False Tigrinis Catfish

The false tigrinis catfish, or gold zebra catfish, is found in the wilds of the Peru Amazon basin. Though gold zebra is a prettier name, the catfish is commonly referred to as the False Tigrinis since the catfish is almost identical to the very expensive True tigrinis catfish. The difference in the species is the color pattern. The striping is muted in the False tigrinis. No one has been able to breed this in captivity and it is difficult to determine the sex of the species. Very small feeder, live worms, and other live feeders may be required initially, but this is a catfish and they will scavenge other foods and leftovers once adapted to the fish tank. By the way, the streamer off the tail is amazingly long.

Quick Facts

Care Guide

Tank setup: Shovelnose catfish grow large and are strong swimmers. Give them open swimming space, a sand bottom, strong filtration and a heavy, tight lid.

Feeding: Feed meaty foods like quality carnivore pellets and frozen shrimp or fish. Many learn to take pellets once settled.

Tankmates: They will eat any fish that fits in their mouth. Keep them only with large, robust fish.

Good to know: Young false tigrinis have a very long tail streamer that shortens as they grow.