Help me pick a Catfish Please.

[AngelZoo]

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, but.

I'm interested in getting a catfish, the one I really want is a Pictus Catfish.

I will be getting at LEAST a 29G Long Tank, possibly bigger 55/75G.

I only have a small tank right now for 2 male betta's a 5.5G.

I have finally gotten my pH in that tank to settle and it's at 8.0pH.
I do not know how much, if at all the water chemistry will change in this new tank once I get it.

I'd prefer a catfish that is not a sucker mouth, not a cory, and one that is decently active, but can also deal with my high alkaline pH. I'm probably housing said Catfish with Cichlids.

Thanks!

[Dinyar]

* There isn't a 29 long, afaik
* pH 8.0 is kinda high for most catfish
* you didn't say which kind of cîchlids you were planning to keep.

[windgirl]

I'm not one with a lot of expereince, but My tank PH is extremely high (at least 8.0 as well) ... I wanted to bring it down to 7.0 but was told in the fish store to leave it alone, I was willing to buy the stuff and they said my pl*co will be perfectly fine if the Ph is stable which it is, I have a high KH level too which normally means stable PH according to the book. Also in the Cat-elog there are listings of cats that can handle a PH of up to 8.0.

Or ask the more knowledgeable part of this group to give you suggestions on a hardy or high PH thriving cat from the Pimelodidae family. I wonder myself I'd love to check out owning a Pim of some sort too maybe in my 20 with my male guppies and bushynose. Or you can look at the cat-elog under Pimelodidae ... but I find this doesn't tell me if the fish are hardy or not.

[AngelZoo]

I have a high kH of 12dH, but I have started to use a little bit of distilled water in my tank, so that has brought it down to about 7.5dH which is good, and the pH has remained stable at 8.0.

I don't know what A.F.A.I.K means, but I have seen 29Gallon Longs, and regular 29G/30G so they do exist.

[brett_fishman]

how do you keep 2 male bettas together???

[Barbie]

All Glass Aquariums makes a standard 29 gallon tank, with a 12x30 inch footprint, and a 30 gallon long, with a 12x36 inch footprint. No 29 gallon long. I've never seen a 29 gallon long marketed by any other manufacturer available in the US in all of my time doing tank maintenance, or working in retail. Please forward any fact sheets you might find from manufacturers that list them. I'd be interested in seeing them.

On a side note, Synodontis petricola would be a good choice for a tank that size. They are from Lake Tanganyika and can tolerate higher pH, while staying small enough to live in that tank in the small group they require to thrive. Depending on which ciclids you intend to keep with them, that is. A tank with only a 3 foot footprint is going to be unsuited to most mbuna, IMO, anyway.

Baribe

[Sid Guppy]

how do you keep 2 male bettas together???

By sticking to mouthbreeding Betta species. They do fine in groups, love densely planted tanks, and quite often the females are worse than the males.

fascinating fishies! I've had Betta picta (wich did fine), Betta rubra (next to impossible to keep alive) and Betta unimaculata wich unfortunately was almost as fragile on my tapwater.....

Would love to try again with a more sturdy Betta, such as Betta pugnax. Great fish!


the TRUE Emperor of mouthbreeding Betta''s is Betta macrostoma from the tiny state of Brunei.
unfortunately these are
-very, very fragile
-HORRIBLY priced!!
-only males get exported to avoid people breeding those.....the few times females make it out of Asia, they've been radiated to make them sterile


There's a WIDE world out there, beyond plain, ol' splendens!