What’s a good tank size for this fish?

[DRteugelsi]

About parauchenoglanis, at least two species grow larger, p. punctatus and p. ngamensis that get to around 18"TL. This year I got some p. guttatus and p. monkei from Wetspot, also a couple of notoglanidium mactostoma. All seem to be very slow growing and will probably not get very large (maybe 8-9"TL?) as their growth rate isn't like the larger species I mentioned. There are others in the genus of course but I've never seen any of them for sale except a former p. balayi I had, even p. punctatus and p. ngamensis are extremely rare to find (haven't seen any in years). These fishes seem to just show up as incidental oddballs and are commonly mis-identified anyway. The rare one's I've found over time have come from a direct African fish importer (bought the whole batch, a mix of p .balayi & p . punctatus) and a couple have just shown up at my LFS! I would like to find another source for these fish too, obviously.. As Viktor mentioned there are a few auchenoglanis species that are rumored to stay smaller but also rare in the hobby. I should mention auchenoglanis cf. "bouche" isn't one of them, a pair I sold grow to 24"+ with their second owner. Most parauchenoglanis that show up are usually from the Congo River. After re-reading a revision of the genus it seems that p. guttatus and p. monkei may be the same species? My juvenile's of both look very similar with slight differences, too soon to tell really, time and growth will tell, rarely see 'em anyway as they all hide in the driftwood..

how large are they currently? any pics?

I don't have the best-looking pics where all of them swim in formation at 45 degrees to the bottom. That looks awesome.

Until then, this may do:

I actually find this tank extremely appealing. I may just have to get a couple limas and see how they do. how are they growing for you, fast or slow?

 

[Yellowcat]

The one remaining p. guttatus (the other attempted to be eaten by my last and very rare batrochoglanis transmontanus, both died) is now around 3 1/2":

The four p. monkei range from 2 1/2" to 3":

Now that I'm comparing the two for the first time really, it seems kind of obvious that they're probably not the same species as I mentioned in my last post..

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I actually find this tank extremely appealing. I may just have to get a couple limas and see how they do. how are they growing for you, fast or slow?

I'd get a dozen from snookn21. His are usually ~$15 each, the more you get the cheaper they get, can get down to $10-$12.

But I don't know your plans and tank, etc. So do what you will do.

LSN are funny cats that for half the keepers thrive with little or no special effort but the other half experiences some problems, from mild to significant. I have posted a write-up on LSN many times. Try searching for LSN write-up, lima and elongatus, etc and confine posts by my name. If you fail, I guess I can post it again here or send it in a PM.

In my hands, LSN start from 3" and reach 6"-7" in one year, some can get up to 8". They plateau out after ~10"-11". Probably because they are all S. elongatus, not S. lima.

 

[DRteugelsi]

I'd get a dozen from snookn21. His are usually ~$15 each, the more you get the cheaper they get, can get down to $10-$12.

But I don't know your plans and tank, etc. So do what you will do.

LSN are funny cats that for half the keepers thrive with little or no special effort but the other half experiences some problems, from mild to significant. I have posted a write-up on LSN many times. Try searching for LSN write-up, lima and elongatus, etc and confine posts by my name. If you fail, I guess I can post it again here or send it in a PM.

In my hands, LSN start from 3" and reach 6"-7" in one year, some can get up to 8". They plateau out after ~10"-11". Probably because they are all S. elongatus, not S. lima.

Yeah I will see what I find but I think I’m going to get 3-4 and see how they do if they actually end up being Lima and not elongatus I will sell them if it gets too much but I think they look really good in groups. I’ve never seen any as active as yours most the ones on YouTube and such just kinda slowly move around.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Yeah I will see what I find but I think I’m going to get 3-4 and see how they do if they actually end up being Lima and not elongatus I will sell them if it gets too much but I think they look really good in groups. I’ve never seen any as active as yours most the ones on YouTube and such just kinda slowly move around.

I would say yes they slowly move around. The only quick moves they make is when grabbing feed. They are ambush predators, so that's their nature.

Mine are usually active, meaning they move around often but they don't zip around like ATF, neither swim around like arowana or pbass. It's more of a cautionary moving. As a hiding predator would do.

I attribute the activity you noted to having a very large group, their already large size, and some disturbance introduced by my finagling in their tank and leaving a camera in there.

 

[DRteugelsi]

Yeah that makes since they still do look really good. They seem like they would be fun to keep. So I have kind of narrowed it down to vulture or a small group of Lima/elongatus, unless I can find one of the larger dwarfs cats like the tanganyikan dwarf giraffe.

Someone on another thread of mine also suggested porthole shovelnose?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Yeah that makes since they still do look really good. They seem like they would be fun to keep. So I have kind of narrowed it down to vulture or a small group of Lima/elongatus, unless I can find one of the larger dwarfs cats like the tanganyikan dwarf giraffe.

Someone on another thread of mine also suggested porthole shovelnose?

If you get a vulture with good genes, the tank will be way too small for it when adult.

Hemisorubim platyrynchous J jaws7777

 

[DRteugelsi]

yeah J jaws7777 is the one who suggested the porthole shovelnose catfish to me but it seems to be a pain in the a** to find someone who has them. Rapps is out of them and he told me he very seldom gets them.

 

[jaws7777]

Yup love my little platy.