Hello first post
Could anyone tell me what fish this is, please? its about 11ins






It's an established 5ft tank I got second hand, he said the fish was a panctus catfish but I've had no luck finding any sign of this catfish ?

there is another small catfish with spines that he said would croak when it's out the water, but I can't get this out from it's hiding place . I'll try and get pictures of this one at a later date. I think this could be a pinctus (sp?) and he meant that when he said panctus.

He also said they're really rare at this size, the one I've put pictures up for

I also got a silver dollar and a 12in plec in there.

I'm new to keeping fish, so I hope someone on here maybe able to help

Cheers
Mike

This post has been edited by Kenno: Mar 4 2006, 09:54 PM

Hi ,

Possibly one of these http://www.fishforums.net/content/Other-Catfish/11418/http-www-fishforums-net-index-php-showtopic-11418/ often sold as irridescent shark.

Emma

My LFS swears they grow 6 inches

gggrrr i've seen one before but just can't think of the name.

The other one could be a raphael catfish aka talking catfish, do a google search for pics.

Emma

Cheers for that Emma, looks like a spot on identification on both the fish second one without any pictures as well, you know your stuff

Mike,

The big catfish in the picture is a Pangasius sp. catfish. These are large (~1 metre long) schooling, midwater catfish. Not even remotely aquarium fish. If you can, take it back. Otherwise, try and contact a zoo or aquarium; some will rehome this fish for you.

There is a catfish commonly sold as the "pictus catfish", Pimelodella pictus. It is very distinctive, being silvery and covered in round black spots. It has very long whiskers, is frenetically active, and grows to about 10 cm or so. This is not the fish you have.

The croaking catfish could be one of many species. There are two species traded regularly, the spotted dorad and the striped dorad. As their names suggest, one has spots, and the other stripes. Both are relatively small (~10 to 15 cm), predatory, but otherwise peaceful. They are completely and irredeemably nocturnal, and are notorious for destroying nets, so only move using plastic tubs or pots.

Cheers,

Neale

Thanks for the info Neale it's the spotted dorad the other fish if anyone was interested

Unfortunately we're unable to give him back as the person who sold the tank with him in is giving up keeping fish. We think it's sad to watch him in there as well, don't think it'd be as bad if he wasn't so active the tank is 60' X 15' X 15'.

There's also a 12' Sailfin Plec in there, but he doesn't seem as active so we're not to worried about him at the minute

So we're currently ringing round to see if anywhere will take him where he'd be happier

We're in Liverpool if anyone wants to make any suggestions of good homes

This post has been edited by Kenno: Mar 6 2006, 10:44 AM