# 12" and under South Amer Cat



## Betta1 (Jan 5, 2007)

I'm setting up my 130g aquarium as a large south american tank and need ideas about what catfish to have (the proposed tank is in my signature)

I want to stay all south american and I am willing to sell fish once they reach max size for my tank but would prefer keeping as many fish as I can to permantant occupancy to the tank.

oh and it can't be something that'll take a bite out of my arowana or the severus like a red tail etc


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Not a very helpful response in the least, but I just want to say that you have some pretty impressive tanks! 130g, wow. 

So anyway, not sure about your pH, temp, all that -- or even much about the fish in your current tank. I'll list a few catfish I find interesting -- all originate from South America.

The *Red-Tailed Catfish* _(Phractocephalus hemioliopterus)_
4ft (122cm) in length... 
21-27°C / 71-80°F
Soft to slightly hard water, pH 6.8-7.6










*Sailfin Catfish / Sailfin Marbled Catfish* _(Leiarius pictus)_
24in (60cm) but might grow larger.
22-25°C / 72-77°F
Fairly soft, somewhat acidic to neutral, pH 6.5-7.2










*Columbian Shark Catfish* _Hexanematichthys seemanni_
12-14in (30-35cm), can reach 24in (61cm)
21-26C / 70-79F
Neutral to alkaline, pH 6.8-8.0










Assuming you wanted larger-ish catfish? 
Also some smaller ones...

*Bristlenose Catfish* _Ancistrus species_
5in (12.5cm)
21-26°C / 70-79°F
Fairly soft, slightly acidic to alkaline, pH 6.5-7.5










*Pictus Catfish* _Pimelodus pictus_
5in (12.5cm)
22-25°C / 72-77°F
Fairly soft, somewhat acidic, pH 6-6.9










*Zebra Plecostomus* _Hypancistrus zebra_
3.5in (8.5cm)
25-30°C / 77-86°F
Soft to hard, pH 6.5-7.4










Obviously some of the information might be wrong, since I don't really know anything about these fish. I just did some really fast research.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Oh wait, 12in and under... oh. WELL. I did list some that are under 12 inches? lol


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

The tank isn't really big enough for a large catfish, I recomend sticking with the syno group. I have a syno that actually looks like a fancy catfish with a flag-tail and everything. 

If you want rare catfish, more expensive ones you do have more options. Tigs, flash zebra cats, achara pictus, they might set you back $200+ but it's worth it sometimes.


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## Betta1 (Jan 5, 2007)

Those are indeed some nice cats pandapop, no one ever said you need to know a ton about fish to enjoy them. You actually gave me a good idea about the columbian high fins..... they get to 12" and I didn't know that.... I've always liked them and never got them (chose pictus the one time I didn't have cory's). btw my 130g isn't set up yet as the sig, it's still an angelfish tank, I'm just pruposing my plan.

Your right blue cray, my tank isn't large enough for large cats but then again it isn't big enough for an arowana so i'm gonna be trading out over time. A large arowana is easy to sell but I'm not sure about large cats, also the cats grow so fast don't know if it's a good idea.

I do like the synodantis idea, when I was working at the LFS with my friend the owner was getting soooooo many different synodantis cats and even some hybrids..... I couldn't help but drool and kick myself over the fact that I have so many cory cats and small fish. He went out of business due to some old debt over a law suit though so there really isn't much around my area any more, certainly not a selection of syno like that and no one that I know well enough to convince to get an assortment of them in the next shipment.

Thanks for the thoughts guys, I'll take both ideas into consideration.


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