Catfish

[Caliban07]

Can anyone recommend a catfish that doesn't require a school, doesn't grow to big and is ok with other fish (harlequin rasbora).

I have a 64 litre tank which equates to around 15 gallons, good filtration and keep the temperature at 25 degrees C. The ph of the water is 7.5 according to API test kit. Oh I also have 2 assassin snails.

Thanks

 

[bkiggy]

Get that pH down to 7.0. Corydora catfish (6) Pygmy, albino, false juilii, All stay small

 

[vance1013]

There is no need to mess with the pH a stable pH is better than trying to lower most fish will adapt to any pH and the ones at your LFS tend to be used to your cities water conditions as it is as for a 15g there isn't much of a choice for bottom cats but you could look into pygmy cories

 

[Fishfur]

If you don't want schooling fish and it's only 15G, I don't know of any fish you can keep singly that will fit when grown. And I agree, stick with the stable pH, don't go nuts trying to lower it. Most fish, for the most part, are quite adaptable.

I am not sure that assassin snails are good for clean up crew. They are good at eating snails, and do reproduce, if you have both sexes, but fairly slowly.

But several other snails are very good as clean up crew. Nerite eggs can't hatch in fresh water and they work very hard. Mystery snails lay out of water, thus easy to control, and come in some pretty colours too. Blue, ivory, gold, purple, among others. Snails are remarkably efficient, and will clean up leftover food off the substrate, as well as clean the glass and other surfaces.

Be careful not to overfeed the fish, if you don't let extra food accumulate, bottom feeders are optional.

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks for both replies. What about loaches them vance?

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks fishfur. I have been extra careful with feeding and even skip a day every few days. I do already have 2 assassin snails although I've only ever seen them both at the same time once. So I may only have one now.

Now that the assassins have cleared up the pest snails I was worried they will not have anything to eat. I have wafers but they are about the size if a small coin and I'm not sure how that will affect the water if left uneaten.

I was sceptical of the assassins snails ability to clear 'pest' snails so quickly but wow I'm impressed.

I can't believe some of the tanks on this forum. They are so impressive. I honestly thought mine was biggish at 15g and thought it was a typo when people were quoting 55 and 75gal. I do wonder whether it is in US gallon or imperial though. I just spent all my birthday money on this tank and now I want a bigger one :_(

 

[Surfer]

Hey, you can get away with a South American bumblebee catfish.

 

[Fishfur]

You can feed the assassin snails tiny bits of chopped beef heart if they have no snails to eat. They will eat each other if no other snails are around.

Tank volumes are misleading, because depending where they were made, may be US gallons, UK/Canadian gallons, or in litres. There are calculators online that will give you volume in all three of those, based on the measurements.

In north america, dimensions of tanks are more or less standard, but so many are imported now, there are more variations than you can imagine. Some folks have tanks over 200 gallons and up, which blows my mind too.

 

[vance1013]

Thanks for both replies. What about loaches them vance?

I'm not sure about loaches you can do some research to find a species researching will help you find all kinds of info you need then come back here and confirm what you have in mind

 

[Fishfur]

You might like to check out Black Kuhli loaches. You would need a minimum of 3 for them to be happy, but they are not a high bioload. They are much more outgoing than most other loaches in their family, often seen out and about, often chase one another in a vertical circle not unlike watching a ferris wheel go around.
Easy to feed, prefer to feed at night but will eat anytime they are hungry. I quite enjoy them, though I keep about a dozen of them as they do enjoy company. But that's in a larger tank of course.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Kuhlis really need 25 inches length minimum, they might stay small, but they are very very active