Spotted Raphael

[cracklingice]

My newest addition...
http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/animals/fish/30gals/100_3825.JPG
4-5"

[amazonlover]

nice fish! i like the gold spots:)

[fire mouth man]

beatiful fish!!

[Northernblades]

Never again.
I had 2 of them for nearly 10 years.

for the first 5 years I never saw the stupid thing. now, nearly too big for the tank. CHICKEN skitish, angry, Retalitory, meen, and messy, all words I would use to describe this... monstrosity. but they are interesting,

[RobSplatF4]

Thats interesting because all four of mine come out when I feed, and two of them are only an inch long. The cichlids never bother them, in fact they push the cichlids out of the way.

[cracklingice]

blades, how big is your raphael?

[Northernblades]

4 pound 1 ounce :) I meen roughtly. 8 inch. maybe pushin 10, next time I am at home I will take a picture. it is a monster. and the only reason we see it, is cause there is no place left for it to hide. I had 2 striped, but one passed away last time the tank went. ... belly up. weird, they seemed like friends. one was quite "rounded" and soft looking, and one. more armoured looking. I will look for pictures. but they were buddies. they hid in a clau pink and yellow cave thing till they got too big, had to break it to get them out, I don;t think they ever did come out, just filter feeding or something.

[Northernblades]

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_costatus.php

this one looks like my "softer" one

[Northernblades]

and I wold guess the other one is listed as a Chocolate. he he, I am so smrt [url]http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/doradida/acanthod/626_1.PHP

stupid site will not let me hotlink

[balton777]

NorthernBlades, you must have a different kind of spotted Raphael because they're only supposed to get 4-5" when full grown. Thats the reason I bought my Striped Raphael, I needed a catfish that wouldn't outgrow my 55g. If you have a 4lb spotted raphael, it must be a freak of nature. lol

[LoJack]

Balton, I don't know what your LFS told you. But the striped and spotted Raphael Cats hit 10 inches easy. They are a huge fish. My striped is already over 6 inches. If you google search the striped Raphael you'll find a little bit more info on them ... they get rather large.

[balton777]

Hi Lojack. I've owned a Striped Raphael since 1999 and it's less than 7". Maybe its a female or something. Do you have one thats bigger? I'd love to see it, send us a picture dude. I took your advice and checked out a few sites but they ALL say the Striped Raphael gets about 5-7". I cant find the 10 inch, Four pound Striped Raphael anywhere. I want mine to grow to 10"+. How????

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Raphael.htm (http://)

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cat_raphaelstriped.htm (http://)

http://species.fishindex.com/species_2320platydoras_costatus_striped_raphael_ca tfish.html (http://)

http://home.1asphost.com/jonashansel/site/other_species/platydoras_costatus.asp (http://)

http://members.tripod.com/aqua_topia/stripedraphael.htm (http://)

[balton777]

I can't seem to get the links to work but I did look around and maybe we're talking about two different fish.

[balton777]

I'm sorry to keep dragging this on but Lojack has me confused now. Lets ask Rudy or SGypsyMermaid. I think the Spotted Raphael grows about 5" and the Striped Raphael gets about 7" but Lojack so says they grow to 10" and 4 pounds. Mine is approaching 7" after 7 years of raising him and is nowhere near 4 lbs not even a pound because he's not all that thick. Is mine just an extra small one?.

P.S. I know Lojack is very experienced with fish cuz I've read alot of his posts so no disrespect intended.

[Northernblades]

the 4 pounds was me being a pest. but I would say 10 inch. legit. the weight was just a wild ball number. I will have to take pictures next time I am home. it has long since outgrown moms 48 gallon. tank.

and I would say roughtly 10 inch is about right.
again my apologies the 4 pound one ounce, was just something that roled off the toung. I would also have a quick look to see if "chocolate catfish get any bigger" they are VERRY similar in apearance to the striped.

and I am not sure if the spotted is smaller than the striped or chocolate.