Looking for advice from experienced Chaca keepers

[SourAngelfish]

Hi,

I recently found a source for some decent size Chaca bankarensis, this is a species I've wanted for quite some time and would like to incorporate them into one of my established tanks if possible. I was mostly curious of how bad their predatory tendencies can be. Most the fish in the tank are at the least 6" with the exception of some 3.5-4" clown loaches. Is it likely the fish would harass these guys?

Thanks

 

[tlindsey]

Hi,

I recently found a source for some decent size Chaca bankarensis, this is a species I've wanted for quite some time and would like to incorporate them into one of my established tanks if possible. I was mostly curious of how bad their predatory tendencies can be. Most the fish in the tank are at the least 6" with the exception of some 3.5-4" clown loaches. Is it likely the fish would harass these guys?

Thanks

A little info until someone with actual experience chimes in.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fat-catfish-for-90-gallon.748743/post-8437395

 

[Redshark1]

I'm an experienced Clown Loach keeper and would think Clown Loaches, which spend a lot of time digging in the substrate, could be incompatible with an ambush predator that likes to hide in the substrate. Also, Clown Loaches have a suborbital spine (under each eye) that has been known to lodge in the throat of predators when swallowed so must be considered a danger. I would have thought the Chocolate Frogmouth Catfish was ideally suited to a species tank where there are less compromises involved in its care. I'm not sure how satisfying they are to keep and feel they may be short lived and largely unseen so I would be checking this out if I was interested.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

kno4te Yellowcat Ron, Kirk, don't you keep chaca?

 

[kno4te]

Kept them on and off. Will again one day too. Personally I’ve kept them with other larger fish that couldn’t be swallowed and weren’t harassing on the chaca. Would stay away from the larger fish. Some occasional attempted strikes but stopped after awhile. Not sure about loaches and their burrowing habits. Think small loaches would be tried as a meal.

 

[Yellowcat]

kno4te Yellowcat Ron, Kirk, don't you keep chaca?

I did keep chaca-chaca many years ago and they were interesting enough as far as their hiding/feeding behavior, etc. A case for convergent/parallel evolution is my Brazilian equivelant species that exhibit the same strategies and behaviors- L. Alexendri, aka pacman catfish...

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Ash_water