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Hey, anyone have any experience with this fish, Pareutropius buffei? I'm considering getting the remaining specimens at the LFS (they have 8) for my 125 gallon that's more-or-less a catfish theme (Royal Plec, Black Lancer, Entomocorus radiosus). I've done a good amount of research, just fishing to find people's comments and experiences on them.

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

Sort of boring, honestly. Mine never did much and were reasonably inactive.

Really? That's in contrast to their activity as I've witnessed them. Hmmm.

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

Yeah , Ive always liked the way they move too, social fish, so a small shoal should keep them active, four or more is good. Even when they sit they do so in quite a sweet way, nestling up and stuff.

I like the schilbeidae catfish generally, nice personalities for most of them , as long as you dont expect the larger ones not to eat small fish, but at 8 cms or so a buffei is a cracking little community fish, much underrated.

Take no heed to the scoffing, they are a good little fish. Most of the schilbeidae are. Might even breed for you. Makes a change from all the plecs , cories , and synos you see, somehow the apperance and movement of the bigger representatives of the glass cats are rather nice to watch, and their pragmatic sensible personality a breeze to live with. In a way, almost a perfect smallish community catfish.

As for the care there isnt much to know, plants, happy in flow or still water, mostly carnivorous diet, meaty catfish pellets will go down well, wormy livefoods will be loved. 22-28c, decent oxygenation, average to soft ph, but its quite negotiable. Nice, and much overlooked fish. Got a few larger species, marmoratus for example. Owning them is a problem free joy. Good feeders, almost completely peacable, long lived too, which makes them value for money. I'd rather have these than most cories.

I dunno; it's not really that they don't move--they certainly swim continuously, but usually in place, much like their Asian silurid counterparts.

Cup, how many did/do you have?

Shini I can't help you on this as the last time they were imported into New Zealand was about 5 years ago..which was about when I was starting out they seem like really sweet cats as well.
How much are they in your part of the world?

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

$3.99 USD each over here, which as far as I'm concerned is pretty good.

I'm also curious as to the specifics of the circumstances, Cup. What was plant cover like, and what were tankmates like? Perhaps something was scaring or preventing the Debauwi cats from swimming around as I have seen them; feel free to crush these hypotheses. But the Debauwi's I saw at the LFS are nothing like the sit-in-place glass cats, which is part of the main reason I'm thinking of going with them instead.

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

Quartet of fish, tankmates, were, of course, loricariids. Other animals include an assortment of unknown aspidoras, inlecypris, and chela. Then again, if probably depends greatly on the environment, as I run unidirectional flow heavy tanks, generally speaking.