Advice on filling 40 gallon tank with S. american cats

Andy · Post by **Andy** » 27 Apr 2003, 19:20

What would be a good, fairly affordable mix of catfish for a 40 gallon tank about 2 feet tall? I have a soft spot for doradids so some spotted raphaels are a must but what else could I put in it?

Post by **Silurus** » 27 Apr 2003, 19:25

You can fill it with a good mix of small- to mid-sized South American cats. Some suggestions are small- to mid-sized pims (like a group of P. pictus or Microglanis), banjo cats, woodcats (zamora cats or Tatia if you can get on some, would be nice), a school of corys. Quite a lot of possibilities there...

Andy · Post by **Andy** » 27 Apr 2003, 19:28

Wouldn't the pictus cats be a danger to corys? How many cats could I fill the tank with in good conscience seeing as most cats are bottomdwellers?

Post by **Silurus** » 27 Apr 2003, 19:38

Wouldn't the pictus cats be a danger to corys?

No, pictus cats are generally harmless to all but small fishes. I think the corys will be large enough to escape their attention.
If you want to fill the tank with bottom dwellers, I guess the only limiting factor is the biological load of the tank. This has been a discussed in the forums previously.

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 27 Apr 2003, 23:22

A tankmate suggestion thread is never complete without a plug for plecos.

;) obviously many are expensive... but you can get clowns and candy striped plecos for very reasonable, and even some of the fancy ones like queen arabesque plecos for less than $20 each... otherwise the list is great. Also might check into some of the smaller doradid species.

Andy · Post by **Andy** » 28 Apr 2003, 09:40

On the suckermouth front I've been thinking about getting a mango plec and two smaller scale ancistrus to counter messy green stuff.