madtom tankmates

[toehead11183]

many years ago I got a tadpole madtom in some feeder shrimp. he quickly became and still is one of my favorite fish. after 3 years, he died and I managed to preserve him. I found a seller and im thinking of setting up my 55g as a coldwater tank. Ive never kept a coldwater tank so im not familiar with my options. heres my list so far:

Madtom catfish
butterfly loach
dojo loach
flag fish?
any dwarf sunfish?

especially looking for oddball or interesting looking fish

 

[jdhuegel1]

I think a few madtoms, chub, minnow, darters and crayfish would be awesome.


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[toehead11183]

I don't trust crayfish

 

[MN_Rebel]

Neither will I trust madtoms with pygmy sunfish or butterfly loaches. But I would think that madtoms should be fine with most smaller Lepomis species and all Enneacanthus species. The general rule is avoid any small fishes that can fit into the catfish's mouth.

I've kept crayfish with young bullheads and madtoms with no issues, assuming that they are all same sized.

 

[jdhuegel1]

I don't trust crayfish

You can't if you're keeping them with store bought/raised fish. They'll snatch up anything without the instinct to avoid them. Madtoms, Darters and the like are fine. I've got three big crayfish and they will destroy rosey-red minnows all day, but can't catch the others. They're actually very interesting to watch. Smart little buggers too.

I have 2 madtoms that are about full-grown and nobody messes with them. They hide until food hits the water... then they swim 100mph with their heads straight down until they get fat.

 

[jdhuegel1]

Neither will I trust madtoms with pygmy sunfish or butterfly loaches. But I would think that madtoms should be fine with most smaller Lepomis species and all Enneacanthus species. The general rule is avoid any small fishes that can fit into the catfish's mouth.

I've kept crayfish with young bullheads and madtoms with no issues, assuming that they are all same sized.

+1

 

[toehead11183]

the focus on the tank is for the madtoms. im ok with them eating something as long as nothing eats them. madtoms aren't as bad with swallowing tankmates as other North American catfish but if they do, that's ok. I'm not interested in the pygmy sunfish, too small. I like the dwarfs (3-5") sunfish. may grab a few of those. Im looking at coldwater fish from other areas too, not just native fish

 

[MN_Rebel]

What is a dwarf sunfish? There's lot of Lepomis and Enneacanthus species that fits the size range but not all of them are friendly or hardy. I would avoid black banded sunfish, they are less hardy and flighty. Dollars and Central Longear Sunfish may be super aggressive towards to each other but Orangespotted, Northern Longear and Bantam sunfish are peaceful and so are bluespotted and banded sunfish. I kept zebra danios, glofish, fancy goldfish and peppered corydoras with madtoms before.