Eel Tail Catfish

Tandanus tandanus

When viewed from the side an eel tail catfish is similar to the shape of a ghost knife fish. Younger fish are mottled black grey but mature to a browner shade after some growth. The mature fish can also be found in shades of brown red, olive green,  and brown purple. They have large spines running though their pectoral and dorsal fins so beware of these when handling as they can cause a painful wound. The mouth is surrounded by 4 pairs of sensitive barbells.

Tankmates

Smaller fish may also become targets of opportunistic feeding. These catfish may take to eating their mouth sized tank mates if their feeding is irregular. Choose other large Australian native companions or perhaps some non paired cichlids.

Tandanus Catfish Profile

Family - Ariidae

Size - Up to 90cm growing smaller in captivity

Fish Origin - South East Australian biotope or lakes

Water - Keep pH close to a neutral 7 and medium

Temperature - Up to 30°C and down to 5°C in the wild

Feeding - Bottom feeding omnivore that is not to picky. Worms are good.

Sexing - Not obvious

Breeding - Egg are laid in nest in the substrate and guarded

Aquarium - They are often sold small initially but require a large aquarium

Feeding

Feed a mixed diet made up of sinking pellets and live foods such as earthworms and other small tidbits. The eel tail catfish will also use it's mouth barbells to seek out any uneaten food scraps from other fish kept in it's aquarium.

Breeding

Tandanus are sexually mature at 50cm which can be reached at 5 years of age. The size of the adults makes breeding more practical in an outdoor pond but it can be achieved a large aquarium. Expect a spawn of several thousand eggs which the parents will lay in a 1 meter substrate depression. After being layed the eggs take 2 weeks to hatch. The parents then tend to the nest until the fry are free swimming. In the wild these fish will often nest very close to the bank of the water body making their breeding easy to observe.

Tandanus Catfish Video

The eel tail catfish will swim at all levels of the aquarium. Although it is
primarily a substrate feeder it will rise to the surface in search of food also.

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