PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,
I'm planning a biotope tank to house my Microctenopoma ansorgii. It will be a 20G long, fairly heavily planted, with a sand substrate, DW and minimal water current (sponge filters). Soft, neutral-slightly acidic water.

Any recommendations on suitable cats for this setup?? Ideally something not too hard to come by...S.flavitaeniatus??

Other fish in the setup will be 4 M.ansorgii, maybe a pair of Anomalochromis thomasi and if I can find them, a shoal of Neolebias

Something smaller like S. nigriventris would be more appropriate, I feel.

Other possibilities are Microsynodontis or Amphilius.

I would consider Synodontis flavitaeniatus too large. They may get to large and may be able to eat the little air breathers. I would try some Bumblebee cats. They should be not too hard to come buy and stay a smaller size. I must admit I haven't seen them available lately but usually see them on the list a couple of times a year.

I have kept ansorgii for a couple of years and just love the little guys.

Ok, S.flavitaeniatus is out...

While I would love to get my hands on some bumblebee cats, they will be housed elsewhere

HH, Amphilius sound interesting...any special requirements, I think you got a few some time ago.

How about Pareutropius?? A small school of 6 perhaps?

Hi!

the big problem with Amphilius is to be able to find some... from what I heard they are quite fragil as well....

Microsyno is a better bet, getting easier to find and certainly more robust....

cheers
Yann

I have kept Amphilius for quite a while now, and they are not as fragile as I initially thought (I think Sid would agree). They seem happy living with less current than I initially credited them with, too (the ones I have don't seem to hang out near the filter outlet much).

Toyin Ojo of Rehoboth Aquatics might still have some left over (these were the same batch I purchased from).

if fragility is an issue...I've got 3 Amphilius rheophilus since 1997 or so, and they were already 2" when bought; so maybe they're passing 10 year now!

very easygoing fish, and well worth the keeping.

another long lived (personal record holder here!) that shows up again in the trade is Mochokiella paynee
I've been able to buy 3 new ones, and it's the first time I encounter this species since 1986!
now what if I tell you that 3 of the 5 I bought back then as subadults are still kicking the bucket?


Mochokiella's are THE way to go when you think small, African catfishbeauties...
easy to keep, tough as an old boot, longlived, peaceful etc
only one major drawback: masters of hiding!

Pareutropius or Eutropiellus etc should be kept in a bigger tank; they really like to swim, and if you keep them in a small or heavily planted tank they crowd together and wiggle all day, but don't move an inch.
and slowly, one by one, they perish.

in a 50G with plenty watermovement, open water and peaceful active companions; they're a joy to watch.
IME these don't do well when kept as sole shoaler. mix them with mediumsized Congo-tetra's like Arnoldichthys spilopterus or Alestopetersius caudalis and they're stunning!

small shoalers for a planted tank are for example Neolebias ansorgi and closely related species.

Small African cats, next to Microsynodontis, Amphilius or Mochokiella include Leptoglanis (if you can get them) and the funny looking Synodontis contractus.
the last is a superb algae-eater and can fill the void left out when you don't add a Bristlenose for algae-control.
they MUST be kept in a group, like 4-6 or so; sole specimen don't last long.....

Mochokiella are nice, but they are extremely hard to come by in the trade (I knew Sid was going to start spewing out names of fishes one cannot easily get). The same goes for Leptoglanis (which, in addition, is too fragile). This would also rule out Mochokus (have not seen one alive yet).

If Toyin still has those Amphilius, I'd go for it, failing which, you might be able to get some Microsynodontis if you look around.

Just a small suggestion: Neolebias are rare fish, and may be hard to get hold of. More commonly available small, peaceful, schoolers are Norman's Lamp-Eye (Aplocheilichthys normani) and Barbus fasciolatus (=Barbus barilioides).
Norman's Lamp-Eye is an annual, but very easy to breed.

Don't want to sound like blatant advertising, but Toyin may also have Neolebias in stock. Check with him.

I know Mochokiella has been very hard to come by; but for a reason unknown to me they're on the stocklists of wholesalers again in Europe.
since we've been #3 on the list for weird catfish (after the US and Japan) for some time, you might want to check the importers' lists in the US again......

Pareutropius is out then! I'll save them for another, larger, tank with Steatocranus, Phenacogrammus and S.brichardi...wonder if I can sneak another 40/55 gallon in without my roommates noticing

Amphilius may be out too if they like currents, there will be no current in my tank. (sponge filters)

M.batesii and S.nigriventris are sort of back-up fish right now in case I can't decide on anything else

Will have to inquire about Mochokiella

Mike - thanks, I hadn't even thought of barbs...I might just end up with B.barilioides, although lampeyes may be easier to come by...lots of killie keepers where I'm at.

HH, Rehoboth Aquatics is my source of choice for W Africans right now..heard nothing but good things about him all round...he does have N.ansorgii listed on his website, also Ladegesia roloffi

Thanks for the great ideas guys...keep 'em coming.

You should be able to keep Amphilius even without a current. Some parts of my tank have little/no current, and that's where my fish hang out most (it could be due to that part of the tank also being the feeding corner).