Striped Raphael Catfish

[longtyme68]

I was wondering through Petsmart as I often do browsing different aquatic, cat, or dog items. (I have two Chocolate Lab/Rottweiler mixed puppies, 1 tabby, 1 calico, and 1 tortoiseshell cat. Geez, I have a farm!) I ran across a Striped Raphael catfish, a.k.a. "talking catfish" for his audible sounds/croaks. I was intrigued by this animal and saw that it was claimed to only get 4". Well I decided that I need to do a little research as I always do prior to purchase, PTP. I jumped on MFT and much to my surprise found no info on this beautiful catfish. I don't know who fills out the fish profiles, so I just posted a general message with some information. Here are a few links I found. Enjoy!

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/catfish/striperaph.php
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_costatus.php
http://species.fishindex.com/species_2320platydoras_costatus_striped_raphael_catfish.html

Also, he cost me $5.99, so he is the most expensive fish in my 75-Serenity right now! Woohoo!

 

[cinlnk]

I bought one about a month ago for my Malawi Tank.... Only seen him about 4 times.... they spend most of their time hiding.....the other fish dont bother him.... he is about 4 inches long..... Only time I ever see him is at night with the lights off... I shine a flashlight in the tank.. He will usually come out about 10 min after the lights are off.

 

[SeaMonkeyMiner]

Yeah I bought one over a year ago and he is around 5". The only time I ever see him is if I make an effert to find him other wise I just throw some shrimp pellets and blood worms at night and he does just fine. IDK if I have ever heard him make sounds. Once I thought I did but I couldnt be sure that it was him.

 

[fishkeeper1210]

they can grow up to 8 inches if the tank is big enough. they usually eat when the light is off and won't leave their "hide out" until the light is off.

 

[longtyme68]

Yeah, Raphael is in the 75 gallon along with the list below. I have seen him a couple of times last night and then once or twice today. I have faux stumps that provide a few little cracks/crevices for him to hide. He has claimed the one on the left side of my tank. I think I need to set my light timer to go off a little earlier, so that I can see him before I go to bed. But the timer is good for setting a steady schedule for the plants to flourish by. Thanks to all for the additional personal experiences.

 

[animal lover]

I had 2 a spotted on and a striped one, and I heard them make the noise, they were so nice looking unfourtunatly I had a really bad ich outbreak and lost about 20 fish along with them...enjoy them when you see them as they are adorable

 

[lou48314]

The best catfish I ever had.
I had a striped and a spotted. They were neat fish. They lived longer than any other fish I had. When I tore down the tank that they were in I traded them in at the pet store.
I had them for over five years. They were each a good 5-6 inches long when I swapped them.