View Full Version : Is this a African Glass/Crystall Cat fish
:help:
I got this fish a week back. Couldn't get much info. from the store. I need help to identify this fish. The best I could find was that it could be African crystall catfish. It's 5 inch long and ruby color.
Thanks
Dangerdoll
06-29-2005, 10:22 AM
looks more like an irridescent catfish to me....
Calico Goat
06-29-2005, 10:24 AM
It's certainly a glass cat, but I've never seen one that color. Make sure you have a strong current in the tank and 6+ of those fish.
Very impressed, though, if that is natrual coloration. What are you feeding it?
Dangerdoll -- No, it don't look to be Iridecent shark catfish. May be just one picture is not be enough to identify.
Calico Goat -- So far I have fed him flakes and bloodworms. But, I have yet to see him actually eating. It looks health and swims all over. I read on internet that they use dyes and inject fishes to give them color. I HOPE mine is not one of these, that have undergone such torture.
Do you have these kind of fishes too? How many? What do you feed? How big are they?
Calico Goat
06-29-2005, 1:34 PM
I have seven glass catfish, and the one thing you have to worry about is they are extraordinarily delicate fish. You cannot under any circumstances keep them with anything that migh be remotely aggressive.
What you need for these is:
--A 2ogal or larger tank with a fast, strong current
--Light
--6 or more of these fish
Mine eat anything, really, but I use frozen or live brine shrimp, and some flake.
Thanks a lot for the insight. How do you make strong current in your tank? How big are your glass catfishes?
Dangerdoll
06-29-2005, 1:49 PM
Do you have any powerheads? A couple of these would do great for flow....
I have to get one ...Thanks again
I have seven glass catfish, and the one thing you have to worry about is they are extraordinarily delicate fish. You cannot under any circumstances keep them with anything that migh be remotely aggressive.
I've heard this same feedback a lot, but my glasscats ARE the aggressive fish in my tank. They will push my Gourami and Angel out of the way at feeding time. I'm pretty sure that mine are an aberration though, so I would go with CG's comments.
Calico Goat
06-29-2005, 3:42 PM
The largest in my tank is about 2.5-3", and the current is pretty strong...can't really measure.
ashdavid
06-29-2005, 5:44 PM
It does not look like a glass catfish to me.
Veneer
06-29-2005, 6:00 PM
It's some sort of sheatfish (likely Kryptopterus sp. - a genus indeed encompassing certain fish commonly known as "glass catfish" - namely, K. bicirrhus).
Compare (http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquarium/kryptopterus_cryptopterus.htm).
I would look through the "Cat-eLog" of www.planetcatfish.com, searching under the heading of Kryptopterus.
ashdavid
06-29-2005, 7:46 PM
But the fish commonly know as "glass catfish" is This (http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/glasscat.htm) ,
so Imo this is not a glass catfish. Thanks Veneer. :)
rich311k
06-29-2005, 8:58 PM
Could it be this. Just a guess.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/silurida/kryptopt/610_2.php
There are multiple "glass" cats, most of which I have kept a one time or the other. The Asian glass cat, the common one, is the dantiest of the lot. I have a school of them in my one community tank. My favorite is the debauwi cat, one of the very best captive schooling fish. Not particularly delicate, the hardiest of the group, and eats anything. There are at least two other different species of African glass cats one of which is also billed as "glass cutter cats" or even "grass cutter cats" (? the back-and-forth swimming?) which are larger than the familiar glass cats, and IME are strictly species tank critters, groups of 6 or more (as alrfeady stated) and no less than 4' tanks, 6' better, and 18-24' front to back. Live foods are best for these two species.
Calico Goat
06-29-2005, 10:19 PM
But the fish commonly know as "glass catfish" is This (http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/glasscat.htm) ,
so Imo this is not a glass catfish. Thanks Veneer. :)
Note the curved body shape, the long bottom fin, and the complete lack of a dorsal fin, as well as the tail shape. The fish in the two pictures are the same, except that one is red. On further observation this doesn't look like a dye job, those are usually done in gaudy neon colors...I don't think it's K. bicirrhus, but a subspecies or such.
Neat find, though. Your LFS must stock rare fish.
ashdavid
06-29-2005, 10:36 PM
Note the curved body shape, the long bottom fin, and the complete lack of a dorsal fin, as well as the tail shape. The fish in the two pictures are the same, except that one is red. On further observation this doesn't look like a dye job, those are usually done in gaudy neon colors...I don't think it's K. bicirrhus, but a subspecies or such.
Neat find, though. Your LFS must stock rare fish.
Similar but not the same Imo. ;)
Calico Goat
06-29-2005, 10:37 PM
It only appears similar because it is a dyed Kryptopterus bicirrhus or a very closely related strain of K. bicirrhus. In my experience, very much the same.
Veneer
06-30-2005, 7:56 AM
It only appears similar because it is a dyed Kryptopterus bicirrhus or a very closely related strain of K. bicirrhus. In my experience, very much the same.
In my opinion, it's a different species of Kryptopterus - not necessarily dyed.