no pic, sorry!

mindslide · Post by **mindslide** » 04 Nov 2003, 15:49

I have just got 2 catfish, they are about one inch long, one is grey and one is grey and black. i got them from quite a small aquatic shop so i'm guessing they are quite common, the shop wasn't a specialist shop or anything. there were also some albino ones in the shop. the shop assistant just told me they are catfish, she didn't say which breed. she did say they would grow to be about 2 inches when fully grown.

does anyone know where i can find pics on the web so i can identify what breed they are? there's so much info and it's all very confusing! any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Post by **Silurus** » 04 Nov 2003, 15:52

It's all right here, in the Cat-eLog.

mindslide · Post by **mindslide** » 04 Nov 2003, 18:12

Thanks! I think I have some kind of aspidoras, I've narrowed it down to a couple of these. These are my first catfish, I've been keeping goldfish for about 15 years but I fancied getting some catfish as well this time. So I know very little about catfish

Mine are thriving so far, they seem to like their aquarium and they're feeding ok.
Thanks very much for your help, no doubt I will be back very soon with another question!

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 05 Nov 2003, 19:28

Try a search on or look up Corydoras paleatus, this is a very common on fish and it is more likely to be what you have, especially if "cambs" = Cambridgeshire.

Jools

mindslide · Post by **mindslide** » 06 Nov 2003, 13:38

That looks even more like it! You may very well be right..... A lot of them look very similar to my uneducated eyes, I will try to figure out how to put a pic on the forum

Time to ask the boyfriend for a hand I think!

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 07 Nov 2003, 11:03

This beeing your first catfish, You should be happy if they are C. paleatus and not an Aspidoras. The C. paleatus are quite hardy and easy to keep, and they do not have the same high requirements to the current + oxygenlevel and they can take higher nitrates.

Paleatus is a really good beginners fish.

One thing you should be carefull about with the paleatus (and all other corys) is NOT to keep them on a rough substrate with sharp edges, that could damage their barbels. I always point this one out when someone say he/she is about to start on keeping corys.

Best of luck, looking forward to a picture

mindslide · Post by **mindslide** » 07 Nov 2003, 20:57

I have gravel in my tank but it's the round pebbly kind. Is that ok or would it be better to replace it with sand? Thanks for all your help!

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 08 Nov 2003, 11:21

Well, there has been many discussions on this subject and many different wievs to what substrate is the best. I have on tank with fine white river sand for my adolfoi. In my other tank with Aspidoras the current is to fast for such fine sand, so in that i have fine gravel with a grain size on 0.5-1.5 mm. If your gravel is over 5 mm in diameter i would loose it for sure, still other wouldn't.

Round pebbly kind sounds okay, and i would not change that.

If you pick up some of your gravel and roll it around in your hand and feel that it's got sharp edges, i would definitively loose it before your fish start loosing barbels.

Here in denmark petshops tend to sell flakes of granite as a good choice for beginners, and they often sell cories along with it, this leading to many damaged and unhappy fish. This is the reason i always ask to peoples substrate.