Columbian Catfish Setup

[mrjingles]

Im setting up a tank to house a pair of catsharks, its 60gallon and will be moving them into a larger home once they are a couple of inch and I turn them full marine.

I have always used gravel in my cichlid tank but Im thinking of using sand this time. Im using a Eheim classic external filter and an internal eheim pickup filter with air pump connected for a good power flow for them to swim in. Would I have any problem using these filters with sand?

And Im thinking of using some ocean rock (bones of cause as Il be brackish for a while) as a centre piece.

Does this sound like an ideal setup to house the catfish?

I was thinking of adding a brackish puffer also, would this be a bad idea as they may distress the calmer catfish?

Thanks in advance =]

 

[nmonks]

Sand isn't a problem with external canisters, provided the inlet is a couple of inches above the sand. Burrowing fish may churn sand up into the inlet at times -- my Panaque is very prone to this habit -- but it's easy enough to remove a little sand from the canister each time you clean it. So far as I can tell, no harm is done.

Columbian sharks don't really care much for decor; they like open spaces, strong water currents, and the company of their own kind. If you can create a shady corner of the tank with some tall bogwood roots or whatever, so much the better.

GSPs are a risky choice because they're nippy. I kept Colombian sharks with a blue triggerfish and the results were not good. Perhaps try when they're young, but if you see signs of damaged fins or the sharks seem excessively nervous, be prepared to move one or other species. Better companions are scats, monos, archers, large sleeper gobies, giant sailfin mollies, and so on. In marine aquaria they get along with just about everything big enough not to be dinner but not overtly aggressive. Morays, angels, groupers, snappers, tangs, etc. would all be good choices.

Cheers, Neale

 

[mrjingles]

Thanks for your input =]

I was thinking of just one not to large centre piece of rock in the centre leaving enough room all around for swimming space, but I will also look at just having bogwood in the corners like you said!

My inlet pipes are quite low down so I will cut and lift them slightly, never thought of that haha

I may keep them on their own then untill I go marine =]

Thanks for the info!

Sand isn't a problem with external canisters, provided the inlet is a couple of inches above the sand. Burrowing fish may churn sand up into the inlet at times -- my Panaque is very prone to this habit -- but it's easy enough to remove a little sand from the canister each time you clean it. So far as I can tell, no harm is done.

Columbian sharks don't really care much for decor; they like open spaces, strong water currents, and the company of their own kind. If you can create a shady corner of the tank with some tall bogwood roots or whatever, so much the better.

GSPs are a risky choice because they're nippy. I kept Colombian sharks with a blue triggerfish and the results were not good. Perhaps try when they're young, but if you see signs of damaged fins or the sharks seem excessively nervous, be prepared to move one or other species. Better companions are scats, monos, archers, large sleeper gobies, giant sailfin mollies, and so on. In marine aquaria they get along with just about everything big enough not to be dinner but not overtly aggressive. Morays, angels, groupers, snappers, tangs, etc. would all be good choices.

Cheers, Neale

 

[betsyboo]

Im setting up a tank to house a pair of catsharks, its 60gallon and will be moving them into a larger home once they are a couple of inch and I turn them full marine.

I have always used gravel in my cichlid tank but Im thinking of using sand this time. Im using a Eheim classic external filter and an internal eheim pickup filter with air pump connected for a good power flow for them to swim in. Would I have any problem using these filters with sand?

And Im thinking of using some ocean rock (bones of cause as Il be brackish for a while) as a centre piece.

Does this sound like an ideal setup to house the catfish?

I was thinking of adding a brackish puffer also, would this be a bad idea as they may distress the calmer catfish?

Thanks in advance =]

i have 3 f8 puffers housed with my 4 columbian sharks any they get on fine. from what i can gather from talking to people on another forum is that f8 puffers are more peaceful than gsp's but its still risky with f8s as every puffer has a personality and some are friendly (i have been very lucky) but other can nip a bit.