Hyalobagrus Flavus, Shadow Catfish, with hard water?

[N0body Of The Goat]

My LFS has had a group of midwater catfish in stock for a few weeks now, that were unlabelled and reminded me of the African striped catfish variants. These guys were ~5cm TL; with a couple of spots above and below the lateral line black band. After scouring photos here at PC, I believed they were Shadow Catfish.

Given their small size and midwater tendencies, I thought these would be a much better alternative for my Aqua One 620T "small catfish" tank than P. buffei, who I suspect (perhaps wrongly) would not be happy in 62(l)x39(w)x55(d)cm environment. However, Southampton's tap water is ~gH 14 degrees and ~pH 8.2, rather different from H. flavus' natural blackwater of ~pH 5.

Has anyone kept these lovely fish in such hard water with sucess?

As the tank already has a Phyllonemus or Lophiobagrus catfish from Lake Tanganyika, lowering the pH and hardness is not an option.

[Viktor Jarikov]

guess no one? give you a bump, mate.

[Shane]

Given your tap water conditions, and more importantly the fact that you can not change them due to the tank's current inhabitants, I would pass on them. They are not just a soft water fish they come from blackwaters with a very low pH and almost no hardness.
I hate to advise passing on such a great fish, but if you can not provide a blackwater tank for them it just is not worth it.
-Shane

[N0body Of The Goat]

Only just seen the last two responses, so many thanks! I had a feeling they might be a bad option for my tank, which is a shame, because their quirky diurnal bahavior and looks really grabbed my attention. The idea had been put on hold anyway, as for now my ~7cm SL African Butterfly Fish are in the 620T and these catfish may be tempting in the near future.

I've no idea if an RO setup with blackwater additives would be possible and viable for their long term health, otherwise these gorgeous little catfish have a bad prognosis in the Aquajardin display tank, who apparently would make good tankmates for some lovely Hengels Rasbora and alike.