Small Catfish?

**luke-ns** · 03-05-2013, 03:37 PM

hello all, are their any Catfish that stay small but look cool and would be good for the likes of a 30g
I love the look of catfish with their barbels/whiskers and have a spare 30g tank and would love it if its possible to get one.
cheers in advance.

**Hardy85** · 03-05-2013, 04:01 PM

Well technically cory are a type of catfish. I have 6 Sterbai Cory in my tank and love them.

When it comes to corys they need to be in schools to be happy, but that is the only catfish I can think that would fit in a 30g

**genocidex** · 03-05-2013, 05:00 PM

can we have the dimensions for your 30g? i just want to make sure its the same tank as im thinking....

if its the 30g breader (36x18x12" ) then you can get some bigger ones, if you have the filteration and extra space.

if its just a normal 30g (36x12x16") then a porthole cat would fit great and give you the catfish look you are looking for

**steeler1** · 03-05-2013, 05:15 PM

+1 genocidex, on your suggestion of a porthole catfish. I don't see them mentioned very often. Another species, if you can find them, are the Aspidoras family.

**ScottishFish** · 03-05-2013, 05:17 PM

I was gona suggest a smaller hoplo species, but that might be a bit of a squeeze.

**luke-ns** · 03-05-2013, 06:34 PM

Its 36x12x16 so a normal one just, is this the only 3 choices i have? or is the 3rd choice too much of a squeeze like scottishfish says?
which is the easiest to care for? i have a 150g canister filter.

**genocidex** · 03-05-2013, 07:01 PM

glad you have enough filtration. TBH there are countless catfish speicies. we are naming the more common ones. plecos alone are a huge part of the catfish family. to name a few more.... bumble bee cat, upside down cat*, oil cat, banjo. all stay around or under 4-5"

*note on the upside down cat. there are a few different types some get loads bigger so unless you have a reliable source for the smaller ones i would stay clear, just putting them on the list to name a few.

also this depends on your stock. you might be better off getting a small school of cory cats...

**ScottishFish** · 03-05-2013, 07:04 PM

I have banjos, however some folk hate em cause they are very good at hiding.

**talldutchie** · 03-05-2013, 07:16 PM

I can think of several dozen species, most of which would need some experience on your behalf.

Would depend on
1. your water
2. what you want to do for decor
3. other tank mates

**luke-ns** · 03-05-2013, 08:50 PM

my water is around 7-7.2
ammonia-0
nitrate-5
nitrite-0
im not fussed on decor i will just get whats needed for the fish atm my tank has 15 neon tetra in it but they are being re-homed in a bigger tank so it will not have any tank mates, im just looking for 1 decent sized catfish that is cool and wont outgrow my 30g and i dont want sucker mouth catfish or cories lol