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Hi all. I'm new here and I have a question. I have a 55 gallon and I want a scavenger catfish that will not be eaten by my oscars. If you can help please respond. Thanks Richard

guppy253 wrote:

I have a 55 gallon and I want a scavenger catfish that will not be eaten by my oscars.

Don't take this the wrong way but this is my advice in response to your post. Accept it or refute it as you see fit.

A couple of points...

One, the concept of a catfish being relegated to the role of a scavenger is generally not a good idea and is broadly frowned upon among the members of this group. Myself included. Should you wish to add a catfish to your tank for aesthetics or some other reason and accord it the appropriate care for the species selected, so be it. But first read item two below.

Two, when you mention Oscar(s) do you mean more than one? If you are referring to two Oscars, IMO your tank is already fully stocked (at that only if you have a bonded pair). If you are referring to more than that, IMHO your tank is overstocked and you'll need to plan for addition accomodations for some of your fish.

Besides, a bonded pair wouldn't appreciate the addition of a catfish infringing on their territory. In relation to a typical territory size for an Oscar, or a pair of Oscars, a 55 gallon tank doesn't provide much more than the bare minimum requirements.

Your poll question and your actually text question are different ... I voted before seeing what you had posted below. I like synodontis the best because many species are able to cope with african cichlids which is my primary interest. However, to respond to your second question - How big is your tank? As mentioned before, you probably don't have room, nor will the catfish "scavenge" to the extent you are probably hoping. Waste from your oscar eating, and yes oscars are very messy, will probably be a relativly small particles of food, which will be ignored by catfish large enough to make it with your oscars, assuming your tank is big enough.