cold water catfish

alvin · Post by **alvin** » 13 Oct 2003, 08:22

hi folks..does anyone know of any cold water catfish that are available in the pet trade?

Post by **Silurus** » 13 Oct 2003, 09:31

Channel catfishes (Ictalurus punctatus) are the most commonly-available cold water catfish (although they grow too big for the average home aquarium). Other ictalurids (Ameiurus, Noturus) are very occasionally available. The tawny dragon (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) is another cold water catfish that used to be fairly common in the trade until a few years ago.
Silurus shows up as a rare import, but again, they are too big for the home aquarium.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 13 Oct 2003, 09:31

Yes, there are several. If you put your location in your profile we might be able to better suggest some that are available in your part of the world.

Jools

alvin · Post by **alvin** » 15 Oct 2003, 23:03

sorry ...from south africa..but any region will do ..ill try to get it imported if need be..

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 16 Oct 2003, 00:06

alvin wrote:sorry ...from south africa..but any region will do ..ill try to get it imported if need be..

When you say South Africa and 'coldwater' what are the likely max/min temps we are talking about?

alvin · Post by **alvin** » 18 Oct 2003, 06:06

sorry folks..still getting the hang of the power of the net!..rsa is fairly temperate..id say temp bet 19-24 degrees celcius..

Post by **Silurus** » 18 Oct 2003, 10:42

That isn't particularly cold. At those temps, you can actually maintain tropical fish that live in cooler waters (such as hillstreams).

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 18 Oct 2003, 11:06

What kind of set-up do you have? Do you already have some fish and are looking for something to go in with them?
If you are setting up from scratch there are some great fish from Southern Africa that we rarely see, at those temperatures they will be comfortable and it might be a great opportunity to provide some pretty unique information (careful though, some of them are endangered and shouldn't be collected).
Pete

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 18 Oct 2003, 12:45

Sandelia for example. Not a catfish, but highly threatened by destruction of habitat.

A dedicated hobbyist with access to that fish (it's a native South African Anabantoid) could work some true miracles there, if it isn't yet too late.

This is a redlist species, mind!

Maybe some Amphilius, Leptoglanis or Chiloglanis are native to South Africa, if they are, you're in for very nice cats!

Post by **Silurus** » 18 Oct 2003, 14:07

Austroglanis. Now there's an endangered (redlisted) South African catfish.

alvin · Post by **alvin** » 19 Oct 2003, 07:39

was gonna do a 240l coldwater tank(low maintenance and different!)tankmates to be siamese fighters,white clouds,hara haras and at u guys suggestion,butterfly/hillstream loaches.but now u all just gone and done it and said something sensible.it will be quite something to do a native southern african tank and i am trying my best to get all the info on the species but it aint easy..rsa aint big on fishkeeping and the pet stores arent much help.hopefully the zoo can help me out.the species that u guys suggested sure sound interesting and it would be quite something if i could get one of them more threathened species to breed!(ja right!!)tks again for the all the info(and messing up my plans to take over the world)!

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 19 Oct 2003, 10:46

Check your nearest library to see if they have a copy of Skelton's great guidebook to the Fishes of Southern Africa. If you decide to collect some yourself you will need to get the appropriate permits from your regional EPA, Wildlife and Fisheries Bureau or equivalent.
Alternatively you may find that contacting your nearest zoo would be the better option, if you explain what you are doing they may be able to provide you with tank-bred specimens. I have a couple of contacts in South Africa, I'll give them a shout see what the possibilities are. We will want to see pictures!
Pete

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 19 Oct 2003, 10:54

SG_Eurystomus wrote:Sandelia for example. Not a catfish, but highly threatened by destruction of habitat.
A dedicated hobbyist with access to that fish (it's a native South African Anabantoid) could work some true miracles there, if it isn't yet too late.

The Sandelia project is one of the best examples I've heard of a well-run conservation initiative. The AAGB provide support by taking collections, and Aquarian Fishfoods also provide resources to the project.
Captive breeding has been quite successful I believe, and habitat restoration is difficult but possible. They have managed this I think in part by avoiding ending up being hijacked by 'career conservationists' as a ladder to climb, as has been the fate of some other initiatives. They've just got on with what needed to be done.