Red Whiptail Catfish
Rineloricaria sp.
Also called red lizard whiptail, whiptail catfish.
Wants floor rather than depth: it spends its life lying on surfaces, so a long tank beats a tall one. Sand or smooth gravel, because it rests on its belly and rough substrate wears it raw. Keep it under 26 degrees and keep the water moving; warm still water is what kills them. It grazes biofilm but will not live on that alone, so feed courgette, a sinking vegetable wafer, and let wood build a film on it. Males grow bristles on the snout and guard the eggs in a tube on their own.
What it needs
- Grows to
- 12 cm
- Smallest sensible tank
- 75 L, at least 80 cm long
- Temperature
- 22 to 26 °C
- pH
- 6 to 7.5
- Hardness
- 2 to 15 dGH
- Kept in
- ones or pairs
- Temperament
- peaceful
- Eats
- biofilm and vegetables
- Swims
- near the bottom
- How hard
- moderate
- Lives
- about 8 years
These are the figures the stocking advice is built on. Make a room and it will tell you whether a red Whiptail Catfish fits the tank you have.