Anyone ever keep these?

www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?article_id=115

Supposed to do well with mbuna.
Stunning looking fish, jet black with white flecks behind the pectoral fins.

I bought one yesterday & have him in quarantine at the moment along with a Palembang puffer.
He was an 'unknown' in the shop so I got him cheap. The fish is 6 inches+

He'll be going into my 400 litre cichlid tank when I have it set up.

2POC,

these a class fish, i kept one in a communtiy tank for about six months and when i changed over to mbuna he took to the change no problems, very rarely saw it for months once the rocks went in but when i started feeding the mbunas frozen cichlid mix he was out in a shot, also goes mad for the new life spectrum cichlid mix too, i have a video saved of him feeding if i can load it up i will,

he has a few shreads in his dorsal fin not sure if its from being hassled or just goin in and out of his cave but doesnt seem to bother him either way

Nice one Stan - what size is he? Any problems with him eating the mbuna?

I'm in two minds whether to keep him or get rid of him in case he takes to eating all of my fish.

2POC,

he is about the same size as yours, when i placed him in with the mbuna they were only an inch and half and he didnt even look at them. for a while i didnt even know he was eating cause he just never came out. the only squabbles he has in with my syno erupteus and thats handbags at dawn stuff.

i havent had any trouble with them at all and your tank would be at a loss without it, the trick is just getting the little gits to come out

Excellent - hopefully he'll work out. I fed New Life Spectrum last night but can't be sure that he came
out to feed. There were a few small fry in the same tank so I'm hoping he didn't snack on them instead...

I'm calling him a 'he' but I havent actually tried to sex him - from what I read they are easy to sex.
Do you know whether yours is definitely male or female?

If I need to get rid & we have a male/female each would you be interested in taking him?
I'd let him go for the same as I paid (15 quid which I think is a Steal!)

2poc,

i reckon he might pick off a few of the fry, havent a clue if mine is male or female but the next time i am doing a rescape on the tank i will see if i can sex it but if ya wanna get rid of him i will take it off ya no bother,

the video i was talkin about earlie is an mp4 from my mobile so if ya wanna pm your email i will send it on to ya,

stan

Interesting catfish! I think they may eat a few fry if they are small enough. They do hide alot,they arent fond of bright light I think. So you might wanna place some cork bark or floating plants on the surface. The fish will hide beneath these.
Also a strange name that they have but in truth few actually swim upside down!
Gavin

Fishowner wrote:

Also a strange name that they have but in truth few actually swim upside down!
Gavin

Really? The one I have swims upside down all of the time, I thought they were one of few species that are 'true' upside down swimmers.

All of my fry are still in one piece as of today anyway, here's hoping he's eating the pellets that I fed instead...

Well I think there are only two types who are true upside down swimmers.Alot of others are put into the same category but never actually swim upside down.Ill check it out better and come back on it.
Gavin

2poc, emailed that video to ya hoperfully you will be able to open in it, let me know if there is any problems with it,
i thought i had a better video of it but ya can still see hoe eager it is at feeding time.

@ fishowner,
most of the time mine spends its time swimming upside down except at feeding time where it reverts to normal swimming mode although i have seen it feeding upside down which is very weird to watch. maybe its just each indivdual fish with prefered feeding methods

stan