Black Asian Upside-Down Questions

[Whistler]

Hello, everyone, I just joined and am still getting the hang of navigating this site. Anyway, I have a vacant 50Gal. tank (cycled and running) and an LFS with an Asian Upside-Down Cat. I have several questions. Is this tank large enough? If so, what do they like to eat? Are tankmates possible? And what about decor? This fish is currently about 7.5". How much bigger will it get? Are they interactive with their keepers? Am I nuts for even considering this? All opinions gratefully considered.

[Dave Rinaldo]

If you haven't already read these.....

Mystus leucophasis

Catfish of the Month > March 2000

[MatsP]

I would say that tank is probably a great deal too small - you'll need something like a standard 120 gal tank (4ft x 2ft x 2ft) once it reaches mature size.

--
Mats

[Shane]

Is this tank large enough? If so, what do they like to eat? Are tankmates possible? And what about decor? This fish is currently about 7.5". How much bigger will it get? Are they interactive with their keepers? Am I nuts for even considering this? All opinions gratefully considered.

I am guessing that the 7.5" is total length, making the fish somewhere under 6" standard length and basing my advice on this.
A 50 will be fine for this fish for sometime. They show fast growth when very small, but this slows down significantly as they age. Another year or two down the road though you will want to house the fish in a larger tank. The fish will mature at just under a foot standard length (about 14-15" total length).
Tankmates in a 50 will be tough as the best tankmates are fishes that reach a similar length. I kept mine with

Horabagrus brachysoma

and

Ompok pabda

though they would be fine with similar sized loricariids, doradids, or schilbeids. I would be a bit more careful mixing other bagrids, pimelodids, or mochokids but these might be ok if raised up with your fish. Schooling fishes can be used as well, but you would need to focus on cyprinids and tetras that are the same size as the Mystus, and will grow with it.

They are not fussy eaters and will take dried and frozen foods. They can be very shy at first, but after a few months will become more interactive.

All in all, this is a great fish for an aquarist with a larger tank (100 plus gallons) that wants to house several medium-sized fishes.

-Shane

[Viktor Jarikov]

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... eucophasis
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... eucophasis
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... eucophasis

[Whistler]

Thanks, guys, for your input. Since I'm not in a position to be able to offer this fish a more sizable home (even in the future) I'll have to pass on this one. However, does anyone have any opinions on what species of catfish would be happy living in a 50 gal.? Please excuse my ignorance, I recently lost a cichlid and this is part of my research while I consider how to restock my tank. Thanks again...

[Birger]

Please excuse my ignorance, I recently lost a cichlid and this is part of my research while I consider how to restock my tank. Thanks again...

To be honest, I tip my hat to you...I wish more people would do as you are... so many times people come asking these questions after they have picked up that fish that will need to live in their flooded basement eventually.

However, does anyone have any opinions on what species of catfish would be happy living in a 50 gal.?

There are many that can live in such a tank...so many that it is hard to judge what a person would like so I suggest taking a look through the Cat-eLog and figure out what catches your fancy, and come back with questions then as well.

I am partial to these and we do know you like upside down swimming fish so you may want to look through

Synodontis

, especially

Synodontis nigriventris

a group of these small fish would love a tank of this size outfitted with plants,caves and some wood. There are a few other small Synodontis(under six inch) that may get your notice as well, keep an eye on the sizes. Also look at

Synodontis lucipinnis

fairly easy to get, active, looks good and would be comfortable in this tank.

One benefit of going with smaller fish is being able to keep a few of one species allowing interaction within the group which can add some interesting elements.

Birger

[MatsP]

A general guide is that your fish needs about 4L x 2L x 2L space, where L is the length of the fish, so if we turn that around, we get a maximum size of the smaller of (L = longest side of tank divided by 4) or (L = half the shortest side of tank). Obviously, any fish SMALLER than that will be fine.

If the fish are very active, you probably should take 1/2 to 3/4 of the L you got above.

Recommending fish is a difficult thing, because everyone has different ideas of what kind of fish they like... I like plecos more than most other fish, and there are LOTS of

Loricariidae

which would be suitable for your tank. Birger's suggestions are good ones. And there are many other options.

--
Mats

[Viktor Jarikov]

Whistler, people here would be happy and honored to help you, especially as you come through as a really caring for your pets and considerate and polite to fellow humans.

One tip: when you go to the data sheets on any particular catfish in Cat-eLog - go to the Species Information - the first line is size - find "Show near, nearer or same sized spp." - these three links will filter the entire Cat-eLog by size - near, nearer, or the same.

You may choose to start with your Mystus leucophasis, here

Mystus leucophasis

Best of luck.

Viktor

[joefish72b]

I would suggest a couple anchor catfish they only grow to about 1.5 inches.

[sidguppy]

you can make things very easy on you if you reverse what most people do:

most fishkeepers want certain catfish and then have to adapt the tankwater to the catfishes' needs.

but every waterchange turns out to be a lotof extra work or at the least some kind of water storage and water preparation.

however; if you adapt your 'taste' in catfish to your tapwater, you can do waterchanges as often as you like and the more the merrier your fish will be.....

keeping fish healthy is a lot easier when you do so.

so now the 100 dollar question is: what are your tapwater parameters?

most important is pH and then hardiness.