Spotted raphael catfish - a caution!

I always do a fair bit of research before I buy a fish, and so - determined to find a cool catfish for my little peaceful south american tank - I had settled on an ancistrus in place of the standard super large growing pleco. I didnt want something that was going to outgrow my tank. So I marched off to my usual fish store and they happened to have a lovely spotted one sitting in the tank. Purchased, acclimatised - all good. Except every now and then - not very often - one of my fish would simply vanish. No bones, nothing. I figured that the fish pegged from natural causes and that my now full grown catfish was playing garbage disposal. Not ideal but not a trainsmash. But after a couple of times I figured that this is just not right. Did some more online looking and came across a picture of the spotted raphael catfish...

So, my fish was mislabelled and now I'm stuck with a rather uneasy coexistance. With a tank full of neons, harlequins, and a catfish with an appetite. I am not very happy but am rather attached to my catfish now.

So, moral is - dont keep the spotted rapheal catfish with any smaller fish. Even a fully grown neon goes down the hatch! The Harlequins seem less hard hid - I suspect they're a little more switched on. And! ONLY trust yourself! Read, read, read some more - make sure you know EXACTLY what you're buying beforehand! Grrr.

d

 

Did the store sell it to you as an Ancistrus?

 

to the lfs "shame on you"
to dane "Shame for your late fish" hope it was quick

 

Haha. All the talking catfish do it. I mad the exact same mistake with a tank full of Rummy's and Harlequins with a striped talking catfish. They all turned out to be expensive feeders

 

@ darry - yes
@khalid - agreed :-(

@Neilh - what did you do in the end? My catfish ate two neons the day I restocked. Its never been this bad, one used to dissappear every few months! :-(

 

i actually planned on getting a few of these guys but due to lack of space i got put off the idea

 

Found a new home for it :noworry: