Hey guys,

I am soon going to purchase 1 glass fish but i have read that it doesnt work with 1 because it wont eat. Some people have said they kept 1 and they have worked fine. Has any of you had this experience of keeping 1 glass catfish (Kryptopterus bicirrhis)?

If its to risky, i think i will purchase 2 or 3 of them and sacrifice other fishes i would of wanted.

Anyway any comments are welcome!

Edit: I have a new question. I just read that they need a strong current, if not they will die O.O". Can anyone tell me if this is true.

This post has been edited by magicd: Mar 28 2008, 01:04 PM

well these guys need to be in a shoal, three is the stated minimum. but take care, they grow to 6 inches or so. so they are not small fish. i have one, it came when i bought my tank. i knew nothing of fishkeeping then, i have tried to add more, but for whatever reason they did not survive. mine seem quite healthy, but i am sure it would benifit from some mates, however i have no will to kill more to find out.

Hello, Glass Cats prefer to be in a shoal of 4 or more. They get more confident and you will see them at front/eat more when in a group.

I had four for a few weeks, then added another three and they are now very confident and they come to the surface and front a lot more.....they also like to have plant cover (floating plants) and you see a blue shine to them against a dark background.

I don't know if one would be alright, but others on forum may have kept just one.

Hope that made some sense.

Thanks Boboboy and rossyt99!

I'll probably wait abit longer to get this fish so i can find out more about others experiences. I dont have anymore room for more than 3 in my tank . These are dam nice looking fish haha.

I have a new question. I just read that they need a strong current, if not they will die O.O". Can anyone tell me if this is true.
Thanks

This post has been edited by magicd: Mar 28 2008, 12:34 PM

Also it depends on which glass catfish you are thinking of...

I know of two species which are both called by that common name:


(Kryptopterus bicirrhis)

and


(Eutropiellus debauwi)

Both like to shoal, but K. bicirrhis will REALLY shoal if you have 8-12 of them:

Hey thanks nurglespuss for the types and photos. The ones im thinking to get are the Kryptopterus bicirrhis. I cant get 8 since i am near my limit of how many cm of fish i can have (only about 35cm left which is around 14 inches i think).

What equation are you using to calculate how many you can have?
Most of the equations given out to show how many fish one can have in a tank ("the inch per gallon" rule) will not work with medium large fish, of which Kryptopterus bicirrhis is, because the sheer size of it (at least 100 times bigger than a typical small fish that the "inch per gallon" rule works for) means it will not work with the formula.
If you told us how big your tank is and the current inhabitants we could tell you a good amount of Kryptopterus bicirrhis to have in.

As mentioned above, glass catfish do better in schools. They initially can be somewhat difficult to keep but once they establish themselves in a large mature tank, they can do very well. Buying a single one, well, the shock may not help with acclimatization. I would wait until you have the room and funds to buy a small school. SH

In answer to your question on whether they like a good current flow, I have a Strong flow from Filter + Airstone and they seem to be happy enough.

They grow to about 4inches although don't eat that much.

To severum boy: I used the WxLxD to calculate how much CM of fish i can keep which is around 83.4cm (32.8inches) of fishes(i used a website retrived from this forum). My tank is a 20 gallon tank and it currently holds 8 neon tetras, 1 blue ram, and 1 pearl g. The pearl and ram are only 3cm(1.18inches) in size at the moment and the ram gets along very well with all the fishes at the moment. I have calculated i have around 38cm(14inches) left of fish i can keep.

To stealhealr: Yeh alot fo sites has said that they do very well in schools of 8+ which would not even fit my tank if i didnt have any fish haha. I guess ill wait alittle longer ~~.

To rossyt99: I think my current is mostly on the top of the tank. Do you think it would be ok? My current was acctually strong before but i changed it since the pearl was finding it hard to swin with it haha. I wish i didnt get the pearl. Its so boring...

Anyway thanks for the replies!

i agree with the other posts glass catfish are best kept with there own type if it be 1 or more the more the beter realy

To drewry: It seems my chances of getting this great fish are going down ....

to
magicd
sorry m8 i do apoligise for the last post by me
but it wasnt me it was my mate who thought he was funny
iv read your post and your willing to read up on them be4 you get some wich i take my hat of to you

well said

Its alright i didnt take it like a bad reply. No need to apoligise!
Cheers

Hmmmm how about some alternatives?

Xray tetras
Indian Glass Fish (a maybe can be hard to acclimate)
ummmm Some kind of rainbow fish? (theres one that is silver/with yellow fin tips).

Those are just ideas :>

Wow thanks. I've looked into them. The Indian Glass Fish looks pretty cool as well! but i heard they lose trasparency once they get older . Anyway thanks good list!

HI!
Since you like glass catfish but don't have a lot of room for them. What about Danionella cf. translucida (glass dwarf danio). they are transparent also

Just a suggestion...