What am I?

Cartman · Post by **Cartman** » 23 Feb 2003, 19:50

This cat isn't mine but seeing how I help out @ Mo's I thought I'd run it by you all. If you want to post your answers there it's @ http://208.51.130.220/~mojo/cgi-bin/yab ... 1045711012. Otherwise I'll post your consensus there.

Thanks

Andy

Post by **Silurus** » 23 Feb 2003, 19:59

Rhamdia laticauda. Fantastic catfish. I have a pair myself.

Graeme · Post by **Graeme** » 24 Feb 2003, 00:09

Nice picture anyhow's.

INXS · Post by **INXS** » 24 Feb 2003, 02:58

Cartman - thanks for finding out what it was!

I knew I could trust you. I'm also going to post a pleco that looks like a tiger pleco as soon as I cloroform the tank so the damn thing holds still .

Silurus -thanks for the ID , is there more info on this fish anywere and perhaps pictures?

Mine(1) is about 10" and swims through the tank with blazing speed when disturbed or startled - faster than any other fish I have ever had. He doesn't seem to have a preference for any particular food ( eats everything) but doesn't seem to bother any of the other tankmates. He is a bit scraped up from battles with the eel.

In case it isn't evident he has long barbels(4+") , a wide mouth, forked tail, long dorsal fin with many rays and the skin between them comes down so the tips of the rays stick up (dragonlike), behind the dorsal there is another fin which is long and seems to mirror the anal fin.

That's pretty much all I can think of right now.

Post by **Silurus** » 24 Feb 2003, 03:29

Some photos of a closely related species.
Not sure of where to get more info, but I'm keeping two of these guys and can provide what notes I have about maintaining them. Unless you want scientific info. I have lots of those.

INXS · Post by **INXS** » 24 Feb 2003, 03:47

Thanks Heok, I would very much like if you would share your personal notes.

Is this fish that rare? And if so then why?
thanks

Post by **Silurus** » 24 Feb 2003, 13:40

Rhamdia are not rare at all. In fact, they are one of the most common catfishes in Central America. The reason they don't show up in the aquarium trade is probably due to their dull coloration.

My pair were caught in a cenote (sinkhole) in Mexico by a fellow grad student working on the behavior of livebearers. When he left, I asked, nad inherited the fish. They were young 'uns when caught (about 2 inches or so), but have since grown considerably. The smaller one is about 9 inches and the larger, 12 inches (total length).

I have found that you can keep similar-sized fish, but not smaller fish with them. I once put a smaller Polycentrus in there and it was dead after one night in the tank. I am keeping them now with a fairly large (8 inch) Hypostomus and they seem to get along well.

They are very tough fish, and can withstand a fairly wide range of water conditions. The first tank I kept them in had a layer of fine sand, which proceeded to trap anaerobic bacteria and produced small but noticeable amounts of hydrogen sulphide. The Rhamdia didn't seem bothered by it and happily continued their existence. Finally, I couldn't tolerate the smell (the tank was in my office) anymore, and moved them to a larger bare-bottomed tank, where they now reside. I'm currently keeping them in slightly hard water and they do fine (the cenote they came from had fairly hard water anyway). Feeding was never a problem and they would eat anything. I am giving them trout chow at the moment.

When they were in the first tank, I noticed that the smaller one always had ragged fins from altercations with the bigger one. Now that they are in a bigger tank, this has stopped. If you ever get more than one, make sure they have plenty of space to claim as territory. I noticed that they are swimming together very frequently now, something they never did in the smaller tank.

I find them to be very inquisitive, bold catfish. This certainly more than makes up for their dull coloration.

INXS · Post by **INXS** » 24 Feb 2003, 15:42

Thanks, have you noticed them swimming with lighting speed , to the point where I worry about them injuring themselves?

I have an american eel in the tank and he is a real pain so I buy Melafix by the quart.

I have it in a 125 at work (it was dropped off by a customer who couldn't take it terrorizing his fish anymore) at that point the tank housed about 15 bullheads to 12" and they beat him up pretty bad but one day they started developing a fuzzy fungus coating and all the bullheads died within 3 days while the Rhamdia, eel and a large pleco went unaffected. I broke the tank down and cleaned it, which is when I noticed how incredibly fast the Rhamdia is - it was impossible to catch until I emptied all the water.

I assume it to be nocturnal as he likes to hide.

Post by **Silurus** » 24 Feb 2003, 15:53

Yes, they do zip about the tank fairly quickly some times, to the point that they actually rearrange some of the lighter rocks and the PVC tubing I provided as hiding spaces.

They like to hide, but I noticed mine swimming about fairly often. Mine have also learnt that they usually get fed when I approach the tank and the minute I walk near, they zip out and start sniffing about for food.