Biggup your catfish!-)

[justarn]

Hey people, who wants to talk catfish?
They are an odd group, it's been a curious journey for me in this hobby. Firstly I'm mainly a cichlid man, well so I thought, I've been through endless cichlids over the past few years. I've constantly changed my tanks up and to be fair not many have made me want to hold on too them all that long, irresponsible some might say although I've always managed to rehome the fish to good homes. I was looking at my tanks the other day and realised all the fish I've had the longest are cats, they just lurk around behaving and clock up the years in your tanks.
When I first got my dd 300g I thought I had this monster tank and could finally keep rtc and shovel nose, lol...
It soon became apparent the monsters we all love get alot bigger than the 'big' ones you see at lfs, then you realise your 300g is a mear puddle in the real world...
I think we need to show some love for the cats that us mear mortals can keep in everyday sized tanks.
I guess this thread is partly due to buying a baby dwarf giraffe cat they other day, he is an awesome little fish and I can't wait for him to get a bit of size and confidence.
It's partly due to J jaws7777 and his latest purchases and the trache trache I keep seeing on here.
There's so many awesome cats, I've had a suncat for 5+ years, he is -+13" now and lip locks with my cichlids, out and about 70% of the time, my 4lined is always out, little hoplo always out, all very Underated but in reality great catfish.
Any way here is a cool video that made me want a dwarf giraffe cat, might wanna turn the sound down tho as the guy goes on!-)

 

[justarn]

 

[jaws7777]

Hey people, who wants to talk catfish?
They are an odd group, it's been a curious journey for me in this hobby. Firstly I'm mainly a cichlid man, well so I thought, I've been through endless cichlids over the past few years. I've constantly changed my tanks up and to be fair not many have made me want to hold on too them all that long, irresponsible some might say although I've always managed to rehome the fish to good homes. I was looking at my tanks the other day and realised all the fish I've had the longest are cats, they just lurk around behaving and clock up the years in your tanks.
When I first got my dd 300g I thought I had this monster tank and could finally keep rtc and shovel nose, lol...
It soon became apparent the monsters we all love get alot bigger than the 'big' ones you see at lfs, then you realise your 300g is a mear puddle in the real world...
I think we need to show some love for the cats that us mear mortals can keep in everyday sized tanks.
I guess this thread is partly due to buying a baby dwarf giraffe cat they other day, he is an awesome little fish and I can't wait for him to get a bit of size and confidence.
It's partly due to J jaws7777 and his latest purchases and the trache trache I keep seeing on here.
There's so many awesome cats, I've had a suncat for 5+ years, he is -+13" now and lip locks with my cichlids, out and about 70% of the time, my 4lined is always out, little hoplo always out, all very Underated but in reality great catfish.
Any way here is a cool video that made me want a dwarf giraffe cat, might wanna turn the sound down tho as the guy goes on!-)

Awrsome thread. Ive gottem used to the way we post in the poly section where almost every thread gets derailed and we always end up b.s'ing about our fish regardless what the thread was intended for. This thread is right up my alley lol

My journey back into the hobby started much the same. We got a 150 and my son (3 at the time) was all about cats...so was i but the tank was too small. We naturally gravitated to what i knew cichlids. Endless musical tanks and trying different combos got tiresome. We soon got bit by the poly bug and havent looked back. We are down to just the pearsei and 2 heterospilus and are pretty much done with the cichlid games.

Lol samething happened with our 300. We figured it was a monster tank but in the end it just like you said...really not that big once these fish start putting on size.

We're planning another 300 for cats but this time the bioload is hopefully going to stay low. Just a few cats and the pearsei.

Im totally captivated by the cats...allot different than the easy to keep polys. I feel like the cats are a little more complicated (in a good way) territories, feeding and how the tanks are set up.

Started our little cat comm with a jur, vulture, and 3 jaguar cats. Adding a bolt to the mix over the next few weeks and possibly a trachy trachy down the road. Eventually im assuming the jaguars will need a seperate tank but i'll cross that bridge when it come time to.

We also have a small spotted raph thats stuck at 3 to 4 inches for the past 3ish years lol. Had an rtc when i was a kid back when everyone was sticking them in 10 gals smh no internet and inwas just plain dumb lol. It was eventiully killed by a couple of snake heads.

Wow that is such a cool f'ing cat ! Whats the scientific name ?

 

[justarn]

That's a great plan dude, I'm still holding on to a few cichlids, will need to shift some out soon!-)
I think it's Notoglanidium macrostoma , I'm hoping it is anyway. The one I've bought matches this species but the cat in the video looks larger than the images on planet catfish.
Maybe thebiggerthebetter can clarify for us.
Agree them black driftwood cats are awesome, on my need list!
I just ordered two more hemibagrus nemurus at 6" after losing my dude a few weeks back, should arrive Wednesday... Excited.

 

[jaws7777]

That's a great plan dude, I'm still holding on to a few cichlids, will need to shift some out soon!-)
I think it's Notoglanidium macrostoma , I'm hoping it is anyway. The one I've bought matches this species but the cat in the video looks larger than the images on planet catfish.
Maybe thebiggerthebetter can clarify for us.
Agree them black driftwood cats are awesome, on my need list!
I just ordered two more hemibagrus nemurus at 6" after losing my dude a few weeks back, should arrive Wednesday... Excited.

Aaahhhh all these new cats i need to research lol. Only reason why we are holding onto the cichlids is thst family would kill me if i rehomed them lol.

Getting the vulture and bolt are kind of big deals lol i remember my son talking about them all the time....kid could barely walk but knew his cats hahaha now hes 7 and thinks hes all grown up but pretty cool that we are/have finally gotten them.

That vulture is tiny but full of personality

 

[justarn]

Lol, I have some more for you, I absolutely love my mucosus catfish, they have whiskers longer than their body and max out about 8" iirc, mines about 6" but beautiful, always out and looking for his frozen mussels.
If you Google it Ben Lee, amiidae has some fantastic pics that I can't swipe due to his copyright...
Thats great that your boy is involved dude, my 3yr old is indifferent about fish atm, hoping he gets into aquatics soon.

 

[justarn]

Vulture are cool mate, little big for what I'm planning but awesome none the less. Look forward to hearing more about keeping them from you.
I want to keep all mine below 18", already been duped into a granulousus by a LFS, had it labeled as a karawara which is an invented name and told me they max out at 8" lol, bit of an insult when granny's hit 3ft lol. Been up for sale for or 6 months now!
I have 2 stripped Raphael's in the 300 too, so those plus the suncat, nemurus, dwarf giraffe, 4lined, hoplo and mucosus should make for an active ground level. I have 3 apollo sharks, 6 spanner barbs and a host of cichlids in the upper regions... Really need to get some cichlids gone soon. Wanting to keep the convict, gold JD, 3× 5 spot jewels and a Midas in the mid regions.
I have a big vieja hybrid that behaves tbf, depends on his bioload as time passes.
The fish that could destroy my plans is my 12" dovii, very irresponsible to have him in there but he is currently as good as gold and growing very slowly, had him since 2", still questioning if he is a hybrid but that's a whole different story. I have a very experienced friend who will take him in a heartbeat, it will crush me but when the time comes he will have to go I think. Divider ready.
So very anti biotope but still interesting tank atm.

 

[AquaAlex1993]

AWW! I love catfish! They have a lot of personality and have quite the look.
I currently at the moment I have a Lima Shovelnose, and a cool Synodontis hybrid catfish. I plan on getting a Oxydoras Niger, some sort of a pim cat (maybe a four line or Ornatus) and a Synodontis decorus.

 

[justarn]

They have a ripsaw at my LFS, like a 3ft puppy, it's in at 72×72×30" tall tank tank tho... Beast.
Lima are awesome.
Feel free to post pics up people, little back story on the fish would be great too, let us know about their personality...
I have 3 batrochoglanis raninus, I love the look of these mini beasts but unfortunately they never come out.... Ever. Slightly annoying tbh.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Lovely breeze! Wish I had the time to chat it up but times have been tight and I type slow. Think even slower. A ravaging combo. I may chime in on my schedule, please, don't think worse of me for it.

I think it's Notoglanidium macrostoma , I'm hoping it is anyway. The one I've bought matches this species but the cat in the video looks larger than the images on planet catfish...

Yellowcat grew this and other species to 1.5', if memory serves...