Just wondering if anyone out there has experience with these catfish? My lfs says they are totally peaceful, max out at 2.5 inches, like soft water and prefer a low ph. I guess there is a closely related African Bumble Bee Catfish that these shouldn't be confused with. I guess I'd just like to know if that's all true.
Info on North American Bumble Bee Catfish?
- Thread starter dakota21
- Start date
I have to correct myself. It's a South American Catfish, not North American. I went back to the lfs today and talked with the person working. He says he has 2 in this tank that he got approx 8 months ago when the lfs had them last. He said they are barely 2.5 inches (not much larger than when he bought them) and they have never been predatory towards his small schooling fish. He has a 36 gallon tank, so he felt like they would have grown a little by now if they were going to. I hate decisions like this!!! Hopefully someone out there knows something!
The fish you have there is PROBABLY of the genus Microglanis . These are South American catfish that usually don't exceed about 8.5cm (3 1/2 inches). There are a number of species, four of which show up reasonably commonly in local fish stores: M. iheringi, M. poecilus, M. parahybae, and M. secundus.
I've kept Microglanis poecilus in the past and found them to be secretive little catfish that only become active at night. They are decidedly predatory so you don't want to keep them in a tank with fish that can fit into their surprisingly large mouth. As adults they can easily make short work of a guppy-sized fish.
Here's a very good link on these catfish: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/microglanis_iheringi.htm
The other possibility is that you have the Asian Bumblebee Cat, Pseudomystus (Leiocassis) siamensis. They get to about twice the size of Microglanis and have the same secretive, predatory nature.
A web page (same author as the link above) for Pseudomystus is at: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/pseudomystus_siamensis.html
I've kept Microglanis poecilus in the past and found them to be secretive little catfish that only become active at night. They are decidedly predatory so you don't want to keep them in a tank with fish that can fit into their surprisingly large mouth. As adults they can easily make short work of a guppy-sized fish.
Here's a very good link on these catfish: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/microglanis_iheringi.htm
The other possibility is that you have the Asian Bumblebee Cat, Pseudomystus (Leiocassis) siamensis. They get to about twice the size of Microglanis and have the same secretive, predatory nature.
A web page (same author as the link above) for Pseudomystus is at: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/pseudomystus_siamensis.html
Here are a couple of links for you, to make sure it's the right one, and some info on them. Finding the Latin name and doing a google search is usually a good way to find stuff. 
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/pseudopi/microgla/303_f.php
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/2000-10.htm
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/pseudopi/microgla/303_f.php
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/2000-10.htm
The fish you have there is PROBABLY of the genus Microglanis . These are South American catfish that usually don't exceed about 8.5cm (3 1/2 inches). There are a number of species, four of which show up reasonably commonly in local fish stores: M. iheringi, M. poecilus, M. parahybae, and M. secundus.
I've kept Microglanis poecilus in the past and found them to be secretive little catfish that only become active at night. They are decidedly predatory so you don't want to keep them in a tank with fish that can fit into their surprisingly large mouth. As adults they can easily make short work of a guppy-sized fish.
Here's a very good link on these catfish: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/microglanis_iheringi.htm
The other possibility is that you have the Asian Bumblebee Cat, Pseudomystus (Leiocassis) siamensis. They get to about twice the size of Microglanis and have the same secretive, predatory nature.
A web page (same author as the link above) for Pseudomystus is at: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/pseudomystus_siamensis.html
I've kept Microglanis poecilus in the past and found them to be secretive little catfish that only become active at night. They are decidedly predatory so you don't want to keep them in a tank with fish that can fit into their surprisingly large mouth. As adults they can easily make short work of a guppy-sized fish.
Here's a very good link on these catfish: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/microglanis_iheringi.htm
The other possibility is that you have the Asian Bumblebee Cat, Pseudomystus (Leiocassis) siamensis. They get to about twice the size of Microglanis and have the same secretive, predatory nature.
A web page (same author as the link above) for Pseudomystus is at: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/pseudomystus_siamensis.html
Sorry for the double post. Some VERY strange things have been going on with this forum lately. A lot of the time I can't get to the forum at all. When I finally do...it takes forever for the pages to load. When I posted my reply...both times I got a 'Page not found' error in Internet Explorer so I didn't even realize that anything had gone through. Anybody else having this problem of late??
i have a bumble bee cat. it looks like the Microglanis Iheringi pic fruitbat posted.mine is about 3" and 4 years old .definitely nocturnal i only see it during water changes. it dose have a big mouth for its size but it hasn't been a problem in my tank.cool looking cat when you can see it.i have an old pic ill post if i can find it.steve