Hara Jerdoni (Asian Stone Catfish, Moth Catfish, Anchor Catfish)

[Mr. Mom]

I went to a LFS a week ago to buy a tank for my son and I. Figured I'd take a peek at the tanks ... haven't done an impulse buy in a while. But dang (never thought I'd say this about a fish) these guys were so so so cute. Grabbed my phone did a quick search on google, never knew a catfish species was this small.
Yep I bought 6.


Came home and introduced them to my near empty 29G (used to house my Macrobrachium shrimp). Started doing research and am still shocked at their 1.5" max size. Still looking for more info on feeding requirements. Their markings are intriguing. I think its neat that part of their tail fin is translucent.


Here's a few more pics. When I put the 6 Hara Jerdoni's in they first settled on the tank bottom. Over the past week, I've never seen them on the tank bottom again. Normally I find them (when I find them) in the anubias roots or on the leaves themselves.




Figured I'd see how they'd fair over a week before I put too much thought in them. I've never seen all six at the same time since I bought them, but I seem to always spot at least two and once up to four. But I'm starting to learn what to look for in locating them.


Here's a pic of the 29G they are currently in (Starting to think of a permanent set up for them now). There were 2 Cories in there (moved them to another tank today) and there's still 1 White Mountain Minnow (Couldn't catch that 1 when I was moving the rest a while back).


After a week things are still looking good, no loses thankfully ... although feeding requirements are still a concern. But 6 wasn't enough, so today I stopped at that LFS again and picked up another 12.

 

[divemaster99]

Nice cats bro! There's two at my LFS but they'd get eaten by my other catfish I'm guessing.

 

[festaedan]

They look pretty sweet!

 

[Mr. Mom]

Nice cats bro! There's two at my LFS but they'd get eaten by my other catfish I'm guessing.

I'm guessing so as well, these being the size they are would fit in most fishes mouths.

They look pretty sweet!

Thanks, I like them.

Gotta say since adding the extra dozen and giving them a species only tank. I'm seeing more activity than I expected (based off my research so far). I see more activity out of these guys than I do my Banjo Catfish.

Feeding these guys appears to be the biggest challenge so far. Through the reading I've done so far, I'm yet to encounter an article where someone has seen them eat.
So far this is what I've tried.
-New Life Spectrum (Community Fish Formula) Granules = unknown results
-Wardley Algae Discs = Pest snails enjoyed the meal
-Hikari Sinking Wafers = Pest snails enjoyed the meal
-Cobalt Shrimp Pellets = Pest snails enjoyed those too
-Cobalt Cichlid Flakes = unknown results, although some were swimming about.
-Frozen Blood Worms = unknown results, but nothing remaining come morning time.

I have noticed them grazing along the tank walls and along the roots and leaves of the plants. I've a couple scrub brush holders at the top back of the tank with some terrestrial plants growing out of them. Noticed a couple of the Hara Jerdoni's go into the holders and start cleaning the debris along those roots. Beginning to suspect that these guys are a partial tank cleaner. My concern is making sure they're getting a balanced diet.

From my reading O2 content in the water is the biggest factor to their health. Never tested for it before, but based on observation it appears I may be okay (fingers crossed/knock on wood).

At the moment I'm fascinated with these little guys. Based off my reading, I feel I'm experiencing more activity out of mine than most people witness. I believe its due to the fact of their numbers and nothing else in the tank, (except for pest snails and 1 White Mountain Minnow who keeps eluding the net). I'm yet to go into the room and not see at least 4 or 5 swimming around.

When I picked up the extra dozen, the LFS had said they were a species they don't come across too often. Now whether that was a selling ploy or not, I was already hooked on these mini-catfish.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Well stopped into the same LFS today for some supplies. Took a peek at the tank where I got my Hara Jerdoni's from. Glad I bought mine when I did. For the ones remaining, I'd say half are dead. Looks like either they're having oxygen issues or feeding issues. My guess is feeding issues as it was my biggest concern after getting mine.

There's no question about bloodworms now. A couple nights ago, I was able to observe them eating the bloodworms, so that was a relief.

Now just need to figure out other things these guys eat ... I'd like to add variety to the diet.

 

[calichai]

Just stumble across your thread, very interesting catfish. I hope the feeding and what not ago well.


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[Mr. Mom]

Thanks Calichai ... to me they're unique due to their size alone. I seem to be seeing lots of activity that differs from everything I've read on them .... but once again this is probably more due to the fact there's 18 of them in a 29G to themselves.

Supposedly mainly a bottom dweller, I'm finding these guys at all levels in the tank swimming and resting. A couple seem to hang out in the terrestrial plants roots just 1-2" below tank surface right below the light.

Have plenty of Frozen Bloodworms, so these guys won't starve (like the ones at the LFS appear to be doing), just looking for more variety still.

The 29G will be their home for the next little while ... I've other plans for these guys, pending everything else works out too.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Awww! They always look like little airplanes to me. May I ask how much you paid for them? I see them often in my LFS and IIRC they are 6$ each.
I have been wanting some for a while but the tank I have in mind is smaller (10g) and has a pair of gardneri killifish in it so I'm not sure if this would be a good idea or not. :c

Can you sort of describe how they eat? Are they like cories and sort of nibble at the food? I feel like this might be a dumb question but the only type of catfish I've owned are cories.
If I did get them I'd likely try bloodworms & earthworm pellets from kensfish.

 

[Rome]

I'm sure you will be fine on o2 content. They are tiny fish that mostly don't move, not much o2 demand, May live in stagnant water too. As long as you have some type of movement, lik hob filter your good.

 

[Mr. Mom]

I'm sure you will be fine on o2 content. They are tiny fish that mostly don't move, not much o2 demand, May live in stagnant water too. As long as you have some type of movement, lik hob filter your good.

Thanks Rome ... between the plants that are growing (in and out of) the tank, plus my HOB Filter I pretty confident my O2 content is okay. Seeing all the remaining ones dieing at the LFS was a little disheartening though. As for these guys hardly ever moving, I beg to differ from what I'm witnessing. They don't have the rapid movement most of my fish have in my other tanks .... but they're definately not the lay around lazy non-active fish I keep reading about. Guess it depends on the setup and stocklists.

Awww! They always look like little airplanes to me. May I ask how much you paid for them? I see them often in my LFS and IIRC they are 6$ each.
I have been wanting some for a while but the tank I have in mind is smaller (10g) and has a pair of gardneri killifish in it so I'm not sure if this would be a good idea or not. :c

Can you sort of describe how they eat? Are they like cories and sort of nibble at the food? I feel like this might be a dumb question but the only type of catfish I've owned are cories.
If I did get them I'd likely try bloodworms & earthworm pellets from kensfish.

Never thought of the earthworm pellets ... I'll be giving that a shot as well.

I paid $4.99 each for the first 6. When things looked good after a week, I returned to the same LFS and picked up another 12 at $3.99 each.

I don't forsee any problems if you added 1 or 2 to your 10G, based on their size these Hara's are ideal for nano tanks.

As for how they eat ... its kinda cute. Through my research, never came across any accounts of people seeing them eat, so when I saw them eating the bloodworms it was a relief. Thawed out a cube of Frozen Blood Worms and secured it to the base of the tank .... patiently they would come up 1-3 at a time take a blood worm and swim off to eat it. Thus allowing the next 1-3 to come get thiers and so forth. Even at feeding time these guys appear peaceful.

It was a spur of the moment purchase getting these guys (just had a tank ready for them at the time) but no regrets what-so-ever.