Tiger stripe bee catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The tiger stripe bee catfish is a small peat-swamp catfish for the bottom of a dim blackwater tank. It is one for keepers who can provide soft, acidic water.

Caring for the tiger stripe bee catfish

Keep one tiger stripe bee catfish, or a single pair, in a shaded tank of at least 29 gal (110 L). It is secretive and mostly nocturnal, so give it driftwood, caves and a good layer of leaf litter to hide in.

It needs soft, acidic blackwater at 73 to 81°F (23 to 27°C) and a pH of 4.5 to 6.5. Peat filtration and botanicals recreate the tea-stained, mineral-poor water it needs. Feed sinking foods, frozen bloodworm and small live foods after the lights go down.

This catfish is not a group species and can be territorial in close quarters. It is peaceful with fish too big to eat but will take very small tank mates. Choose its companions with care, and keep the tank quiet and dimly lit. Its breeding is not recorded in aquariums.

Good to know

Pseudomystus heokhuii is a bagrid catfish in the family Bagridae, described by Lim and Ng in 2008 from central Sumatra. It is unusual in its genus for living only in very acidic peat-swamp water. Its pale side stripe and pale oblique bands form a pattern it shares with just one close relative.

In the wild

The tiger stripe bee catfish comes from floodplain peat swamps in the Batang Hari and Indragiri drainages. The water there is stained dark with tannins and is extremely acidic, well below pH 5.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Borneo hornet catfish

  Pseudomystus funebris

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)29 gal (110 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Dwarf bumblebee catfish

  Pseudomystus leiacanthus

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)70–77°F (21–25°C)

• 

  Borneo scissortail catfish

  Pseudomystus stenogrammus

  5.5 in (14 cm) · 42 gal (160 L)

  5.5 in (14 cm)42 gal (160 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Asian bumblebee catfish

  Pseudomystus siamensis

  5.9 in (15 cm) · 30 gal (115 L)

  5.9 in (15 cm)30 gal (115 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Indian linear catfish

  Olyra longicaudata

  4.7 in (12 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  4.7 in (12 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  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)