I'm still tempted to get a catfish

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M

Moloch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2010
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Raleigh, NC
Here's my current stock, 65gal (standard 36" dimensions) with a rena xp3:

2x Senegal Bichir
1x Jack Dempsey
2x Convicts
8x Tiger Barbs (2 of them are green tigers)
1x Rubber-lip Pleco (always forget about this guy...never see him)
1x Mystery Snail

I think I'm right around the limits of my bioload before adding more filtration, but I'm still really tempted to add a small catfish like a striped raphael. Originally I wanted to do 3 pictus cats, but I added the convicts and the tiger barbs & threw that out the window; I was worried about overcrowding the bottom anyways.

I think a striped raphael cat would do fine in the tank. Tough enough to deal with the JD (he's pretty much claimed both cave areas in the tank, but he's not TOO bad about messing with intruders, just chases them off when he's had enough) and I don't THINK it would be much more stress on the bioload.

I dunno, any other catfish suggestions? Most of them just get too large for the tank and it'll be a long time before I can afford the 125-150 that I want (gotta buy the wife a house first:grinno:) Or am I just crazy for even considering it.
 
Depends on the individual fish, how consistent the keeper is with maintenance, filtration, tank mates....

My JD is fine, still young & conditions/temperament still subject to change. But so far I haven't had any problems. He chases the convicts around like you'd expect and butts heads with the larger bichir like you'd expect.

And fwiw, I got a good bit of my stocking advice from the ca/sa cichlid section anyways;)
 
still agree. jack dempsey ( depending on the sex ) males need a 75 min and females a 55 min ( if its a female she can have the cons with her in the 55 ) that tank is grossly overstocked.
 
I'd pick up a 55g starter kit first for you jack ($150-175 new) and then add a cat to you 65g.

As for the cat, I have alot of your stock, and 3 cats, 1 striped raphael, 1 Pictus and 1 African Featherfin. I really like my african featherfin because it now comes out of hiding alot (took some time). My raphael is the very shy and I see hime once in a while, but he is starting to come out more now too(had him about 3.5-4 months), Pictus is always is out and is not afraid of anything, reminds me of a fast shark in his movement.
 
The only problem is with the striped raphael cat, you'll never see it. You'll hear it occasionally, but seeing it requires one turning on the lights suddenly in the middle of the night, or if your lucky, watching the tank with the lights off.
 
ya dude i wouldnt put my female jacks in anything than a 75. they are only in my 30 because we ran into probs with the stand and cant put the 125 together for another month. also if you got rid of 2 fish i would suggest the dempsey and 1 of the bichirs. then after that you could do a pair of pictus pims. possibly a few emerald corys, the big ones that get 5 inches. also i recomend you get some kick a filters. i would never put a raph in a tank smaller than 100 cause they put out tons of crap and dont exactly do much for you. i kept a pair of pictus in with a school of tiger barbs and they where fine. i dunno who told you you can put a dempsey in there but it is false info. the signs your dempsey is showing the other fish are signs of it trying to take over the tank. one of my friends had a green terror exhibiting the same signs and a few weeks later he came home to a tank full of dead fish that the gt had killed, and he had a 210
 
We'll see with my jack. You guys might get to say I told you so, but I think things will be fine. The largest fish right now is the 5" bichir. Worst case scenario I still have a decent amount of time before I have to do anything, but I don't have a bad feeling about it.

As for the cat, I have alot of your stock, and 3 cats, 1 striped raphael, 1 Pictus and 1 African Featherfin. I really like my african featherfin because it now comes out of hiding alot (took some time). My raphael is the very shy and I see hime once in a while, but he is starting to come out more now too(had him about 3.5-4 months), Pictus is always is out and is not afraid of anything, reminds me of a fast shark in his movement.
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I was under the impression that you don't want to keep pictus cats solo? Thats just about the only reason I don't have one already...

I'm not too worried about the cat doing anything for me. If they help keep the bottom clean thats cool, but I clean it myself every day or every other day at worst.

If anything goes in this tank it would be the pleco first, then either a couple barbs or the convicts. If I can't get a 5' 125-150gal any time in the next year or so then I plan to get at least a 4' 55g and move the bichirs into that.
 
I've had a pictus cat solo for 2 years now.

I didn't know they were schooling fish when I first got him, im at the top of my bioload, and I dont really want to spend another $30 on three catfish.
 
Yeah thats kind of where I'm at except I don't already own one. I think at this point if I want more fish I either have to remove some of my stock or add another filter.

I'm probably just going to hold off for now. If I do anything as far as adding filtration I'll probably get an ac30 or ac50 for my 20 and move the magnum250 HOT to the 65. Set up my xp3 for a ton of bio (right now its about 50/50 mechanical to bio, maybe even 60/40) and let the magnum take care of the majority of the mech filtration.

But right now I just don't have the money to do anything else.
 
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