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I got a ~ 1" Jaguar Cat a couple of days ago and can't find it

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/auchenip/liosomad/173_F.PHP

He's little and likes to hide but I tempted him with frozen bloodworms last night and dimmed the lights and no-show. Does anyone have experience with these guys? Are the jumpers?

Such a pretty cat!
One inch is very small, so he's probably just hiding. As long as there is bits of leftover food in the tank, he won't starve, so don't worry too much if you don't see him everyday. It's not uncommon for catfish and plecos to find very good hiding places where they almost blend in, and stay there for long periods of time. I'll bet he comes out while you're sleeping... sneaky cat!

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

He's a baby alright. I think that's why I got him for $10 instead of $40 for the 2-4" Jaguars I see online. He liked the driftwood the first day, then went for more seclusion. I figure he must be in the one ceramic castle I have but I lifted that out and still couldn't find him. The small plecos hide in that castle when I pull it out of the tank for cleanings. I had a young clown pleco that was in the bottom of a bucket for over two hours with nothing more than a wet paper towel to suck water from. Two weeks later, he's still alive a healthy looking.

Jaguar catfish are driftwood cats. They love hiding and most keepers wait weeks to catch a glimpse. Are you sure that it is a true jaguar cat. I have never heard of them being imported that small, they have become very rare and very few have been imported lately.

I'll send you a picture Well, the last time I saw it, it looked like the real thing and I bought it from a VERY reputable pet store. It is tiny, but looks just like the pix in the link I sent in the first post. Are there other cats that look like these guys?

I take it they only breed in the wild then I'm not fond of getting fish that can't be bred in captivity but I tend to buy on impulse and reseach later.

If they are rare, I'd better take good care of him...any ideas? I can lower the PH which I've read may be important. I've read that frozen food is important as well. Any other foods that you know these guys like?

Congrats on getting a jaguar catfish i've been trying to get one for the last couple of years but the cheapest i've seen is $130NZ (though it was 6'')
Anyway jag's are quite rare and picking one up for $10 is a steal because they have not been bred in captivity to the best of my knowledge
To try and keep a jag happy your going to need a fairly large tank if you want to keep him for life as they can get to a chunky 10'' and obviously at that size he will gladly eat smaller fish so he will need larger and peaceful tankmates.
They are easy to feed, drop some pellets in when they lights are out, and its a good idea to tempt him out with bloodworms when he is getting used to his new home as you are doing
Wood is preferred over rock, and they prefer slightly acidic water at about 6.5, i'm not too sure how important that is though
Good luck with your jaguar

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Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

Pictures...I had to take the castle out of the water and still had a hard time finding him

http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/?action=view&current=JaguarCat2.jpg

http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/?action=view&current=JaguarCat1.jpg

http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e167/d_kelley/?action=view&current=JaguarCat3.jpg

Nope not a jaguar. Its a Tatia Perugiae or oil catfish. Its a driftwood catfish but stays about 3".

Indeed. Both are great catfish, but your girl is pretty good looking. A great catfish, but unfortunately quite light-shy. Fun fact is that the Tatia can be sexed similar to livebearers as they use internal fertilization! However, they do lay eggs.

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

Good information...gotta raise hell at the local pet shop.

I would give them a break, many fish imported are misidentified and the shops just use names given to them by distributors. Also to someone who hasn't seen an oil cat before they very may think its a jag cat. I have been looking for jag cats for the last year or 2 and still haven't located any.

Common names. Serious business.

Anyways, I wouldn't sweat it. These fish know their way around the tank. Once they recognize yoour feeding regime, you'll be SURE to see them around the tank; they are veritable ichthyoidal rockets. Auchies are all like that.

On a related note, several stores around here have been getting in jags on a regular basis. LAX importing really works to the advantage of many hobbyists here, so I suppose rarity is relative to location (Asian cats are all but nonexistant, however--go figure).

Yeah, well, it's still a cool cat but I will let the shop know that it's not what they think is it is. Also, I am moving toward larger fish and the oil cat doesn't get very big.

So Cup, your saying that you can't get cats like moths/hara hara or asian bumblebees or mystus cats? asian cats are fairly common and not too pricy in NZ, its the rarer south american cats that i can't find I don't know much about the fish trade so would it be down to location?
And back on topic, a tatia would not be the best choice for larger cats like you said

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Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

No haras, no gats, no nothing. ;_;

cup of life. what stores in the LA area have jag cats at. ive been looking for these things for awhile now also.

Mainly SD stores. I don't know the names but I've got all the addresses on me--I don't usually keep track of the individual store names; just the locations.

Thats a really cute cat, I know this trhead is a little old but, It is worth saying very cute!

If your aquarium parameters are fine, and the rest of the fishes are bouncing with positively rude health, I woudln't worry about your new baby catfish hiding. Especially something like a Tatia species that likes to bury itself in bogwood tangles.

I have Otocinclus, and because of the nice lush forests of greenery they have to play with, I have trouble seeing them all. In fact, sometimes I have to resort to sending in a robot submersible to find them! (Well not quite, but you know what I mean ).

Plus, at only 1 inch long, he's going to find it ridiculously easy to find hiding places, so if you've provided them, he'll take full advantage


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002