I know they are mellow with fish too large for them to eat. The question is can their spines hurt tankmates if they brush up against them while swimming around of if the tankmate collides into the catfish from the side? Have any of you had fish suffer injury from brushing up against the spines of a giant raphael catfish?
Giant Raphael Catfish
- Thread starter TheEelKing
- Start date
They do hurt as I’ve grabbed one to see. If the fish gets a mouthful then I’d see an issue. Other fish can possibly get injured from but not too often since usually hidden.
Okay. I was wondering because in my tank I have a large clown knife, a large bichir, and clown loaches. I was wondering if one of these fish were swimming past the giant raphael and brushed up against its side if the spines can damage them? My fear is the loaches and the knife (and maybe even the bichir) may even try to hide with the catfish and get injured in the process by coming in contact with the spines. These are awesome catfish, I think, and they aren't as predatory as other similar-sized catfish which is why I'm developing an interest in them. I don't want one if it can hurt my other fish by accident, though.
If it’s not too rough the fish will be fine. If all stuck in a log or tries biting then there will be some probs.
Mine is only 3-4 inches now, but so are most of the fish he is kept with (everyone will eventually be about 8+ inches), so far no problems and nobody bothering each other. I think they have a bit of control over when they use the spines, so they wouldn’t use them unless being stressed or eaten.
So, if they wanted to snuggle up with the catfish in its hiding place, they should be safe from the spines? None of them would try and bite the catfish as I'd make sure to grow it out to where its too large to be considered food by either the knife or the bichir.
The spines are a mostly defensive mechanism ime. They deter predatory fish who might try and take a taste of them. Otherwise, they will use them to try and push competition out of hiding spots that they want, and even bully their way into a feeding area if they need to. 99% of the time I would say Raphaels are amongst the most peaceful residents though, never heard of one or seen mine really harm another fish.
This includes the spines along the side of the fish? I know the smaller striped raphael can control its top spine, but I'm more concerned about the side spines of the giant raphael since they appear to be much larger than the side spines of the striped raphael's. (I used to keep an adult striped raphael with a 22 inch clown knife. They hung out in the same hiding space and had no problems, but again, the giant raphael has more fearsome side spines.)
