Click here to see several additional pictures of this fish.
Comments: This is a Premium Quality Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or in the online stores that we visit.
Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.
Click here to learn more about our Premium Pet Fish.
Origin: This Catfish lives across a wide area in Northeastern India in the state of Bengal, where it was caught and shipped to us.
Maximum Size: This Catfish can grow to be 3" long, including their tails. Sometimes very old Golden Mystus Catfish are a bit longer.
Behaviors: They will usually lie motionless on the bottom of the aquarium. But if there is live food to be eaten, they become very active looking for it.
They'll eat anything live that fits into their wide mouths, including small fish.
Compatibility: They seem to tolerate other catfish well, and other fish that are too large to fit into their mouth, which are easy to underestimate, so be careful choosing tankmates.
Temperature: They live well from about 70 to 80 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 75 degrees F.
Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.
Feeding: Premium Pellet Food.
Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.
Water Conditions: This Catfish seems to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions. Probably a pH of about 7 with moderate hardness is best.
Most water in the US has a higher pH and more hardness but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.
Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.
Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.
Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 30-gallon aquarium, when they're less than 3" long, but a bigger aquarium is always better.
Decor: These Catfish do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.
Click here for more about aquarium gravel. Pieces of aquarium-safe driftwood are also nice.
Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality, but these catfish do not need live plants.
Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.
A Penguin 350B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK to start with a few of these Catfish that are less than 3" long.
Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.
The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range.
Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.
Life Span: These Catfish can live for several years, probably many years, provided they're fed premium food and kept in a very large aquarium with very fresh water.
Gender: As they mature females presumably become plumper than males.The males
Breeding: There have been no reports of spawning this catfish in an aquarium, but closely related species have been spawned in an aquarium.
Popularity: This Catfish is rare but folks that have them, love them.
Names: The scientific name is Mystus tengara.
Variations: We do not now know of any variations of this species.
We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.
DrTom - 02/20/2019
All of our fish are Premium Quality Fish from the best suppliers in the world. Our fish have better health, more energy and brighter colors, as you can see in our pictures on this website.
We have 380-aquariums with lots-and-lots of popular aquarium fish plus lots-and-lots of rare fish!
We consider ourselves to be the link between the world's best sources of fish and the world's best customers. We love our work, and we are very responsible about caring for our fish and then shipping them carefully.
We also offer lots and lots of information about keeping and caring for pet fish, all from the knowledge of the Bailey Brothers, who have a combined total of 100+ years of experience as breeders, wholesalers, and retailers of pet fish!
Our fish and our customers are treated with the best of care, and we work energetically everyday to make sure every customer enjoys their new fishy friends.
When you purchase pet fish from us, you know you're receiving premium quality fish and premium quality service.
"Received my fish last night and was so pleased! They all arrived alive and appeared to be healthy.
"Once in the tank, they became very active and are now thriving in their new home.
"Beautiful fish, I asked for color and aquariumfish delivered. Processing and shipping was extremely quick."
Nevin and DrTom, the Bailey Brothers
This website is owned and operated by the Bailey Brothers, DrTom and Nevin, who've been together in the fish business for more than 50-years.
The Product Manager has been with the company for more than 35-years.
So we feel very confident that this is the fishiest crew anywhere.