Looking For Some Advice

[raven_2255]

Hello all - I am new to this forum and I am looking for some advice. I started with freshwater fish about 10 years ago - I had no clue what I was doing - mainly I bought fish that looked pretty as the petstore people told me. As a result not many of my fish survived =( One of the first fish I bought was an upside down catfish, which I loved - he was the second fish I ever got. I had no idea how big he would get and every time he got bigger, I upgraded my tank. Started with a 10 gallon, moved to 30, to 75 and now I have a 100 gallon tank (plus like 4 other empty tanks lol!). After 8 years, my catfish died and I was so upset (and he was pretty much the only one I had left by then) that I took it all apart and put it away.

Well I decided to re-start my tank, but this time with some planning and thought to create a community that will be healthy for my fish - I am definitely not listening to the pet store people again! I love catfish to death - they are by far my favorite fish and I want to build my tank community around my catfish. I know that I definitely want 1 or 2 of the upside down catfish again since they are so awesome, but I wanted some advice on what else I should add in there. My tank is only 100 gallons, and by catfish standards I know that is not really that big. Bob (my upside down catfish) grew to about 10 inches total. I had a pleco in there with him for about 5 years and he grew to be almost a foot before he died. By then end, I only had the two of them since for a 100 gallon tank I was afraid to add anymore fish. Anyway - I am just looking for some suggestions - my upside down catfish will be the "stars" of my community so to speak, but I just wanted some advice on other fish that would do well with them in a tank that is only 100 gallons. I was looking at some coreys maybe, but after reading your boards and all the knowledge that you all seem to have, I figured the smart thing would be to ask =) I want my tank to be a happy and healthy community for all who live there. Thank you for your time!

 

[simonas]

Welcome to the forum

Catfish are great and you have lots of possibilitys.

As they hide a lot of the time you;ll probably want to plan your cats as well as some other kind of fish you can have to add some movement to the tank. That will depend on the cats you choose to get

Your upside down will not have been a true upside down if he grew 10inches he;ll probably have been Syndontis Eupterus the feather fin cat.

If it were my tank I;d consider a few Pimelodella Pictus as they are very attractive, fast moving cats with something on the upper levels thats too big for there mouths. I;m sure an expert will correct me if I;m wrong but adult size congo tetras may fit that bill or rainbowfish

You could have fancy plec tank with upper levels been occupied by beautiful cardinal tetras. that tank would be full of bogwood, plants and maybe a small shoal of corydoras as well

good luck and it sounds like an intersting plan

Simon

 

[MartinS]

Think Simon is spot on with his suggestions, i.e. a shoal for 5-6 pim pictus and a decient size shoal of rainbows or congo tetras. You could also look at the debauwi cats, very active swimmers and not your usual hides all day type catfish - you could easily get a shoal of 20 or so of these in your tank, along with small to medium tetras etc.
To add movement to the lower levels, plenty of the corydoras species would be fine, and you could add something like some banjo cats for that 'oddball' element.
Hatchets at the surface will add movement to all levels.
HTH
Martin

 

[crazyforcordoras]

I would keep 5-6 hatchetfish.If you are getting upside down cats, get at least 3. Pictus cats are active and reach a total length of 4 inches.Zamora wood cats will hide until they get accustomed to the tank. they get 5 inches long. if you keep them, make sure to have some driftwood in the tank.perhaps a school of 10 or more congo tetras will be stunning.You can not forget the cories.As my username suggests, I am crazy for cories. A school of 5-6 peppered cories will be perfect. 100 gallons can hold a lot of fish.


Good luck!

 

[moochy13]

check out paynei catfish, when i get some room im getting a group of these little beasties.

 

[Delta62 Thorn]

I agree with everyone's suggestions here, though as a proud owner of a yellow-belly catfish I feel I must stress that the species you chose to keep will have the greatest impact on what other fish you may keep.

Before I got my catfish I had several other smaller fish, they quickly became bite sized as my catfish grew. Consequently they have since been consumed to the point where I only have the catfish and 1 other goldfish, as it is still too large to go down my catfish's throat (not due to a lack of effort on the part of my catfish). On this note I would suggest not getting anything overly elaborate (large decorative fins) as your catfish will, most likely (again depending on species), decide to taste his/her tank-mates.


∆