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well not quite a full on invasion

i went and bought some bogwood with java fern from pets at home and even though the woman told the trainee to shake it properly to make sure nothing was stuck

30 mins later at home as i put it in - it had two plecs stuck to it!

the tanks been running for a while and there's more than enough space for them. what kinda plecs are they?

what kinda foods is it? wafers?

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7751/p1000631hb7.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2299/p1000637gp7.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/4021/p1000627ih5.jpg

Those don't look like plecos to me. They look like a regular catfish. Kind of hard to tell by the photo. Could be a raphael catfish?

yeah they're not the most photogenic of fishes

damn things first wouldnt come out!

i havent been able to take a good look at them myself properly either

they're very similar to a striped dora

except the stripes are the opposite

platydoras costatus (striped raphael catfish) they do appear to be, but hard to say for sure...hmmm
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oGkmOyU4ZIDJQAmVFXNyoA?ei=UTF-8&p=striped%20raphael%20catfish&fr2=tab-web&fr=ytff1-amo
( do a copy-paste on above link, may work better)
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=166

maybe another possibility ...
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=612
Orinocodoras eigenmanni, can't seem to locate a "common name" other than Orinico, but have reportedly been sold as striped raffies, it seems the difference is going to be most noticeable in the snout and adipose fin,

anyway... nice score on the "hidden fish" !! hehe, I see you have a variety of other fish in your tank, check the water requirements of the others and see if they are compatible , one nice thing about catfish,well kinda, most will eat just about anything, including other fish small enough to fit in its mouth, and be careful of the spines in the finnage...a buddy of mine found out the hard way and didn't listen to me...he got horned THROUGH a fingernail...ouch!!, anyway hopes this helps ya some, or atleast gives you a idea or direction to persue .

J.

i took some more clear pics

its hard cause i've got to chase them out of the dark spot and then just wait till they sit still!

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/705/p1000658kt8.jpg

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/4899/p1000666kw3.jpg

having googled raphael catfish they do seem to be the ones i've got

nocturnal, they dont grow very large 5cm which was the main thing - i didnt want a 20 cm catfish that i'd have trouble getting out.

the only other thing is that the gravel i have isnt that fine...

striped raphael catfish, cool fish

They are raphael catfish, as mentioned. They grow to 16 cm not including the tail, so you should consider returning them to the fish store. They do grow quite slowly, if I'm not mistaken, but they will get bigger.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

15cm?!

alot of the sites have said 5-8cm at most...

just a quick update - they've settled in really well - got a few hiding places - see them the odd few times when i put the light on and they get caught out

i went back to the shop and to the tank they got the log out and there was no mention of the raphael catfish. so i asked if they had any in stock? nope we dont

i dont think they even knew they had them in.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/609/1001827om6.jpg

there's one of dem bad boys...

the other hides just on the other side where i cant see him

He is cool hey? All I ever got in dw is a plain chinese algae eater.

Two free Raphael cats! Sweet!

They're something like $70 each here, I think.

Free fish can be hard to come by, congrats.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa

Well looks to me like you got about 12 dollars of free fish. Where was this place? lol

Wow good "buy"... striped raphies are a very cool, and interesting fish