PlanetCatfish.com

it said "Pimelodella sp Peru"

but the 5 wee beasties I brought home look like a Pimelodella who's hit the steroids and spent some time weightlifting on the Nautilus.

they're feisty in the bucket; had to grab a bunch of terracotta caves for the quarantaine tank

will take pics as soon as they're settled
;)

hint: it's probably the toughest catfish in the New World given by the fact that it's spread from the cenotes of Central Mexico down to the northern reaches of Argentina......

I think I know. I'm going to give a "cryptic" answer so others will have a chance as well...

Does it, sort of, have a species name that sounds like "source" or "well"[as in where you get water] in German? And the genus name would have something to do with computers, sort of?

--
Mats

if the computer thingy would be "query" yeah, you're thinking in the right direction

;)

I asked Oliver what the price was and he said it's Pimelodella; I explained him that when tiny the difference between Pimelodella and Rhamdia is hard to spot, but the latter is build a lot more robust


they're fun fish! and i never kept it before.

You got 5 Rhamdia guelen? You are very wise you keep your adress to your self

I do wonder where they came from, I got 1 from Uruguay, now approx 20 cm.

eating like pigs and very active

if they keep this up, snapping a few pics will be easier than I thought
;)

Somehow I took not more than a glance at the Rhamdia yesterday.
That is probably caused by the overwhelming amount of impressions in the shop.

Good luck with them!

so far my last find turns out to be the biggest fun!

they're all over the tank already, very tame and showing the cruise behavior thats shown in the pictures of the Mexican cenote in the catelog

I never have experienced a catfish shaped like that (long whiskered pim/bagrid/syno etc) that wasn't shy and nocturnal.

update:

so far the level of activity has got me totally surprised

they even feed out of the water, somewhat

I got a large floating Oakleaf-fern in there and a bunch of vallisneria and the rhamdia's cl;imb on top of it, whiskers waving in the air to get at food that's on top of it.

also; in the beginning there as some territorial behavior, even when accimatizing in the bucket.
some of the smaller ones has scrapes
this has disappeared and all grey area's have healed.

they resembe a Barbus species with their antics. tonite i'll remove them from the quarantaine tank and put them in my 200L tank for a while (the biggest is 3" ), but in the future they're going to a big tank.

this is one of the funniest and loveliest cats I've kept in ages!

they grow very quickly, they're active around the clock and there's still zero aggression between them

actually i'm a bit scared because of their growth.....if they keep this up I have to move them soon.

I never expected a "pimelodid" with such whiskers to be a diurnal freeswimming species, but the level of activity these guys show is akin to Pangasius (!) minus the stress.

they already take food from my hand......

How much did they grow in the 3 weeks between your postings?

Nice looking catfish..great find indeed.

they have been transferred from the small 55G to the larger 315G

after some acclimatizing they've started showing off the same freeswimming cruising behaviour as shown in the Cenote pictures in the Catelog!

they're now getting used to the cichlids (who are nosy, but not agressive), the Synodontis granulosa (nasty, but in proportion) and the Labeo cyclorhynchus (which is a 1 fish psycho axe killer maniac warzone all by itself).

luckily these Rhamdia's can stop, turn and swirl on an area size of a 50 pence piece.....
they put the A in agile and also the G, I, L and E

some individuals have turned a mottled brown. the big cichlid with the Surgeon fish look is Paretroplus maculatus from Madagascar.


the larger ons have stayed light with a band; first all 5 looked exactly like this; hence Oliver Frank thought they were some Pimelodella spp


together with the most colorful fish in the tank; a juvenile Distichodus sexfasciatus


the one on the left is showing a threat display; he's about to punch the big one on the right.
they're not agressive to each other, but on occasion they do squabble a bit.

compared to for example Synodontis granulosa this Rhamdia species is quite mellow


ps post is in English cause it's copy n pasted for Planetcatfish
;)

thought i might do an update here, since I still got the 5 mini whales and they're doing great!


they're getting big.....and boisterous, gluttons and being a pain in the fins for some of the others; but I can't part with em

too much fun!

and I occasionally get bitten. they try to find out if fingers and skin on the arm is edible, i guess.

I have never kept such a fearless catfish.
it's like keeping Koi carps, if Koi carps had the attitude of black crows.


they're quite colorful too; a very light sandy color with almost orange pectoral spines, a big black line on the side for the females and a thin obscured by specs one for the males

they measure 8-9" TL now and if I fed more, they'd be bigger

they also managed to put the synodontis granulosus group into hiding......

not by nipping or chasing them, but by sheer foodcompetition and ADHD behavior.

this is not a well behaved fish at all; sometimes I feel I got a pack of baby hyaena's in there.

fun, though