by DanRad on Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:08 am
That's an Iridescent Shark. Really a catfish native to SE Asia. Grown there for food on fish farms -- probably here too now as well. I've kept them for years, though they're rather iffy as aquarium fish. They can grow rather large -- around 3 feet -- and are usually shy and easily panicked. You see a lot of them with damaged noses from crashing into the glass. I try to mitigate that by having plants -- either real or plastic -- at the ends of the tank so they'll see they're approaching a barrier. They're also highly susceptible to ich. Will die of it quite quickly. On the other hand, they're not agressive at all, are easy to feed, and if you take their shyness into account (approach the tank slowly), quite people friendly. You can find more info on Planet Catfish, but those are the basics.