Hi! Some advice would be greatly appreicated :-)

Raffi · Post by **Raffi** » 04 Jun 2006, 12:45

Hi I'm Raffi, hope all you guys are well. At the moment I have a small (5 gallon tank)with some white cloud mountain minnows (they don't like temperatures above 21 degrees). I've always loved catfish and would really like one, but I don't know which would suit that temperature and tank size and so on, and which wouldn't eat the minnows! Thank you! X

worton[pl] · Post by **worton[pl]** » 04 Jun 2006, 13:45

Hey,

how many mountain minnows you got in your tank? You know it's really small tank and minnows love to swim so they need some free space.

If it's your first tank it's almost sure you will soon buy a bigger one :) - now I personally wouldn't add any more fish.

In small tank you can keep few species of catfishes like for example:

-
-

But this two species are doing the best in groups - so again you don't have enough room left for them :/

- is also a small catfish from SA, this species is not very active and I guess a one or two fish would live happy inn your tank.

From Asia there are also few species of small catfish like for example .

Bigger tank got also a one advantage - it's easier to keep biological balance in it.

And just remember you got responsibility for life of your fish, your duty as an aquarist is to make them as happy as possible - this will be really hard to do in small tank with too many fish.

Regards.

Raffi · Post by **Raffi** » 04 Jun 2006, 13:58

Thanks very much, that's extremely helpful. Yes, this is my first proper tank although I've got two goldfish I'm very fond of that I've had for nine years now (in a different tank!). I have six minnows in the 5 gallon tank - i know they like company so i got that number so they would have friends but as much space as possible given the size of the tank. I hope that's all right... And yes, I'd definitely like a bigger tank if possible, especially to make my fish happer

Maybe the catfish will have to wait until then, but I'll look into the breeds you suggested. Thanks again!

snowball · Post by **snowball** » 05 Jun 2006, 02:11

You could try a couple of peppered cats , they prefer cooler water as do the white clouds. But as worton says, for such a small tank it would be best not to add more fish.

Raffi · Post by **Raffi** » 05 Jun 2006, 13:23

Thanks very much. That looks like an ideal fish because of the temperature, and it's really cute too! But I do think I'm going to aim to get a bigger tank first...

worton[pl] · Post by **worton[pl]** » 06 Jun 2006, 10:26

Hey,

that's a great decision!

Welcome to The Planet Catfish by the way :).

Regards.

Raffi · Post by **Raffi** » 06 Jun 2006, 15:39

Thank you! It's a great site

And thanks again for all the advice