Questions on Royal whiptails/stocking and temperature.     8/3/13
HI Neal its Alex again.
<He's out till 8/6. Will fwd. your msg., and respond here myself>
 I got my 50 gallon. plan to set it up early in September. The rams ( Bolivian) and angel seem to be doing well in the 20, the angel is really growing big, i do water changes to help with the heavy bioload and everyone seems great,. I'll move them to the 50 before long. I was wondering if a royal whiptail would outgrow a 50 gallon. I plan on getting the following fish
<Mmm, this Loricariid will outgrow a 50 in time; needs habitat as well as space>
2 more rams Bolivian - would this be pushing it
<Likely fine; unless they or others are territorial, breeding here>
about a dozen tetras- not sure if I want glow light or Rummynose. maybe i should up the tetras to 17 and leave out a second ram pair
<Fine; though these may be targeted by the cichlids as they get larger>
8 warm water Corys
<Good number>
a royal whiptail the singleton angel and the 2 rams I have now I kept the water at 80- 82 is this to <too> warm for a royal whiptail?
<Not too warm>
 I lowered the temp to around 80- 78.
Royal whip tails how big do they get/ longevity
<Most likely 6-8 inches... a bit longer if you count the tail fin: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/50531
and price range please, also what to feed them.
Thanks have a great day.
<Let's have you just use the Net: for Sturisoma panamense
Bob Fenner>
Re: Questions on Royal whiptails/stocking and temperature.     8/4/13
I was wondering if a royal whiptail would outgrow a 50 gallon?
<<Not much to add to what Bob states, except that these are fabulous catfish if you have the space! Do visit the Planet Catfish website in particular; it's an excellent resource for identifying catfish and summarising their needs. Cheers, Neale.>>
Re: Questions on Royal whiptails/stocking and temperature. Catfish stkg.      8/4/13
My new tanks dimension are 20 high, 36 inches long by 15 inches wide. I was wondering besides the Corys what types of catfish would go well with rams, angel, tetras. that sort of thing. The water is kept at 80- 82, ph is 7,
<Apart from Corydoras, and assuming you want to stay with the South American theme, look at Brochis, Diadema (if water quality is excellent), Lepthoplosternum pectorale, perhaps Megalechis (bit boisterous), Centromochlus perugiae if you can keep a group of 5+, Peckoltia spp., Agamyxis pectinifrons with nothing bite-sized... the list is a long one.
Basically anything from families Doradidae, Loricariidae, Auchenipteridae and Callichthyidae that doesn't have specific environmental requirements you can't provide, isn't too aggressive or retiring, and isn't likely to eat its tankmates.>
I really like that planet catfish site, thanks Neal, tried to log in but becoming a member was too difficult so I'll just look through..
<Difficult? Curious. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Questions on Royal whiptails/stocking and temperature.      8/4/13
I think what I'll do is set up the 50 gallon, and get some oil catfish if a world of fish can get them in. Do they need to be kept in groups?
<Absolutely, yes. Five at minimum.>
Would they take fruit flies at night, when/ time wise should I feed them?
<Frozen foods (bloodworms, brine shrimps, krill, glassworms, etc.) offered when the lights are out will be readily taken. They prefer to feed in the dark, so a canopy of floating plants may be of great help trapping foods where you can watch the fish feed as they would in the wild. I find this works great with the ecologically similar Synodontis nigriventris. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Questions on catfishes.     8/7/13
I was told that the oil catfish like current so they are out, all i plan on using in this tank will be powerful sponge filters just in case any fish breeds ( rams etc.) so I found some new catfish I'd like you to tell me about.
Chocolate talking catfish- Acanthodoras spinosissimus
<A lovely fish. Good with Angels, Bolivian Rams and deep-bodied and medium sized tetras (e.g., Lemon Tetras, Bleeding Heart Tetras, etc.). Slightly risky with small, narrow-bodied fish like Neons. Unusually for a thorny catfish it seems to be territorial and does well kept singly. Extremely nocturnal though, so you won't see it much/ever.>
jaguar catfish - Liosomadoras oncinus
<A beautiful catfish for reasonably advanced aquarists, in fact one of the classic species kept by catfish enthusiasts. Not difficult to keep, assuming you have soft to medium-hard water (won't do well in hard water).
But extremely nocturnal, so needs a shady aquarium. Predatory, though peaceful. Good with Angels, Silver Dollars and similar-sized tankmates.
Bear in mind it gets to about 20 cm/8 inches, and is able to consume fish up to the size of a Dwarf Gourami.>
White Cross Woodcat
<Trachelyopterus albicrux; not much traded, but basic care presumably similar to the Starry (or Common) Woodcat, Trachelyopterus galeatus, which makes a reasonably good aquarium fish if you have the space. Decent current, low to middling temperatures, deep aquarium with lots of shade.
Adult size around 20 cm/8 inches. Predatory, not aggressive as such but boisterous and given to prowling the tank at night swallowing anything bite-sized, so Starry Woodcats at least are kept with tankmates of similar size, like Severums. May be kept singly or in groups. Not really viable in your set up, though.>
I was wondering if any of these would be okay in a 50 gallon with rams, tetras, Corys and an angelfish- would they outgrow the tank- eat the tank mates.
<See above. Do review the list sent previously; I do suspect you'd get the same kind of weird catfish vibe from one of the medium-sized Callichthyidae, in particular Lepthoplosternum pectorale (Hoplosternum pectorale in older aquarium books). Not too big, not too small, can be kept singly, active by day, not predatory, quite outgoing, very adaptable re:
water chemistry and temperature. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Questions on Acanthodoras spinosissimus     8/7/13
I really like the chocolate talking catfish, Acanthodoras spinosissimus.
<Is a nice fish, but all thorny catfish are strictly nocturnal, and hardly ever come out by day.>
The other species you gave me  Lepthoplosternum pectoral is too drab for my taste.
<But at least you'll see it! Try keeping it away from the food at feeding time. Do have a read here:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=261
This species is lively, hardy and breedable!>
But I have a few questions on chocolate talking catfish . Do they like to be kept in groups or singly- I was told by planet catfish that they could poison each other if kept together.
<Not likely. They seem to be solitary fish in small aquaria and certainly do well kept singly, but most of these thorny catfish are gregarious in the wild. More than likely they "fight" only insofar as they squabble over hiding places. As for poisoning each other, there's little/no evidence for this. Some thorny catfish have venom glands on their pectoral fins, but
then so do a great variety of other catfish including species we don't think of as venomous, such as the Callichthyidae (the Corydoras family).
I'd urge you to peruse the scientific literature if you're interested, starting here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/282
But these are strictly defensive weapons and never used offensively, and provided the catfish isn't swallowed or otherwise placed in a life-threatening situation, they generally don't use these venom glands under aquarium conditions, and certainly don't have a mechanism for squirting venom into the faces of other fish. These venom delivery systems all work in the same way, puncturing the skin (typically in the mouth) of a predator, and then allowing the venom to seep into the resulting wound. Put another way, those Corydoras and Synodontis catfish studied appear to have venom glands, yet no one is paranoid about putting them in community tanks!
So basically think of their venom as an interesting curiosity but that's all. Territorial catfish are more likely to damage each other through physical attacks and/or social stress than mutual envenomation.>
How dangerous is the toxin created by these fish?
<Not. You have probably already kept venomous fish without worrying.
There's a slight risk handling any/all catfish because their spines can create puncture wounds that become infected secondarily, and at least some catfish produce enough venom to cause a painful sting (including Corydoras) but most species produce so little venom they're no risk to humans. The only exceptions would be those who react badly to animal stings generally, such as bee stings, in which case soliciting advice from a medical practitioner would be wise. At the very least, tell such people not to man-handle your catfish!>
I don't want to put myself or my housemates in danger if they are really bad/toxic. but at the same time they are really interesting.  would emperor tetras be okay with them as a tetra species too large to swallow in my tank.
<Emperor Tetras would be find with both Acanthodoras spinosissimus and Lepthoplosternum pectorale. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Help with Gymnothorax tile laying on back/abnormal breathing, Now catfish sys., stkg.
One last question.  Is the 30 gallon too small to keep 2 or 3 catfish that are 4-5 inches?
<Depends on the catfish species. For less active species it can be sufficient. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlvstkind1.htm  for various catfishes and see www.WetWebMedia.com/fwsubwebindex/pimelodids.htm
and www.WetWebMedia.com/fwsubwebindex/pictuscatf.htm  if you need more info on your Pictus.>
Thanks again. This site is amazing.  I learned from my mistake and will read this site in detail before I buy anything else!
<Take care. Marco.>
Re: Help with Gymnothorax tile laying on back/abnormal breathing
Thank you so much! That information was exactly what I needed.
<Ah. good. You're welcome. Marco.>