I have been keeping fish since the age of five and keeping catfish since the late 1970s. In the early days, it was mainly Corydoras such as Corydoras aeneus and Corydoras paleatus as these were readily available and could be purchased with my pocket money! I began working for a large water company in 1983 (and still do 26 years on) after completing my A-Levels and it was around then that my true passion for catfish began. I was fortunate at this time to have a fish house in my parent’s garden with around forty aquariums and an income able to fill some space! Over the years, I have kept many species of catfish ranging in size from the humble Corydoras pygmaeus at 25mm to Oxydoras niger at over 1000mm! I have kept a number of species of catfish from South America, Africa and Asia.

I have written many features and answers to questions on catfish for UK based magazines, Practical Fishkeeping and Tropical Fish. I have also had material published in Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH) magazine in America. In 2003, my book entitled ‘Pufferfish’ was published which was something that I thought I would never have the opportunity to achieve. I would like to write another book in the near future about catfish, but need to find a publisher first. I also lecture on a part-time basis at Sparsholt College near Winchester covering water pollution, fish collecting in Peru and the odd catfish or two! I have recently been studying for a degree in Sports Fishery Management and Aquaculture at Sparsholt College, again on a part-time basis. With the demise of my fish house, the majority of my catfish are now being housed at college for the students to work with. 

Chris Ralph