Chrysichthys ID

[Fishman Dave]

I would guess (and it is a guess) that the slow growers turned out to be the smaller species and were not in fact slow growers. Yours could well be longipinnis but again ID is so difficult. We see caudal fins of so many fish also differ between sexes that also hinders taxonomy at the hobbyist level.
would be good if you could keep us updated on these as have only really kept ornatus before, although when smaller I would not expect them to hold their own in a”cichlid tank” without the help of good cover. Ornatus love to hide but not sure “ aluminium cats do”.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Just to note that C. ornatus have been among the champions of no-action and no-personality in all of our collection. I wonder if this was my husbandry and how other peers found them. Other aluminum catfish didn't seem far beyond the ornatus in this dept. I do hope to hear that others experience was/is better.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I don't have that vast experience with them, probably spanning 3-5 years with 3-4 specimen, not counting the ornatus. They seem to be average, not push overs but aggressive fish can hurt them bad, render them almost finless, I rescued one such almost without fins, from a cichlid tank but it was in 2011 and I don't remember anymore what cichlids.

I went with the plan of one in the rift and two with the geos and so far it’s working well in both. This cat definitely can defend itself, one of my OBs tries to bite it and the cat chased it hard for a few seconds, no more problems

Just to note that C. ornatus have been among the champions of no-action and no-personality in all of our collection. I wonder if this was my husbandry and how other peers found them. Other aluminum catfish didn't seem far beyond the ornatus in this dept. I do hope to hear that others experience was/is better.

So far mine are very active, almost like pictus the way they cruise the bottom

I would guess (and it is a guess) that the slow growers turned out to be the smaller species and were not in fact slow growers. Yours could well be longipinnis but again ID is so difficult. We see caudal fins of so many fish also differ between sexes that also hinders taxonomy at the hobbyist level.
would be good if you could keep us updated on these as have only really kept ornatus before, although when smaller I would not expect them to hold their own in a”cichlid tank” without the help of good cover. Ornatus love to hide but not sure “ aluminium cats do”.

I definitely will update periodically. I found a video of a guy with a 5 year old C.nigrodigitatus and it was only 7”, I believe they get 20” plus. So that might indicate slow growing…or bad conditions
But so far mine are definitely holding their own in the rift tank (one bigger) and the geo tank (two smaller ones)

 

[Joshuakahan]

I got an answer on PC, C. Aluuensis. Mine look a lot like those, except it says aluuensis get around 3.5” SL. Not sure what SL means but my 3 are 4-5.5” inches total length right now

 

[Fishman Dave]

Mmmmmm, interesting ID.
I would venture that yours have too high a dorsal fin to be C.aluuensis but………..If yours are already 4.5 to 5” then they are too big to be aluuensis in my mind. Will be interesting to see if they grow any bigger.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

SL = Standard length, it excludes the caudal fin as defined on the PCF.

 

[Joshuakahan]

SL = Standard length, it excludes the caudal fin as defined on the PCF.

Oh ok, thanks