Striped Raphael catfish

Quick facts

Adult size

20 cm

Lifespan

can live up to 20 years; one of the longest-lived community catfish

Tank zone

bottom

Temperament

peaceful

Difficulty

beginner

Typically wild-caught

yes - acclimate slowly

Water parameters

Temperature

22–30°C

pH

5.5 to 7.5

Hardness

2 to 20 dGH

Tank requirements

Minimum volume

250 L

Minimum length

120 cm

Flow

low

Lighting

low

Substrate

sand

Driftwood

preferred

Hiding spots

needed

Feeding

Diet: omnivore, feeds primarily at the bottom.

Eats at night. Sinking pellets, wafers, frozen bloodworm, frozen shrimp, and frozen krill are the staple foods. Drop food near the fish's hiding spot after lights-out. They'll also scavenge any food that reaches the bottom during daytime feeding, vacuuming it up after dark. Not picky, not shy about eating once they come out. In tanks with aggressive daytime feeders, the raphael compensates by being patient and thorough at night. Live earthworms and blackworms are relished.

Nocturnal feeder; drop food after lights out so it can eat without competition.

Compatibility

• Nocturnal, peaceful, and armored. During the day, raphael catfish wedge themselves into caves, driftwood, or behind equipment and don't move. At night, they emerge and cruise the bottom searching for food. You may own one for years and rarely see it.
• Safe with any fish too large to eat. Despite reaching 20–25 cm, they're not predatory in the way oscars or pike cichlids are. Mouth size limits prey to very small fish and invertebrates. Adult cherry shrimp are safe; shrimplets may not be.
• The pectoral fin spines lock and are serrated. Same handling precaution as pictus catfish: never net them, always use a rigid container. The spines can puncture bags and sting your hands.
• Extremely long-lived. Specimens in the 15-20 year range are common, and reports of 25+ years exist. A raphael catfish is a long-term commitment.

Habitat

Native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. Found in rivers and flooded forests over sandy and muddy substrates with abundant hiding spots (submerged logs, root tangles, leaf litter). The species produces audible sounds by stridulation (rubbing the pectoral fin spines against the shoulder girdle) and by vibrating the swim bladder. You can hear a striped raphael croaking when you pick it up or when it's communicating with other catfish at night. The body is heavily armored with bony plates (scutes) along the lateral line, dark brown to black with bold white or cream horizontal stripes running from head to tail. The armor provides protection against predators in the wild and makes the fish nearly indestructible in the aquarium. Adults reach 20–25 cm in captivity. The species was described by Valenciennes in 1840 and has been in the hobby for decades. Almost all specimens are wild-caught; captive breeding is rare because the fish are inexpensive to collect and difficult to breed.

Breeding

Rarely bred in home aquariums. The spawning triggers are unknown in captivity and may involve seasonal flooding and migration cues. Sexing is unreliable; females may be slightly rounder when gravid. Commercial breeding has been reported using hormone injection in Southeast Asian facilities, but details are scarce. Wild-caught specimens are plentiful and cheap, which removes the economic incentive for breeding. Some hobbyists report finding fry in tanks with long-established adults, suggesting that spontaneous spawning is possible but not predictable.

Common problems

The main "problem" is that you never see them. Striped raphael catfish are committed to their daytime hiding spots and don't emerge until the lights are off. Keepers who expect a visible fish are disappointed. Adding moonlight LEDs (dim blue or red) lets you watch their nocturnal activity. The locking pectoral spines are a handling hazard covered above. Ich can appear in new purchases; the armored body makes visual diagnosis harder because the white spots are less visible against the pale striping. Treat with elevated temperature. Chemical treatments penetrate the bony armor more slowly, so extend treatment duration. Starvation is a risk in community tanks where daytime feeders eat everything before the raphael comes out. Targeted nighttime feeding prevents this. The fish is otherwise extremely hardy and disease-resistant. The biggest practical concern is longevity: people buy them as juveniles and don't plan for a 20-year commitment.

Bioload

Bioload coefficient: 8.0 (20 cm heavy-bodied catfish. grows slowly but gets big).

Bioload coefficients are calibrated against the neon tetra as the anchor (1.0). See the methodology page for the formula and how each value was derived.

Further reading

• How to cycle a fish tank
• Stocking ideas by tank size