View Full Version : Lace cats, a few questions.
My tank has finally cycled and I am ready to give Gulp a few room mates. I was in the LFS the other day and they had 3 4"-5" lace cats that someone had traded in for other fish. They were very nice looking and caught my eye. I asked how much they were, and was told they were $40 each.... Does this seem right? I usually buy fish when they are very small........and cheap, but since Gulp is almost 9" now I want to get something big enough that he won't eat them. $40 seemed a little high......but I have never priced them before.
The LFS said these lace cats would be perfect tank mates for the oscar and would help to clean up his messy eating habits. Any opinions? I am going to offer the guy $30 each for 2 and see if he takes it tomorrow.....if he still has them, but I would like to hear a few opinions first.
Anyone know the lifespan of a lace catfish? At 4-5" it would seem they are still young. I have read that they get up to 18" so I am thinking 2 would be too many to have in a 110 gallon tank with an oscar. Can anyone suggest a better cat that doesn't get as big........but won't be eaten by an oscar? I would like to have 2......but don't want to overcrowd.
cubano
01-01-2004, 10:45 PM
I was always under the impression that lace cats don't exceed 6-7" in captivity.. I could be wrong, though I've never seen one larger.
Originally posted by cubano
I was always under the impression that lace cats don't exceed 6-7" in captivity.. I could be wrong, though I've never seen one larger.
Cool. I just found this link that mentions 18": http://www.zangfish.com/cgi-bin/fishpage.cgi?5 but it also says aquarium raised laces usually don't get that big.
The link also shows a $20 price for a 7" specimen......... I can now see the LFS is getting a little greedy with some trade-in's..... :rolleyes: Guess I will take my business elsewhere.
I grow them out regularly to sell to the lfs's. I wouldnt pay 40 for one. the local places usually charge 20-30 for a 5-6 inch fish i sell them. They get that big fast though, i buy them at an inch and in 6-8 months they hit 4-5 inches, this is of course given plenty of food, room, and low stress. They biggest one i have seen is (unfortunatly) not mine, he is 9-10 inches at the city's only mom&pop fish store. Hes big but you can tell hes had a hard life, not so pretty. they want 60 for him.
ryan
LittleLoach
01-05-2004, 4:29 AM
Several months ago I was in the same position you were in ... so many conflicting statements about the Lace Cat. So I went with the worst case scenario of 12 inches.
I bought my little guy when he was merely 2 inches long (for AU$20). That was four months ago and he has grown just as many inches in that time.
He has finally matured (completely spotty) so I don't expect him to get all that much bigger. Since yours looks like its spots are formed, I wouldn't expect too much more growth either.
Good luck with Gulp and friend. Any names yet?
Originally posted by LittleLoach
Good luck with Gulp and friend. Any names yet?
My wife named the cat Vertigo (he swims upside down, hangs on walls, etc.)...... :rolleyes: I think Hoover is much better since he makes a great vaccum cleaner. :D We waited a few days to name him to avoid any potential jinx or curse that might have caused.... :D
We went to be the first night expecting a one fish tank again the next morning.......but the cat is doing fine. He just stays in his cave all day, then comes out about 2 minutes after the lights are out in the room and the tank. Swims around like a madman and Gulp has no clue he's there. Hopefully he will get braver and come out during the day some as I would like to see him once in a while....... :D
BTW, we paid $32.99 (went back the day after the $40 quote and it had changed.....) and he is about 5". Even if I could have gotten it cheaper somewhere else......it was a supply and demand issue. :D I probably would have paid a little more if I had to because NO ONE around here has/had any, and the few places I talked to said they don't stock them that big. The three the LFS had were traded by a customer for something else after he had raised them for a while.