can you id my cat pleas ?

[ricky2]

hi all. any one fancy trying to id this cat ps i do know its not a channel cat its 16 inches long about 8yrs old



he has that old a bit bent and worn look he is still very active and a bit blind in one eye
cheers all ricky http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/post ... =post&f=13#

[Bijn]

it looks like a Chrysichthys

Chrysichthys graueri

?

[ricky2]

thanks for the reply Bijn its very closest look wise but my cat is grey/blue whith a white belly and barbels

[racoll]

Yes, looks like a

Chrysichthys

. These are commonly sold as "aluminium" cats.

Getting a species level ID is not easy, as they all look very similar.

It is more likely to be a Niger or Congo species rather than a rift lake one.

[sidguppy]

looks like

Chrysichthys furcatus

this one changes color when maturing; young ones are gleaming (hence the name) and with a white belly; older ones tend to become less shiny, but they usually keep the white belly.
I've seen em in the past (15-20 years ago African riverines were much more popular) and they come in a range of colors; coppery or golden, silvery (hence aluminium catfish), light brown, grey, dark.

there's one of these residing in a shop less than 1 mile from me for over a year.
they had 2, managed to loose one and the leftover is still there in a small tank full of Malawi and Syno hybrids
sad story

yours looks huge!
the eyes are a bit cloudy. he used to have this?

8 years is a respectable age, this is not a commonly kept fish,
African riverine non Syno cats are usually left out in the dust.
no idea how long they last, but obviously this Chrysichthys species can last for quite some time

was it tiny when you bought it or already sizeable?

[ricky2]

thanks for the info sid iv had him about 5 yrs and he/she was this size when i found it as a shop return .the shop said that the owner had owned it for 3 yrs. that all thay knew so i said i whould bye it on the understanding that it got no biger and if it did i could take it back

[sidguppy]

I like it

is it docile or aggressive, does it live with other fish, etc

[Viktor Jarikov]

Hi Ricky! That's a nice Aluminum you got there! Like Sid says, please tell us more about its habits and behavior. Mine (~6-7" TL) hides all the time so after a year, I still do not know what he is like except that he's been all right with the similar sized (3"-6") cats - synos, doradids, IDS, mystuses, etc. etc.

I love his look with them huge, mesmerizing eyes.

Good tactics at your LFS. BTW, your guy MAY grow to 2' or longer. Has he really not grown at all in the 5 years you've had him?

[ricky2]

hi victor. no growth as far as i can tell. i usaly stik a tapemesure on the glass every six months and take a few still pic just so i can keep a eye on the growth of all the fish . he is very active cruising around the tank most of the time and tends to rest in the same spot of the tank (front corner)is it possible that he may suffer stunted growth from living in a small tank? this was why he was taken back to the shop he had outgrown hit tank

[ricky2]

he is in a tank whith
2 oscars 12-13 inch
6 siversharks 7-11 inch
2 ornate bircher 12-14 inch
1 banded sevrum 7 inches
and a plec of some typ 11 inch (no id)
he is well behaved but can be aggressive at times usaly after a water change for some reason . but most of the time he is very docile