Tank size for Raphael Catfish?

[becrac16]

I'm rehoming my striped raphael catfish...I have him currently in a 55 gal tank and he is about 4 inches long. I thought a 55 gal could hold one forever, but apparently not. What is the minimum gallon size for a raphael catfish?

 

[allaboutfish]

i think 55 gallons is good alot of ppl say 29 gallons is good

 

[mommytron]

i would say nothing less than 125 personally. they get pretty huge. my friend had one that was like 12" long and 3 or 4 inches wide. i can imagine a fish of that size (especially a cat) has a huge bioload as well.

 

[allaboutfish]

really! people on petsmart and on alot of sites say 29 gallons and that they get 8 inches wow

 

[mommytron]

omg!! no way, 29 gallons is NOT big enough by ANY means!!!! my friend's raphael was humungous, maybe not quite 12" but definitely no less than 10". and very fat. they are very large fish, and can be quite active.

 

[becrac16]

yeah i was thinking about 7 inches, which I thought was going to be fine for my 55 gal. I got the feeling that it wasnt though from other posts on a different thread

 

[mommytron]

i would definitely say no less than 125g. they need the room, and they have a large bioload.

 

[allaboutfish]

see Fish Profile for Striped Raphael Catfish, Raphael Catfish (Platydoras Costatus)

 

[becrac16]

mine's already a lot fatter then the one in the picture there!

 

[mommytron]

i would NOT listen to that site. how could they think that an 8.5" catfish would be happy in a 29 gallon tank!?!?!? that makes NO sense

 

[Batt4Christ]

Yeah - that's the problem with the vast majority of lfs... what in other industries would be referred to as "malpractice". What blows my mind is that sometimes, even the printed tags for fish ID at the lfs has wrong/incorrect info.

I think one of the most misrepresented fish in fish stores is the common plecostomus... they are a cute 2-3 inches everywhere, by the dozens.... yet they get way over 12" and need a similarly huge tank to thrive (and to be fair to the fish). I have NEVER EVER heard a lfs salesperson mention that to a customer... and they gladly sell them, even in pairs, for folks setting up even tiny tanks...

 

[mommytron]

I think one of the most misrepresented fish in fish stores is the common plecostomus... they are a cute 2-3 inches everywhere, by the dozens.... yet they get way over 12" and need a similarly huge tank to thrive (and to be fair to the fish). I have NEVER EVER heard a lfs salesperson mention that to a customer... and they gladly sell them, even in pairs, for folks setting up even tiny tanks...

it's disgusting. i'm pretty sure there is an entire thread devoted to this issue.