Glass cats
- Thread starter Nicole29
- Start date
The transparent Asian glass cats come in two easily confused species: Kryptopterus bicirrhis (up to 6") and K. minor (up to 3"). (see here: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/kryptopterus_minor.htm ) There are other Asian species that get much larger, but you're not likely to run across them in the pet shop. You may also find African glass catfish, which are much less transparent. These also come in 3" ( http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=327 ) and 6" ( http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=3 ) sizes. Of all the species, Kryptopterus minor is usually by far the easiest to find. Assuming that's the species you'll get, you MUST keep them in a school. With 33 gallons of space, here's what I would do:Nicole29 said:
8 glass cats
2 dwarf, honey or talking gouramis
6 kuhli loaches (probably black "kuhlis")
8 zebra danios or other small danio species
1-2 bamboo shrimp
That would give you an all-Asian community with danios up top, glass cats midwater, loaches on the bottom, gouramis for color, and bamboo shrimp because they're just **** cool. To keep the glass cats happy, provided plenty of plants and only moderate lighting. I would suggest low-light cryptocorynes and java fern if you go with live plants. Hope this helps!
Nicole29 said:
Some bettas are good community fish, but some are not. It seems to be a very individual thing. Also, if you go with the betta the bamboo shrimp might be best deleted, as bettas often view invertebrates as food (despite the large size of the shrimp). The rasboras replacing the danios should be OK. The more midwater activity there is, the shyer your glass cats will become, but keeping a sizeable cat school will help counterbalance that effect. BTW, the reason I suggest black "kuhlis" (actually eel loaches) is that they seem to be much more hardy and less shy than the true banded kuhli loaches.
I wouldn't want to go smaller than a 20 gallon, and I would certainly reduce the number of other fish to a minimum in that size tank. I'm actually looking forward to a 55 with about a dozen glass cats.Nicole29 said:
I have a 29 gall tank with a school of 5 glass cats (K. bicirrhus species, I think). They are in there with 2 flying whisker barbs, 3 white cloud minnows, and 2 golden dojo loaches (a.k.a. weather loaches), plus a few ghost shrimp. Everybody is doing fine. I would suggest keeping glass cats with less active swimming species (they don't seem bothered by the activity of my bottom dwellers), because anytime a minnow or barb startles and moves real fast, it sends the cats scattering. My guys seem to be OK, though, because they all settle down and the school reassembles pretty quickly.
They will probably be fine with dwarf neon rainbows, as they seem to be a peaceful and serene species. My barbs, while active, leave the glass cats alone, which I think is the most important thing. In fact, when I first got the glassies they were "chasing" the other fish around. They were actually feeling them out with their whiskers to get to know everyone, I think. The other fish found it weird and a little invasive, but the glass cats soon settled down and left the other fish alone.
Also, it seems some glass cats have slightly different "personalities". For instance, one in particular likes to hang out at the surface with the other water column species. Another likes to float in a space between some leaves, a few inches away from the rest of the school. It seems that the other three have a tighter shoaling mechanism. When the lights turn out, though, or I'm away for awhile, the school will drift apart and they all explore the tank. They tend to bunch up for comfort. It's pretty neat to see because when they reassemble, they'll touch each other with their whiskers, in an almost self-soothing or bonding gesture.
Anyway, that's my two cents. They're a great species: unique and fun to watch. Hope that helps and good luck!
They will probably be fine with dwarf neon rainbows, as they seem to be a peaceful and serene species. My barbs, while active, leave the glass cats alone, which I think is the most important thing. In fact, when I first got the glassies they were "chasing" the other fish around. They were actually feeling them out with their whiskers to get to know everyone, I think. The other fish found it weird and a little invasive, but the glass cats soon settled down and left the other fish alone.
Also, it seems some glass cats have slightly different "personalities". For instance, one in particular likes to hang out at the surface with the other water column species. Another likes to float in a space between some leaves, a few inches away from the rest of the school. It seems that the other three have a tighter shoaling mechanism. When the lights turn out, though, or I'm away for awhile, the school will drift apart and they all explore the tank. They tend to bunch up for comfort. It's pretty neat to see because when they reassemble, they'll touch each other with their whiskers, in an almost self-soothing or bonding gesture.
Anyway, that's my two cents. They're a great species: unique and fun to watch. Hope that helps and good luck!
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