African feather fin in community tank?

[Goldfish loach boy]

So, I saw a thread if a big feather Finn in a community tank, and I like big fish for the bottom
It is a 55 gallon tank, the only bottom dwellers are 6 kuhli loaches and one Raphael catfish, I was thinking of adding one or two more large fish, so I thought of adding this one along with a synodontis nigrita, is that good, or would it be a bad idea? Thank you

 

[JRT83]

So, I saw a thread if a big feather Finn in a community tank, and I like big fish for the bottom
It is a 55 gallon tank, the only bottom dwellers are 6 kuhli loaches and one Raphael catfish, I was thinking of adding one or two more large fish, so I thought of adding this one along with a synodontis nigrita, is that good, or would it be a bad idea? Thank you

I had a featherfin cat in with a bunch of larger central american cichlids and if I had to choose 1 word to describe him it would be fearless. No matter how much he'd get nipped at, he'd still go about his business and clean up the gravel. Don't know how they'd be with smaller bottom feeders but I bet he'd do as good of a job cleaning up your tank as the 7 bottom feeders you already have combined. I'd highly recommend 1 but mine was extremely shy in my 55 gallon but as soon as I moved him to my 125, he was constantly out day/night.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Featherfin's are an awesome cat to own but can get territorial, at least mine did. I wouldn't suggest getting one unless it's housed with fish larger than it or fish that are able to either get away quickly or stand their ground. I lost quite a few Neon Tetras, Ghost Shrimp and even a Cory Cat or two to mine. It was like a reenactment of jaws when he went after the Cory

 

[Cactuspixie]

I have two large featherfins in a 170g community tank. I also have 5 nigrita in there.
My featherfins are territorial with each other and the nigritas. They couldn't care less about the tetras and cories etc.
I think either one featherfin OR 4 or 5 nigritas is a better choice. You can't just have one nigrita though, and they aren't as 'visible' as the featherfins.

ETA: I find I need to keep the featherfins WELL fed to keep the peace in the tank. They have BIG mouths and I could see them easily munching on pesky tank mates if they got hungry enough!

 

[Bichir Bro]

Wouldn't a full grown featherfin cat be a little too big for a 75?

 

[cgthebeast]

Yep they can get pretty territorial. Mine around the 5 in mark an I going to give him to my friend with a 75 because he's picking on my other fish

 

[Cactuspixie]

Wouldn't a full grown featherfin cat be a little too big for a 75?

I wouldn't like to see what mine would do in a smaller tank. Especially if they weren't kept well fed. Are mine the only featherfins that are pigs? If I was into naming my fish I think Kirby and Dyson would be appropriate. Lol.

 

[cgthebeast]

Wouldn't a full grown featherfin cat be a little too big for a 75?

Hmm, I don't think so if that's your only bottom feeder and keep it well fed

 

[Cactuspixie]

OP has a 55 in any case.