Rescued raphael catfish..Questions.

[Kaosu]

ok so I traded 2 medium size anubia plants to save this fish..it came from a friend who pulled it out of his 75 gallon way over stocked under taken care of tank saying he was eating all of his pleco babies.
He had him stuffed in a 3 gallon bow front.. that never got the water changed the water was brown..and there is no logs in it!! ick..poor guy

he is said to be 5 years old?

Questions

does he look stunted?..he is about 4 inches long..and super round in the tummy and thin in the tail...he is being acclimated for my 10g QT tank at the moment.
what should i feed him?
will he eat snails?
tank mates?
any tips on keeping these guys would be great!

..his eyes look a bit cloudy?
(brown water ick)

 

[Gar88]

Great find bro... I have two of them myself... Firstly it is not a raphael catfish (common name chocolate or talking catfish)... It is a doradid but which one I'm not sure... Or I am not aware of this type of raphael...
For the body shape they are usually like that with a belly which I find cute ...
For food they accept sinking pellets, wafers, fillets and market prawns too.... Provide him with hiding dark spaces chances are u will never see him again unless feeding time after lights out.... They also do well in planted setup...
For tank mates I've had mine with many tankmates from cichlids to juvie RTC and bichirs to Giant gauramis and knifes too neva encountered any problem with them.... very peaceful to say the least...
Cheers on keeping this amazing fish...

 

[jardiniarokeep]

gar88 it is a spotted raphael catfish,they eat leftovers and accept pretty much anything that hits the bottom of the tank

 

[Gar88]

gar88 it is a spotted raphael catfish,they eat leftovers and accept pretty much anything that hits the bottom of the tank

Thanks Jar... Glad I learnt something new....

 

[jardiniarokeep]

welcome

 

[eklikewhoa]

WOW!

So that thing was kept in a tiny tank for 5yrs?

 

[Kaosu]

awesome thank you everyone..i got some new pics of him going in to the QT tank..going to make sure he is 100% healthy before he touches any of my other tanks.

he really is an interesting little thing.

WOW!

So that thing was kept in a tiny tank for 5yrs?

no..only the last 6 months or so..with barely no water changes...he was in a 75 over crowded under filterd tank that also never got water changes before that..and no clue before that

 

[Gar88]

awesome thank you everyone..i got some new pics of him going in to the QT tank..going to make sure he is 100% healthy before he touches any of my other tanks.

he really is an interesting little thing.



no..only the last 6 months or so..with barely no water changes...he was in a 75 over crowded under filterd tank that also never got water changes before that..and no clue before that

Waiting on the pics bro... looking at the above pics again and again... i guess i am gonna start hunting one down for myself...

 

[Kaosu]

 

[daleteekz]

He looks beautiful! One of my all time favourites. They will eat almost anything. If you can get lava rock, he may hide in there. But at least you will still get a look at him while he is in hiding. I think they go well with others of their kind, even the striped ones. Other catfish, loaches, ghost knives, elephant nose.