The talking catfish (aka Striped Raphael catfish) is a unique catfish in the aquarium hobby, they are popular community fish as they are peaceful and tolerate most water conditions. They are known as talking catfish because they will make some grunting noise when remove from water.
Talking catfish originate from Amazon basin, they can grow up to 6 inches but normally only juveniles are on sale in the local fish shop. They are nocturnal fish and will hid itself in the day, so feeding of talking catfish is mainly at night, they accept a wide variety of food including sinking fish pellets. It is advisable to include some hiding spots for them to reduce their stress, driftwood is recommended for them to mimic their nature habitat.
Talking catfish require minimum care hence they are suitable for beginners, remember not to catch the talking catfish with nets as their spine will get stuck in the net.
Photos of our talking catfish:
