OK, so its glaringly obvious Tigrinus aren't for me lol. What is a cool catfish that isn't too aggressive, and can go in with stingrays when its full grown, but doesn't get over 2-2.5' ? I'm not looking for a monster RTC or anything like that. I don't mind growing out a baby if that's what is mostly sold. Thanks in advance!
Looking for a New Catfish
- Thread starter Jobu28
- Start date
In with rays I think I'd go with Megalodoras irwini. Gets just over 2 feet is very peaceful and you wouldn't have to worry about them eating baby rays if you decided to breed. One con is they grow pretty slowly but their spines should provide some protection from curious/hungry rays.
Ok guys, i liked the irwini but i was afraid if the rays grabbed it he could slice them open. So i grabbed a vulture, jurense, and a platystomatichthys sturio. All babies. Will see how they progress and how i do with them. Thanks!
Irwini spines aren't razor blades so unless the ray managed to swallow them I highly doubt the spines would bother the rays. It's just enough protection to keep rays from possibly eating them.
Sturio I have no experience with so I can't say anything about them. Juru's are slightly less sensitive then Tigs other then that they're very similar in nearly ever respect. So what ever issues you had with Tigs will probably be the same with the Juru.
The Vulture would be my biggest concern. They're very food competitive and will probably easily out compete the rays, juru and sturio. Their quick aggressive actions may even cause some of the others not to eat due to being stressed. Usually it's suggested that Vultures are kept with other robust, boisterous species such as CA/SA cichlids and other fish that can take care of themselves. They are also capable of really damaging a ray or the other cats of not well fed or if you get an overly curious one he'll take a bite out of everyone to see what they taste like. Then consider their extremely fast growth the other two cats will become bite size in literally a couple of months. I bought mine at 3 inches and he grew to over 12 inches in just about 6 months and showed no signs of slowing down when I re homed him. The only fish I had that kept up with his growth rate was a Red Tail and a RTC/Shovel hybrid. So while they may not get big, Vultures do grow at a fast rate.
I personally love Vultures but I know now they can't be housed with certain fish not just because of aggression but because of their activity level and high food competitiveness. People focus on aggression often when choosing tankmates when food competitiveness is just as important. I've seen fish starved when combined with the wrong tankmates.
