June 15, 2024 | James Robinson | Insights on keeping Doradidae Catfish

Madison Area Aquatic Hobbyist is excited to host James Robinson, who will give a presentation entitled, “Insight on keeping Doradidae,” covering the dos and don’ts when it comes to keeping “talking” or “thorny” catfish (family Doradidae) in the home aquarium, along with aquarium set up, tank mates, diet and more.

James Robinson was born on the Eastside of Detroit and raised by his father. As a child, he first fell in love with dinosaurs, like most boys do. As he grew older that developed into a love for all animals. Most of his time inside was spent watching Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, & National Geographic. By the time he turned 10, James had probably owned every pet you could think of, including fish, but he never found fish interesting… until one summer while visiting his sister. His brother-in-law had just bought a 55 gallon tank with an Oscar and a Jack Dempsey. James was hooked at first sight – he’d never seen such a big home aquarium. He never knew fish could have so much personality; watching them changed his whole perspective. After that, all James could talk about was fish, until his dad finally bought him a 29 gallon tank. James picked out some South American cichlids like firemouths and convicts that eventually bred, which made him even more interested in fishkeeping. Before he knew it, James had four fish tanks and his passion and collection grew from there. After 10+ years of fish keeping, James’ interests have changed but he’s always been fascinated by catfish, keeping everything from common species like Pimelodus pictus to rare ones like Wertheimeria maculata. James’ current collection consists mostly woodcats (family Auchenipterinae) and talking/thorny catfish (family Doradidae), along with some other oddball types. James had the privilege and luck to catch two different catfish species, Tatia musaica and Amblydoras affinis, on video breeding. This rare footage presented him the opportunity to be mentioned in the book ‘Banjos, Dorads, and Woodcats’ by Steven Grant.