therefore knowing what species they may have encountered may not be possible, as there are thousands to choose from.

Also, C. regani are reported to dwell in leaf litter hunting small invertebrates and Apistogramma fry.

There may be fish such as loricariids found in the same river, and be present in riffles only metres away, but the two species may never see one another in their lifetimes.

Many species are incredibly specific in the chosen micro-habitat, and may never leave it. To do so could mean instant predation. Also some fish are just not built for certain habitats. A Corydoras for example would find it impossible to swim in the main channel of the Xingu. However this is home for enormous numbers of plecs.

This specific use of so many different niches is the reason for such diversity in the natural world.

I keep my C. regani with African Ctenopoma and Asian spiny eels, and he is totally unphased by all of them.

I really wouldn't worry about it.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 15 Jan 2007, 13:07

Having not so long ago picked up a trio of Megalechis thoracata[/clog], I'm wholeheartedly seconding this recommendation.

I also agree with Racoll that the fish don't actully know what lives just meters away in the same river if it's not also part of the same habitat, so a fish that lives on the edges of a river may never see a fish that lives just meters away in the faster flowing middle of the river, or a little bit further down where a shallow stony part forms a riffle.

From what I understand, M. thoracata may actually reside in the same type of environment as the Crencichla, although not necessarily in exactly the same places.

I too keep fish that have never seen (nor had a CHANCE to see) each other until they got in my tank, as they come from a variety of places across the world (although most of them are south american, they originate from a number of different places). Most fish will fear much larger fish, but if the larger fish is for example a pleco, which doesn't actually try to eat it's tankmates, it's fine to keep them together. Keeping some small-ish fish that dither about (often called dithers) can have a calming effect on other fish, as they signal "the small fish are feeling safe, it should be OK for me to be out and about".

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Mats