newbie saying hi

[TheSmurfinator]

Hello folks, I'm new here and just thought I'd say hello.
My name is Smurf, I'm female, 35 and living in Manchester UK.
I've been keeping fish for about 8 months, starting with two fancy goldfish and I got my first tropical tank set up about 3 months ago.
I've definitely got the bug and I now own 13 tanks of varying sizes. Most of them are not set up yet but I have plans for all of them
Tonight I'm going to collect a fish that I've had my eye on since before I set up my first tank - an L177 golden nugget.
I don't really know that much about catfish yet, but I'm eager to learn. I've done some research and feel confident that I can give this fellow a suitable and comfy home in my community tank.
The tank he will be going in is a 165L Aquaone AR850. It has three caves, live and silk plants, sand substrate.
Tankmates are:
1 breeding pair of Bolivian Rams
9 danios - mixture of zebra and leopard
6 Cory's - 1 bronze,1 Sterbai, 1 Julii and 3 Adolfo's

I'm also thinking of getting some mickey mouse platies and some celebes rainbow fish and maybe some pangassius catfish too. are what I've already got ok for the L177? and are what I'm planning on getting suitable?

Any advice would be appreciated

[Richard B]

Welcome to Planet catfish!

Firstly, i'd avoid pangasius like the plague - they get far too big for 99% of tanks & IMHO should not be offered in the aquarium trade. They are a strong swimmer needing lots of space & get big quickly - if you have a tank 12 foot by 6 foot it might suffice.....

secondly, golden nuggets tend to be a little tricky, dependant partially upon the quality (health) of the specimens offered for sale - you'll find loads of info on these if you search through the threads here

[TheSmurfinator]

ah ok, thanks for the advice, can you suggest anything else that might be suitable? I'm looking for something that looks like a shark - most of the aquarium fish that are offered for sale that are called sharks look nothing like you would expect if you know what I mean? I want a fish that looks and moves liema minature version of what you see in the sea LOL

The nugget I'm getting is coming from a friend who has 3 in different tanks, she has decided to close down one of her tanks which is why i'm getting it, I know that it is healthy, so it should be ok.

I'm also a little confused about this site. I've started to add "my Aquaria" but when I click on add species it won't let me do anything... also How do I do the "my cats" thing? I've looked in the FAQ and it isn't mentioned....

[Richard B]

Most of the fish in the trade sold as "a shark" either look nothing like a true marine shark, or those that are vaguely similar-ish grow far too big, like the Ariid & pangasiid cats.


If you go onto a species page & read through, towards the bottom of the page there is an option to add that species to your "my cats" - that should start you off

[L number Banana]

Hi and Welcome
I'd have to wait and see what the more experienced members say but have you seen

Pimelodus pictus

? They look sharky and stay small enough for an average person to house properly. They like to be kept in groups so maybe that would be overload for the tank?
It already sounds like you may have a lower PH south american tank set-up there. They might want to chomp on your danios when they get bigger but the danios would be lovely in one of your other tanks with some catfish from their area, Eastern India.

Sounds like you have lots of tank space to work with. Nice.

[TheSmurfinator]

ooh I like the look of them
I actually want the "shark" type catfish for another tank. It is a four foot and will just have four angelsfish in it - they are very young at the moment and are only about the size of a 50p piece.. I'll do some research on them, cheers...

Well, I picked up my L177 last night and he is gorgeous!! I'm so in love with him already
He seems to have settled in well in my community tank, he has 9 danio's, 2 bolivian rams,6 mickey mouse platies, 9 celebes rainbow fish and 6 cory's for company. I got the celebes and platies at the same time and they all seem to have settled well and are getting on well with the other fish in the tank...