Tankmate for Electric catfish.

[Stratoquarius]

Hi all I´ve had an electric catfish for a few months, its grown from 1cm to around 2" I´m pretty sure its one of the dwarf species, I had some experts look at it over at planet catfish and they said they thought most likely it wasnt M. Electricus (the huge one).

anyway hes in a 20 long by himself and he doesn´t do too much.

I want to get him a tankmate to try and get him used to having to share his space with other fish. If things went south then its fine I have other tanks I can put the tankmate in.
I thought about getting something cheap like some mollys but i kinda thought they might register to the catfish as being "food-like"

any suggestions of something I can try? as long as they wouldnt actively seek out the catfish (he lives in a plastic pipe) then I am willing to try it. I heard that Synodontis are immune to the electric shock but my catfish hasnt ever even tried to shock me and ive had my hand in there next to him many times, hes quite relaxed. also I think the synodontis will bully him as they are very territorial fish.

Would an angel be okay? They have a large body and a relatively peaceful nature plus they dont occupy the same area.



lastly. I yes I know what I´m doing I´m an experienced fish keeper and I´ve read up lots on this fish over the last few months and I have decided I want to try and socialise him, All I want from you guys is some advice and no flaming please, thanks all!

Stratoquarius

 

[Owain4]

I'd be a little worried about the electric shock, i'd imagine the smaller the fish the worse the shock would be but you dont want a large fish either since its a 20long. I'd maybe try a single molly or any top water fish along that lines and see how that turns out.

 

[AQUAMONSTER]

I tried it for a while but every once and a while i would find a dead fish. I always checked the water and it was fine. The fish started dying about 2 weeks after i got him.

 

[Stratoquarius]

thanks for the suggestions and warnings guys. I realise the tank isnt very big but I will upgrade him as he grows. I just wanted to know what type of fish would be best to keep with these guys. I´ve heard many succesful stories of cohabiting them with other fish, I know that most other catfish don´t work well.

thats why I thought angels would be good, they arent threatening or aggressive and they would be seen as too large to eat, so unless they act aggressively towards my catfish I cant see him shocking them.

Aquamonster how large was yours and what did you try with him ? thanks