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Since this is not specifically catfish, I will put it here. I'm looking to build my rubbernoses a river tank, but can not really decide on any tankmates. It needs not be a biotope, but I dont want things being blown around, or really out of place.

20 long, 33 long (48x 12 inches, but shorter than the 55), or even the 55 gallon. Coolish water, 72 or so. Rocky substrate. And of course, nothing that will eat a 2 - 4 inch pleco!


Many tetras seem ok. Shane mentioned wild type guppies.
Zebra danios would be cool.

Is there anything larger or brighter for this? While I adore catfish, I really like them to accent a tank, because I do find most rather plain. I was looking at Pike cichlids, but they seem rare/delicate/hazard to the plecos/big/ need warm water/ ect.

I've been looking for the wild guppy and the Micropoecilia sp. It seems the wild guppies are harder to find and the ones that are being sold as "wild-type." I haven't seen any of the Micropoecilias. I've been looking longingly at some of the Nannostomus (Pencilfish) species. They have the torpedo-shaped bodies. I started 3 years ago with Zebra Danios my brother gave me, along with some Platies. Two of the four are still alive. The 2 that are still alive are about 5-6 yrs.old and are still breeding(not as often). I have them in a 10 gal.with some Aeneus, who love to forage on the eggs.

Psy wrote:20 long, 33 long (48x 12 inches, but shorter than the 55), or even the 55 gallon. Coolish water, 72 or so. Rocky substrate. And of course, nothing that will eat a 2 - 4 inch pl*co!

Parodon should enjoy these conditions, and you should also look through shipments of Peruvian fish for any of the faster-water Tetras. I've always been really taken by Ceratobranchia obtusirostris, for example.

Well, right now, the most likely tank is the 33 long.

I was thinking of keeping blockheads (Steatocranus casuarius) since they seem rather docile, and grow to around 4inches. Males are rumored to reach 7, but, that should take a while if it ever did. They do appear to like somewhat warmer water though.I might still consider it, my plecos did fine when I had a temperatre spike to 82, and there will be much more disolved oxygen in this tank, so 75F shouldnt be a problem.

Psy wrote:I was thinking of keeping blockheads (Steatocranus casuarius) since they seem rather docile, and grow to around 4inches.

Docile is a relative term with Cichlids, although Steatocranus are not usually thugs they still may not be the best tankmates to house with Chaetostoma.
If you look around local stores you may be able to find some Striped River Gobies (Awaous) from South America, these are a really interesting and peaceful fish that will not pose any threat to your other fish.

All kind of slender build tetra's fit that bill.

Hemiodus perhaps? I've seen those much more often than the equally cool, but rare, Parodon.

Aphyocharax alburnus, Iguanodectes, Characidium etc

If you're not that puristic about biotope, any slender Rasbora (trilineata, pauciperforata), Chela or Danio might do perfect.
another choice is the nice Hemigrammopetersius caudalis from Africa.

Then there's a load of Goodeids that like the slightly cooler water, not every one is a nipper. Ilyodon for example are strong swimmers (they look like mini trouts) and perfectly peaceful.
wildform and smaller relatives of Xiphophorus helleri (like X montezumae, X xiphidium, X cortezi etc) and Poecilia mexicana do fine too.

and the last few appreciate the more veggie dinner your Chaetostoma's need as well.

sidguppy wrote:Hemiodus perhaps? I've seen those much more often than the equally cool, but rare, Parodon.

I think Hemiodus would be a great option if the tank were larger, but as they can get to quite some size (and prefer to be in shoals) I left them out. Young ones would be great if larger aquaria are available to house them once they have grown (but they do grow verty quickly IME).

sidguppy wrote:Characidium etc

Perfect! These cute little beasties also have quite a lot of "character", they will perch on a pebble and watch what is happening around them, and will do no harm whatsoever to the Catfish.

I went with the rather common bloodfin tetra. I have a thing for red fins on a shiny silver fish. (My 75 is stocked with tinfoils,although I think i should replace them with a smaller species at some point Buenos Aires or Redhooks.)

But there seems to be a problem! I found one dead, missing part of its jaw. upon close inspection, another has a similar injury. They very well could have came that way, but does anyone know if they could be sticking their snouts somewhere it shouldnt belong? The only similar injury I've seen was when I kept zebra danios in with convicts (didnt work so well). I thought I saw something odd, but just yesterday counted two like that.

After a week from when I added the tetras, my ammonia spike dropped (added a sponge filter, but it was apparently, too small) and in went the Plecs. They are doing well, although they seem to avoid the highest current areas. I assume this will change when the algae grows in those areas!

common bloodfin tetra

Aphyocharax rubripinnis?

those common names always put me off

A. anisiti actually, I think. There seems to be a few (quite similar) imported under the same name, but I havnt taken time to figure out which species for sure.

your pl*co's will probaly take a few day to get used to there new digs. I seem to notice my guys in front of the output from my powerheads right before lights out or early in the morning just after light on. I sometime spy on them at nite and they will be hanging out in the highest current areas then too.

Cheers, Whitepine

I've felt around all my sponges and powerheads looking for something that could have been mauling my Bloodfins. I found nothing at all that i could feel with my hand, so I must assume (at this point) that I bought defective fish.

Pulled a 2nd dead one out today. Lets hope that its the last one. It was missing most of its upper and lower jaw, and affected its feeding. I'll keep checking in on them until my cichlid fry are big enough to trade in for more.

Catfish are doing well, sticking to the rocky parts. I may add cories soon, since I have sandy parts, and my water flow is not as severe as the other river tanks. [2x AC 70s (802s?)]