Rainbow fish - Catfish compatibility?

[OscarCichlid]

Well i dont know where it should be but ill try here. How big do rainbow fish get and how fast do they grow. I would love to get a school of 8 rainbow fish for my 55 gallon tank but i am afraid that my channel cat will eat then. He is about 8 inches.

 

[pendragon]

The size of a rainbow fish depends on the particular species. Fully grown most species fall in the three to five inch range, but you need to do your homework on any specific ones you are considering to be sure; the smaller "blue eye" species are not going to be an option. Even the larger rainbows will be much smaller as juveniles, though, which is how you'll typically find them at the LFS. I don't know if it would be a good idea to put them with an 8-inch catfish. More mature rainbows of the larger species would probably be okay though. Not having any experience with large catfish, it's hard for me to say for sure.

pendragon!

 

[Dwarfs]

I think rainbows are oddballs

 

[Lateral Line]

Rainbow fish are egg layers, so certainly should not be in livebearers. They are Atherines, therefore not Cyprinids or Characins either, but we often have Rainbow questions in here. I've kept a few so have some of the other regulars.

Some of the Rainbows can grow quite large, 5"/120mm or more, but you rarely find specimens that size for sale. Given suitable conditions, they grow at a fair rate, neither lightning fast or terminally slowly.

In this particular case though, I believe the question is more to do with your catfish then the Rainbows! You need to know more about the disposition of your cat. An 8" catfish usually has a big mouth and likes to fill it!

I'll move it to Catfish and see what the people there say.

 

[CFC]

At 8" your channel cat still has some growing to do, these beasts can reach up to 48" but around 12 to 18" is more likely in aquaria. I wouldnt recomend keeping any fish that has a smaller adult size than 12" with large predatory catfish like channel cats.

 

[Lateral Line]

Hmmm, figured that would be the case!