What's up guys, my other thread seems to have died and I'm not sure why it didn't get more attention so just one quick question. Would either P. macrostoma (dwarf giraffe cat) or P. ngamensis (Zambezi grunter) be ok with loose gravel as a substrate instead of sand? And just incase I couldn't get one of them (although I have ready access to order either of them when ready as now) would a giraffe cat be ok with loose gravel as well? He fish would be going into my 75 gallon that I'm converting into a catfish tank (giraffe would obviously be a growout) and I don't want any of them to choke on or be uncomfortable with my substrate. Thanks!
That depends. What size gravel do you have and is it sharp? Gravel can be quite large and sharp. Gravel has numerous "grades" and 'very fine gravel' is quite similar to 'very course sand'. Gravel can also be far larger.
That depends. What size gravel do you have and is it sharp? Gravel can be quite large and sharp. Gravel has numerous "grades" and 'very fine gravel' is quite similar to 'very course sand'. Gravel can also be far larger.
I'm bad at guessing size and I'm not home now but I'll take a pic of me holding some when i get home, for now the picture below is the gravel in my 75 gallon for a little size reference. He gravel is pretty smooth, maybe a rougher piece here and there but pretty spherical for the most part.
From the photo's, the gravel you have is perfect for those species. Having kept p. punctuatus, p. ngamensis (have 2) and 3 varieties of the larger auchenoglanis giraffe cats, gravel is ideal and not a problem for them to root through to find residual food as you will see them sucking in the gravel and passing it out through their gills filtering out the small food items found therein. A unique behavior of my former auchenoglanis wittei was to suck in gravel from pea to marble sized and roll it around in its mouth to clean it and presumably extract algae from it's surface. Parauchenoglanis species will also root around gravel but not as deeply into the substrate as the larger giraffe's will… One problem I'm seeing in your photo's is that your nice landscaping will be shall we say, uprooted, disturbed, re-arranged or destroyed by any of these species once they grow..
Landscape? Well I am planning on remodeling after I move out my cichlids. I'm going to remove the flowerpot and bridge and add a "catfish-condo" as I'm calling it on the left side (3-5, 3" diameter PVC Pipe covered in slate on the unopened sides to make it look good. I don't mind if they remodel as long as they don't move my driftwood to the other side of the tank or the decor attached to it .
They can and will move driftwood around to their liking, especially if they don't have a shady spot, especially in a lighted tank that most catfish hate. Depending on what species you end up with, parauchenoglanis dwarf giraffe catfish grow to 17" or so and are capable of moving things around. The best thing might be giving the fish a large piece of driftwood in a corner that it can hide under and get some shade. Typically when they move it around to a place they're happy with they'll leave it be. Catfish like structure as in fishing terms, you can set up what you think is the perfect catfish hole in a tank any you'll find they have their own ideas about that...
They can and will move driftwood around to their liking, especially if they don't have a shady spot, especially in a lighted tank that most catfish hate. Depending on what species you end up with, parauchenoglanis dwarf giraffe catfish grow to 17" or so and are capable of moving things around. The best thing might be giving the fish a large piece of driftwood in a corner that it can hide under and get some shade. Typically when they move it around to a place they're happy with they'll leave it be. Catfish like structure as in fishing terms, you can set up what you think is the perfect catfish hole in a tank any you'll find they have their own ideas about that...
Very welcome.. BTW the macrostoma u mentioned is not a parauchenoglanis species, it was formerly from the genus anaspidoglanis, and called anaspidoglanis macrostoma, it has since been revised to the genus notogladinium and is now notogladinium macrostoma. These are a smaller species and only grow to around 7". Parauchenoglanis get to 17" of course. One problem is either are often mis-identified and n. macrostoma look very much like p. punctatus and it's hard to tell the difference as juvenile fish. You mentioned you have a source for these fish, cool, they're hard to find. If they are available from your source and do shipping, maybe you could send me a P.M. as I'm always looking for sources to find parauchenoglanis species, one of my fave's to keep...
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