Topic: fearing catfish?

[fnesr]

Just a few questions on those little tank cleaning catfish. I've got a small catfish(about 2cm) in with a leluipi(about 10cm). Most fish I have put in this tank have been taunted by the leluipi and most have needed to be removed (even cichlids which I thought were more aggresive). However it has left this catfish alone right from the start. I know that they can do damage to other fish but how do cichlids seem to automaticly know to keep their distance from them? Also they seem to do a good service cleaning tanks. Would it cause problems introducing more of them to this 2.5 foot tank? If not how many would be reasonable? another 5 or 6?

[g]

Hm, do you know what catfish species you have? Some stay that small and prefer to live in groups (like otocinclus - sp.), some plecos and syno cats or similar stay small too and can also be kept in small groups, and some just grow bigger and get territorial.
Maybe it's their way of swimming/moving that keeps the leleupi away

[vitara]

Most catfish have very hard skins or at least are in some way armoured (hard skins and spines) against attacks from other fish or their environment. Almost all catfish live in areas where the currents are very strong so they have to be well protected even from debris flowing with the water. Don't think your leleupi did not try to have a go at it but it must have realised its not such a tasty morsel. post a pic of this catfish, I am thinking its most probably a corydoras of some sort

[fnesr]

Thanks for the info,I dont have a dig. camera at the moment so cant post pic but got the fish from a freind who has others so I will try and see if he knows what it is. It does have small spines on its top fin. Also he has had them for a while and they dont seem that all that big so mabee they do stay small. Anyway I'll let you know if I find out the species and mabee you can tell me abit more about them.

Cheers