striped rapheal

[snjets]

hey guys i was just wondering how fast these striped raphael grow i picked him up at my lfs for $ 4 he is about 3in is this a good price
he also has a 4in rtc for $30 is this good

thanks
will he get along with my barbs
sal

 

[ethnics]

4$ is an awesome price for any fish. they grow slow in my experience. had one for over 8 months and honestly never saw a size difference in him. he later died because i never saw him eat, EVER. hides all day long. weirdo fish...


rtc for 30 aint bad. i snagged mine for 20 but they usually go for 40 when they are around. i haven't seen any in my area for over 2 years. so as soon as i saw one, had to snag it.

 

[Bgonz]

I have a striped rapheal thats about 6 years old. He's about 6" long . I had him in about 4 tanks and all he does is hide. I think ive seen him out maybe a handful of times. They are very slow growers but do get a decent size.


bob

 

[WyldFya]

I have had striped raphaels get to the 8" mark, but it takes several years. Once they were about 5-6" they stopped hiding for me, but they were big bricks at that point, and no one would mess with them. Don't expect to see them for the first 3-4 months of having them.

 

[rottbo]

I never see my striped raphael unless I turn stuff over looking for him.... he is usually permanently lodged in a piece of driftwood....

 

[benzjamin13]

I hear they grow really slow. But they look cool when they get large. The largest I've seen was 7"

 

[Mudfrog]

They do grow slow, I bought my first two at about 1.75" and they got up to 3.5" in the first 7 months, then they just started getting fat. One of them was so fat that the only time I saw him was during feeding which was odd cause they usually always hid. But this thing would outcompete the bichirs for food, taking in about 10-12 shrimp pellets per feeding. Thats a lot for a 3.5" fish..

 

[big train]

I think both prices are reasonable and i got a spotted raphel and it has doubled in size from 1.5" to 3" maybe a little more in 3 months but i suspect that the growth rate will not continue at that pace it's in a 75gal cichlid community tank.

 

[ROSS]

I agree with everyone that rapheal's grow slow I've had mine for 1 1/2 now and he is about 4 inches and thick .. yes they hide do to the fact there NACTURNAL FEEDER'S !! . also rapheal's are prone to stress easy and devlope ICK .. but some are hardyer then other's . here are a few pic's of mine .. the tank shot is for scale purpose's ..also I think that's the first pic seen on this web page of one eating if I'am correct..

 

[donthitmyhead]

Good price for raphael. Also your rapahel will be fine with barbs as long as your barbs are small enough to fit in his mouth. Mine fights with a Jack Dempsey, he can hold his own.