Catfish Tank??

[Sideswipe]

Hi

I have never really kept catfish other than Ancistrus. However i have always been fascinated by them.
I was wondering if it is common for people to keep tanks with mainly catfish in it.
For example, would it be possible to keep the following all in the same 50G tank:
Ancistrus
Rubber Nose Pleco
Striped Rafael
Synodontis (any)
Royal Pleco
Gold Nugget Pleco
Snowball Pleco

thanks for any suggestions.
S

[justintrask]

I'm not sure how the plecos would do, because as plecos grow older, they get very territorial to their own kind. i dont know if that's true for different types of plecos though

[GoodMike]

catfish tanks are awesome, if you do it right. You can house many different species of plecos together if you do it right. Plenty of hiding places is needed, and choose the species wisely. we have many tanks that mostly have plecos in it.

[Sideswipe]

Originally Posted by GoodMike

catfish tanks are awesome, if you do it right. You can house many different species of plecos together if you do it right. Plenty of hiding places is needed, and choose the species wisely. we have many tanks that mostly have plecos in it.

that is great news, i will look into it further.

any and all tips, suggestions and comments are welcome.

[jones57742]

SS:

I am not familiar with the barbeled catfish except that when I was considering adding Cuckoo Catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) I read that they enjoyed each others company and a minimum of three was recommended as well as in an aquarium environment they will consume any fish that will fit into their mouths.

As GM indicated plenty of hiding places are necessary in order to pull off what you are considering. Even six Gold Nuggets will coexist fairly peaceably as well as breed with sufficient hiding places.

One item which you might consider is that all of the rock and wood caves and holes do not need to be on the bottom of the tank. I know that Gold Nuggets and Snowballs will search out and hide in caves and holes which are as high as 15" from the tank bottom.

Another item which you might consider is a fairly heavily planted tank.

TR

[GoodMike]

what you need to consider first is what type of catfish you want, there are many varieties that enjoy warm water, and many that done. So if you want something like hypancistrus (gold nuggets, queen arabesque, small spots, etc) then you need warmer water around 82ish. With that you can do things like clownloaches who dont mind the warmer water, as well as sterbai cories.

For cooler water, you can choose from a large range of plecos, and add synodontis lucipinnis, phylonemus, cories, all sorts of stuff.

The options are endless, lots of rock work and caves, lots of driftwood. i like using very tall pieces of driftwood because as pointed out, the fish will hide up and down the whole piece.

[Sideswipe]

Originally Posted by GoodMike

what you need to consider first is what type of catfish you want, there are many varieties that enjoy warm water, and many that done. So if you want something like hypancistrus (gold nuggets, queen arabesque, small spots, etc) then you need warmer water around 82ish. With that you can do things like clownloaches who dont mind the warmer water, as well as sterbai cories.

For cooler water, you can choose from a large range of plecos, and add synodontis lucipinnis, phylonemus, cories, all sorts of stuff.

The options are endless, lots of rock work and caves, lots of driftwood. i like using very tall pieces of driftwood because as pointed out, the fish will hide up and down the whole piece.

I have lots of rocks because i keep African Cichlids, i am also used to stacking them high so that they do not fall. I wouild like to use grey sand but all i seem to see in stores is black, white and tan. Anyone know where i can get grey sand?