I posted this question on MonsterFishKeepers.com too. I am planning a new riparium setup and asking around for stocking advice. I am leaning toward using a catfish, but I might still go with a cichlid instead.
The layout will be something like the picture below, with emersed plants above the water.
That 120-gallon tank is only about 1/3 full, but for this new setup I plan to use a 40-gallon breeder and fill it most of the way to the top, so there will be a little more than 30 gallons of water. I intend to have a nice open foreground area with space for a single bottom-dwelling catfish or group to swim around. I might just make it a species tank, or include a small shoaling species for the middle of the water column. I have wondered about using a good-sized group of some kind of cory, although I am more inclined to try something new. I really like the look of Synodontis. It seems, however, that the smaller species are hard to come by. S. polli is very attractive, but it is a rift valley species. I would prefer to use a South America or West Africa catfish to better pair with some of the plants that I have for a quasi-biotope. I would really like to find somehting West African (that won't eat smaller fish) because I also have an idea ot include lampeye killies in this setup.
Does anybody have any other ideas for a small, active and diurnal catfish for this setup? Pimelodus pictus is another one that some people had suggested. I would really appreciate ideas for sources too.
The layout will be something like the picture below, with emersed plants above the water.
That 120-gallon tank is only about 1/3 full, but for this new setup I plan to use a 40-gallon breeder and fill it most of the way to the top, so there will be a little more than 30 gallons of water. I intend to have a nice open foreground area with space for a single bottom-dwelling catfish or group to swim around. I might just make it a species tank, or include a small shoaling species for the middle of the water column. I have wondered about using a good-sized group of some kind of cory, although I am more inclined to try something new. I really like the look of Synodontis. It seems, however, that the smaller species are hard to come by. S. polli is very attractive, but it is a rift valley species. I would prefer to use a South America or West Africa catfish to better pair with some of the plants that I have for a quasi-biotope. I would really like to find somehting West African (that won't eat smaller fish) because I also have an idea ot include lampeye killies in this setup.
Does anybody have any other ideas for a small, active and diurnal catfish for this setup? Pimelodus pictus is another one that some people had suggested. I would really appreciate ideas for sources too.
