I was thinking of adding a group of 5-6 cats to my tank (150G). Anyone have any experience with these?

What size do they grow to? Compatability? Thanks,
Scott

Hi Scott,

Your post caught my eye because it reminded me of the mysterious humming noise that kept the people who lived on house-boats in Sausalito, California awake nights and generally drove them nuts. After weeks of investigation, it was determined that the noise was coming from marine catfish. (P.S. - As Short points out in his post below, it might have been toadfish; in fact, I believe now that it was toadfish. Anyway, it was a good piece for the little human-interest segment at the end of the nightly TV news for a couple of weeks. [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img] )

Bob Fenner has a couple of pages on them in The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Here are some interesting quotes from that source:

Feeding. All foods--pellet, frozen, fresh, or flake--are accepted greedily by healthy specimens. I suggest twice-daily feedings, at least once with defrosted frozen food that easily can be placed in an open area on the bottom. They grow quickly when well fed, but fade away fast if starved.

Size. Most individuals offered are 4 to 6 inches long. The marine species brought into the retail trade, all called "coral cats," rarely exceed a foot in captivity, although they can be longer than a yard in the wild.

Habitat. ...sand/gravel, and coral/rock rubble. ...coral cats prosper where there is a strong current and plenty of hiding spaces. As they get larger, their waste can put a heavy strain on smaller systems or ones with inadequate filtration.

Behavior. ...these catfishes have one other unusual behavior--their sound production. Marine cats hum or buzz loud enough to be heard outside the aquarium.

The larger members of the family may be testy toward members of their own kind as they grow. All will gladly swallow other organisms small enough to fit in their mouths, and smaller fish give them a wide berth.

Coral cats themselves are non-specific invertebrate predators. Marine forms focus on interstitial fauna, such as various worm groups, crustacea, mollusks, and others. Reef keepers take note.

There are two important rules to remember, however: 1) Don't put these animals on clean-up detail--they are not scavengers and will do poorly if left to survive on leftovers or recyclables. 2) These fishes are extremely venomous and will render a nasty, painful, and potentially dangerous puncture if handled carelessly.

HTH [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Ninong

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Irrational Exuberance!

[This message has been edited by Ninong (edited 10-13-2000).]

Ninong - what you said about the people who lived on house-boats in Sausalito, California - According to reef fish by scott michael - it was a toadfish (or was it the lizard fish? I'll have to re-check my book) that made these noises. Anyways, they are very interesting schooling fish that fade color as they grow old, they are extremely hardy and feed on practically anything on the ground of the aquarium. Of course it is also suggested you have heavy filtration to keep up with the detritus they put out. I would just like to stress one last time that these guys are EXTREMELY hardy fish and are easy to keep. I say go for it, these guys are really neat.

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Short
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Tankyouveymuch

1' x 5 would = way to much fish capicity for a 150.

I had about 4 in my 125 gallon. They have stingers.. Just like lionfish, but about 10 times as more painful. It hurt like a bit**

hi ive tried them before. i caught some 20 small ones when walking by teh flats at low tide. i put them in my tank and they swam around. 2 days later i saw a few dead ones and they just kept dying. they didnt seem to eat. it was a new tank and the fish were about .5 in small. i dont know what went wrong. i had them with clowns and lions. lions would stay away from them.

I am a little confused by this, you guys seem to all have negative responses about these fish, yet they are incredibly hardy and a really good fish for an aquarium. I am going to have to dis-agree with everybody about your view on these fish.

Oh, yeah, It was the toadfish that I was thinking of, it matches almost exactly to ninongs story except that it was the toadfish and not the catfish, who knows maybe they both make noise.

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Short
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Tankyouveymuch

[This message has been edited by Short393 (edited 10-14-2000).]