Mystus vittatus

[snowball]

I recently acquired three small

Mystus vittatus

. They were only a few inches long when I got them, but already have grown a bit. I have them in with a large variety of what I consider to be peaceful cats - mostly eeltails & synodontis - and they seem to be getting on well with everything so far.

I've not kept these before, nor many bagrids for that matter, so what can I expect from these fish as they mature? There doesn't seem to be much information about these fish and few references to them in the forum, so if you've ever kept them I'd love to know what you think of them. The Cat-e-log says they can be sexed, but is breeding in aquarium a possibility?

[Shane]

They are really very "normal" catfishes. They like to hide, but are active enough that they are not lost in an aquarium. They eat just about anything and leave alone any tankmate they can not swallow. Behavior really is not that different than for similar sized Synos or Pims.
There is one very old spawning report, but I would need to double check it to see what sp was involved as the various striped Mystus are in a much better taxonomic state these days.
All reported "natural" spawnings I am aware of came after a significant water change that lowered the temp and hardness (similar to Corys). There is a good chance that many of us have had accidental spawnings of these types of fish, but since they are almost always kept in a community tank (and they themselves are egg eaters) no eggs are around long enough to hatch.
The best bet for a successful spawning would be a species tank with a substrate of marbles and various spawning mops so the eggs stood some chance of surviving until discovered.
-Shane

[Bas Pels]

There is a good chance that many of us have had accidental spawnings of these types of fish, but since they are almost always kept in a community tank (and they themselves are egg eaters) no eggs are around long enough to hatch.

Actually, this might be the reason why so many catfish are considered as hard to breed - predation on their own fry nobody witnessed

[snowball]

Thanks for the info Shane. That pretty much confirms what I suspected. I am slowly in the process of setting up a fish room so I may get a few more and give them a tank to themselves with some wood, mops and marbles and see what happens. They sure are good at gorging themselves when food is abundant!