Tawny dragon catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The tawny dragon catfish is a bold, hardy, cool-water predator with plenty of character. It lives on the bottom, is best kept alone, and suits keepers with a little experience.

Caring for the tawny dragon catfish

Keep one tawny dragon catfish in a tank of at least 106 gal (400 L). Give it a sand or fine gravel floor, some sturdy planting, and driftwood or rockwork to shelter among.

Keep the water cool, at 61 to 79°F (16 to 26°C), since it does not need or want tropical warmth. Aim for soft to neutral water with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5, kept clean, steady and well filtered. Feed meaty foods such as earthworm, prawn, mussel and large sinking pellets.

The tawny dragon catfish is aggressive and will eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth. It is not a community fish, so house it alone or only with large, robust tank mates it cannot swallow. Handle it with care, since the strong dorsal and pectoral spines can deliver a painful, venomous jab. It spawns readily on farms, but aquarium breeding is rarely recorded.

Good to know

Tachysurus fulvidraco is a bagrid catfish in the family Bagridae, marbled in yellow and brown. Its species name, fulvidraco, means tawny dragon, and the genus name Tachysurus means quick tail. It is also sold as the Chinese yellow catfish or the yellow-head catfish.

In the wild

The tawny dragon catfish ranges widely across East Asia, from the Amur south to the Yangtze. It is a temperate fish of the weedy margins of lakes, rivers and slow channels.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Three-lined bagrid

  Tachysurus trilineatus

  3.1 in (8 cm) · 30 gal (112 L)

  3.1 in (8 cm)30 gal (112 L)64–77°F (18–25°C)

• 

  Harlequin lancer catfish

  Bagroides melapterus

  11.8 in (30 cm) · 120 gal (455 L)

  11.8 in (30 cm)120 gal (455 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Asian upside-down catfish

  Mystus leucophasis

  11.8 in (30 cm) · 114 gal (430 L)

  11.8 in (30 cm)114 gal (430 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Redtail bagrid

  Hemibagrus nemurus

  25.6 in (65 cm) · 185 gal (700 L)

  25.6 in (65 cm)185 gal (700 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Asian redtail catfish

  Hemibagrus wyckioides

  39.4 in (100 cm) · 450 gal (1,703 L)

  39.4 in (100 cm)450 gal (1,703 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Black lancer catfish

  Bagrichthys macracanthus

  9.1 in (23 cm) · 55 gal (210 L)

  9.1 in (23 cm)55 gal (210 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)