Red Lizard Tail Catfish

[k0olmini]

Anyone have any experience keeping these? I finally find a place that has them but am unsure about caring for them. Please don't link me to a care page found on google

[Sykes]

I picked up a half dozen about a month ago and have them in a 75 g planted community tank with some featherfins, peacock gudgeons, and kuhli loaches. They've seemed pretty easy so far; I haven't really had to do anything special for them. Care-wise, I pretty much think of them as small bristlenose plecos. I assume they eat some of the scrap foods that fall to the bottom, but a vast majority of the time I just see them munching on algae.

Here's a picture of one of mine attached to guppy grass I had floating. I suspect he's just eating the algae off it, I haven't seen any plant damage from them. 

[k0olmini]

Cant see the picture but glad to hear they’re easy 

[Nataku]

Yes yes yes I love these little dudes. Such a funky unique shape and yet super easy care. Ever kept plecos or corydoras before? They're basically just a mix of those. Like. A really laid back cory or a slightly more active bristlenose. Only slightly more active though.

So, they like driftwood. Driftwood with algae or moss growing on it? Even better. I always found that was one of their favorite perches so nice broad pieces they can sit fairly horizontally on. They aren't huge on hanging vertically, at least mine weren't.  I'd see it maybe once or twice a week, and then they'd  float/glide back over somewhere they could lie more horizontally. Especially if a group of them can lay near/see each other. They aren't schoolers, but they definitely have way more calm if they know their own kind is around. I had to pull one out to quarantine once for a badly split dorsal fin, that one was a nervous wreck despite being in a super calm, high tannin tank as the only fish. Was always so pale during his solo quarantine. Added him back to the main tank and he darkened right back up after sitting on the other whiptails for a couple days.

They prefer calmer tankmates. But honestly they pretty much go about their own business and ignore other tankmates. I've kept them with angels, apistos, rams, corydoras, cardinals, rummynose and Silvertip tetras. They weren't super enthused about the activity level of the silvertips but once I provided them with some lower driftwood pieces that met their desired perching specs and some big amazon swords to provide a bit more cover? Chill. If doing other territorial bittom dwellers like apistos, be sure to provide plenty of areas so the apistos can claim their space, and the whiptails still have plenty of room to chill... away from the apistos. Wouldn't really recommend them with other plecos because  just about every other pleco out there is more pushy than they are. And they let themselves get pushed around. Bristlenose? Way more pushy. I removed the bristlenose from the tank with the whiptails when I watched the bristlenose basically coral them into a corner and then take all the algae wafers for itself. They're good with shrimp! Harmless to all but the tiniest of babies and even then, not active hunters. The shrimp basically has to walk into their mouth to get eaten.

Diet is like a pleco. Lots of veggies,  algae, spirulina tablets are loved. Sinking wafers. Ocassional bits of more protein, I've  seen them take frozen bloodworms left sitting on the bottom, as well as brine shrimp and krill (as adults). If you do Repashy gel foods, I figure they'll  take that easily, I never tried that with mine but that was.... many moons ago.

 

 

[k0olmini]

9 hours ago, Nataku said:

Yes yes yes I love these little dudes. Such a funky unique shape and yet super easy care. Ever kept plecos or corydoras before? They're basically just a mix of those. Like. A really laid back cory or a slightly more active bristlenose. Only slightly more active though.

So, they like driftwood. Driftwood with algae or moss growing on it? Even better. I always found that was one of their favorite perches so nice broad pieces they can sit fairly horizontally on. They aren't huge on hanging vertically, at least mine weren't.  I'd see it maybe once or twice a week, and then they'd  float/glide back over somewhere they could lie more horizontally. Especially if a group of them can lay near/see each other. They aren't schoolers, but they definitely have way more calm if they know their own kind is around. I had to pull one out to quarantine once for a badly split dorsal fin, that one was a nervous wreck despite being in a super calm, high tannin tank as the only fish. Was always so pale during his solo quarantine. Added him back to the main tank and he darkened right back up after sitting on the other whiptails for a couple days.

They prefer calmer tankmates. But honestly they pretty much go about their own business and ignore other tankmates. I've kept them with angels, apistos, rams, corydoras, cardinals, rummynose and Silvertip tetras. They weren't super enthused about the activity level of the silvertips but once I provided them with some lower driftwood pieces that met their desired perching specs and some big amazon swords to provide a bit more cover? Chill. If doing other territorial bittom dwellers like apistos, be sure to provide plenty of areas so the apistos can claim their space, and the whiptails still have plenty of room to chill... away from the apistos. Wouldn't really recommend them with other plecos because  just about every other pleco out there is more pushy than they are. And they let themselves get pushed around. Bristlenose? Way more pushy. I removed the bristlenose from the tank with the whiptails when I watched the bristlenose basically coral them into a corner and then take all the algae wafers for itself. They're good with shrimp! Harmless to all but the tiniest of babies and even then, not active hunters. The shrimp basically has to walk into their mouth to get eaten.

Diet is like a pleco. Lots of veggies,  algae, spirulina tablets are loved. Sinking wafers. Ocassional bits of more protein, I've  seen them take frozen bloodworms left sitting on the bottom, as well as brine shrimp and krill (as adults). If you do Repashy gel foods, I figure they'll  take that easily, I never tried that with mine but that was.... many moons ago.

 

 

Thank you so much!!!! I’ve been looking for other info. Wasn’t sure if they were hard to take care of or difficult to feed