PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,

I'm getting back into the fishkeeping hobby and re-commisioning 2 tanks. 1st a 130litre Tropiquarium88 and later a rio240.

I am thinking of keeping either a few Angelfish and Apistos, along with a few catfish.

I've had an Amazon tank before with very bog standard bristlenose catfish, which didn't grow much and looked quite plain, so this time i'm thinking of trying something more special.

firstly can i keep different catfish in the same tank?
and can anyone recommend a species that is under 3inches, as i guess a 130litre might get too cramped otherwise.

i quite like the ones that are spotted r striped with white fin tips, but looking at the list a lot of them grow huge!

what would be a good size catfish for a 240litre, 4ft tank? as i wouldnt mind going for one that gets a bit larger, as i could always move it to the bigger tank later.

also, i wouldn't mind trying to breed some, would they breed and some fry survive in a community tank?

any help is much appreciated!
thanks! adam

ps, i'm trying to first go for an Amazonian tank, but if there is a nice catfish from elsewhere i would be tempted.

There are LOTS of catfish at around 3". Some are easy to find, and not very expensive, others are quite pricey and hard to find.

One small generic catfish, that is also easy to find would be corys. The vast majority stay around 2-2.5", some even smaller, and a very few reach more than about 3". Since there are hundreds to choose from, it's very difficult to recommend something in particular - everyone has slightly different preferences as well, so just because I like a particular species, doens't mean that you or anyone else will like it much.

Small plecos aren't that hard to find, but depending on your budget, it may be hard to find something that is pretty (stripes, spots, etc), stays small and is affordable. For example, matches your criteria quite well, but in shops, juvenile fish tend to go for over £100, often closer to £200. On the other end of the spectrum, fish like would also match most of your criteria, certainly with regards to size - and it's about £8-10 per fish, so much less likely to cause financial trouble.

Planned breeding any pleco should really start by breeding a common Ancistrus, because that will give you a bit of experience in what to do with the fry, feeding- and handling-wise. Generally, fry will only be eaten by fairly large fish - angels are probably not a good plan in a tank where plecos are breeding (or any other fish breeding, for that matter).

There are many other catfish available that would potentially match your requirements.

As for larger fish for a 240 liter tank, it gets even more wide a choice, so it would be even harder to say "keep these". There are litterally several hundreds species of plecos, and lots of other catfish that CAN be kept in a tank of that size.

It's probably a better plan to figure out what fish you like the look of and check if they are available, and then list a few of your short-listed species for comments.

--
Mats

sorry being a noob I cant give you many scientific names but

if you-have the money snowball plecos stay small
oil catifsh or honey comb catfish are about that size ummmm

candy stripe plecos are small.

and microglanis iheringi they stay small too.
those are jus some I want to get but I dont have anygood stores near me and I am too cheap to pay shipping

good luck