What kind of catfish is this and can I put it with my Oscars?

[Kali]

Hey all,

I saw this catfish today at my LFS and the guy working didnt know what it was. Im looking to get a large-ish bottom dweller to go with my 2 Oscars in my 90 and clean up the scraps because when they eat they shred the pellets, letting 10-20% of each pellet crumble to the bottom of the tank where it decomposes until I vacuum. Tank is mature and with perfect parameters so im not too worried about bioload. No other occupants except a pleco.

There were actually 2 of these hanging out next to each other in the tank so it would be an option to get both. They are about 6 inches long. Let me know what you think. Also ill take some props for keeping my cool and for once not making an impulse buy!

 

[Cactuspixie]

If your pleco isn't cleaning up perhaps reduce or change the oscars diet. I can't remember what the name of that catfish is, but it grows huge and is a predator not a scavenger. I would think that the bio load of 2 oscars and a pleco would be plenty for a 90 gal. If you add more fish you will certainly have to up the pwc so may as well do that now and save yourself the dramas. I hope someone posts the name of that catfish before it drives me bonkers. Lol

 

[Kali]

Well you are in luck because someone ID'd it for me on MFK. Its a Sun Catfish. I decided to pass on it because they are supposed to be shy/non active during the day. The general consensus from what I just read, is that the Suncats are pretty mellow, dont bother anybody, and max out at 9-12" in captivity.

I'm looking for something with a more pictus-like activity level, but bigger and without the need to be in a school as I would prefer just one.

We could debate the bioload all day and beat that horse but in my experience as long as water params are good and theres no territorial conflicts, you're good.

I dont believe in relying on massive PWCs because it handicaps your filter and then that week when you go out of town and cant PWC, boom mini cycle. I'm filtering upwards of 1000GPH, the same setup I used to grow SPS with. (Admittedly without 2 O's crapping all over the tank )

I do PWC at least once a week but only 25% or so to vaccum, and I know a lot of folks on here will say that is low but it works for me.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Agreed Kali. As long as you are testing, and your fish are healthy, then who is to tell you that you have to change your water more. But just make sure if you get this large catfish you test your water every other day for a couple weeks. Anyways! How about a big "shark" like bala, iridescent, Colombian, or black.

 

[dragonfisher33]

sun catfish, aka eclipse catfish, aka something you shouldn't get considering the bioload already in your tank.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Agreed Kali. As long as you are testing, and your fish are healthy, then who is to tell you that you have to change your water more.

No one. I advised it if two large catfish were to be added to the present stock. Although I guess it wouldn't necessarily have to be an extra pwc- when I had a large tank with a huge bio load, I managed it by vacuuming the substrate daily. It was only a temporary situation, so I felt it was reasonable, but its nice to not have to do it now

 

[Cactuspixie]

If you add more fish you will certainly have to up the pwc so may as well do that now and save yourself the dramas.

Sorry for not being clear- I meant sucking up the debris rather than getting more fish to do that, and then having to manage the extra bio load with more/bigger pwc.
I can't think of any active cats that don't need a their own kind and don't grow very large. Maybe you can keep an eye on the classifieds for a mature cat that's lived with large/semi aggressive fish (so it doesn't hide all day when it's rehomed to your tank). I'm always wary of upsetting the dynamic of the tank, not just the parameters.
Hey, just thinking- would a cray solve the problem of the uneaten food? I don't know anything about them either. Lol

 

[Kali]

Agreed Kali. As long as you are testing, and your fish are healthy, then who is to tell you that you have to change your water more. But just make sure if you get this large catfish you test your water every other day for a couple weeks. Anyways! How about a big "shark" like bala, iridescent, Colombian, or black.

I will look into those thanks for the tip. Its gonna come down to what part of the tank they live in, looking for something that spends its time in the bottom 3-4 inches so they don't compete with my Os for space.

sun catfish, aka eclipse catfish, aka something you shouldn't get considering the bioload already in your tank.

If you want to debate this we can.

As long as my water is testing 0, 0, and <30, theres nobody that can tell me "One more X sized fish will put you over your max bioload".

Its impossible to know. My tank, fish, flow rate, filters, feeding habits and density of bacteria colonies are all unique to my system.

Bioload and overstocked are relative terms. You might feed your 2inch fish twice a day, I might feed my 2 inch fish every other day, therefor your fish is causing 4X the load on the tank. Your filter might be doing 400 GPH, while my same filter is only pumping out 200GPH because I stuffed it full of more media. That same 200GPH might hold more nitrifying bacteria because of the increased surface area of more media. My filter could be 2 months mature or 5 years running in a goldfish pond. There are all these endless variables to determining your tank's capability to detoxify the water.

If you aren't creating aggression/space issues, and water params are solid, continue to stock. In my experience aggression/space will cause a problem for you and stress your fish long before a high "bioload" will, provided you have an adequately filtered, mature tank, stocked at the right pace.

 

[Kali]

Sorry for not being clear- I meant sucking up the debris rather than getting more fish to do that, and then having to manage the extra bio load with more/bigger pwc.
I can't think of any active cats that don't need a their own kind and don't grow very large. Maybe you can keep an eye on the classifieds for a mature cat that's lived with large/semi aggressive fish (so it doesn't hide all day when it's rehomed to your tank). I'm always wary of upsetting the dynamic of the tank, not just the parameters.
Hey, just thinking- would a cray solve the problem of the uneaten food? I don't know anything about them either. Lol

Yea thats my biggest hurdle is finding something full grown in the species I want. Crayfish would likely be food for the O's, probably killed within minutes, but if it was too big it would take chunks out of their fins. (And then likely die for it, lol) These guys arent scared of a whole lot, one of em bit me the other day when I was suctioning lol lesson learned feed before you clean.

But yea I'm under no illusions that a cat will take over my gravel vacuuming duties, mostly I just want one, never had a FW tank without a cat, and I've reserved a spot in the infamous "bioload", just for that purpose.

 

[Cactuspixie]

These guys arent scared of a whole lot, one of em bit me the other day when I was suctioning lol lesson learned feed before you clean.

Ouch!! Any damage done? Geez, it gives me the Heebie geebies when the guppies nibble at my arm! I think you just may well have squelched my desire for an Oscar! Lol
Try posting a wanted ad in the free classifieds. I see a lot of large fish advertised here- they've out grown their tanks, or the hobbyist has had enough or switching to salt etc.
when I got my first second hand 6ft tank it was home to two big crays, 2 large plecos and 5 or 6 huge (and hugely aggressive) South American cichlids. I was only interested in the plecos so I gave away the others (was sooo glad to be shot of that nasty red devil! It was big and MEAN. The poor Jag even cowered from it!)
You just may get lucky and find someone who is happy just to be rid of a big old rambunctious catfish!

 

[Kali]

Ouch!! Any damage done? Geez, it gives me the Heebie geebies when the guppies nibble at my arm! I think you just may well have squelched my desire for an Oscar! Lol
Try posting a wanted ad in the free classifieds. I see a lot of large fish advertised here- they've out grown their tanks, or the hobbyist has had enough or switching to salt etc.
when I got my first second hand 6ft tank it was home to two big crays, 2 large plecos and 5 or 6 huge (and hugely aggressive) South American cichlids. I was only interested in the plecos so I gave away the others (was sooo glad to be shot of that nasty red devil! It was big and MEAN. The poor Jag even cowered from it!)
You just may get lucky and find someone who is happy just to be rid of a big old rambunctious catfish!

Ha ha no blood drawn. Might finger might have resembled an earthworm, who knows. That sounds like a beast of a fish! Anything that scares a big jag must be a hard fish to find a home for. Its too true that big fish are left homeless so often in this hobby, actually thats how I got my O's, couldnt stand seeing them in a friends 30g . Good call on the classifieds, Ive always been a little leery of shipping a fish in the mail but I guess it happens all the time and I'm probably missing some great opportunities I will check it out thanks!