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Most of the catfish you'll pull out of these waters will get big and they will eat anything close to the size of their huge mouths. It's unlikely the catfish will get along with any fish that would also fit in that tank and there's a good chance it will not only outgrow it's current tank but tanks much larger than that as well. I recently visited the tennessee aquarium and saw their monstrous blue catfish. I think that thing is bigger than me and requires a far bigger tank than most home aquarists would even consider. About all I can suggest is finding someone that wants it in their pond.

A 2' catfish is at least still within the realm of being kept by the common aquarist. That's far better than originally where noone knew what it was and it had the potential to get twice that size or more. Seriously I will never forget the Tennessee aquarium's blue catfish. I didn't know you could pull something that size out of these waters. At least I've never caught anything anywhere near that size.

A 2 ft catfish is going to present considerable maintenance problems as it grows. At the bare minimum it'll need something like 250 gallons of aquarium to keep it happy, and preferably a good deal more than this. Remember the aquarium will have to be wide enough for it to turn around without catching its barbels on the sides too, so you're looking at a truly colossal aquarium by usual living room standards.

If you can dig a pond for it, so much the better. I for one would be wary of taking on something that size without a LOT of forward planning vis-a-vis my ability to afford its upkeep, the space requirements and likely incompatibiility with any other fish. North American catfishes are not small fish - as Wingdisc has eloquently demonstrated - and the biggest ones are best left in their native waters unless you can afford an aquarium that is the size of a civil engineering project in which to keep them.

Having said that, care needs to be exercised with respect to tropical catfishes too. If ever you see a juvenile Piraiba offered for saie, give it a VERY wide berth, as Piraiba catfishes from the Amazon can reach - wait for it - nine feet in length ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I think he is a black bullhead. They get 2'...that is still huge.

*Kristin*

That depends which exact species of bullhead we're talking about but the ones I'm used to don't get bigger than 2'. It does present a problem that there's 3-4 species just on planetcatfish that are called bullhead.

Guess again. Large ictalurids grow past 3'.

If it is a bullhead then I wouldn't worry about it getting to big. They are one of the smaller catfish.

To the freaked out person.... Yeah they are pretty darn big aren't they! The fish that gets me are really big northern pike. Some of these fish eat other fish like bass and walleye that are 14" or so. I am sure one of these cats could do the same but they don't have the teeth a N. Pike does.

Last edited by Wingsdlc at 29-Sep-2005 23:01

55G Planted tank thread
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Like I said above, he is my boyfriend's pet. I didn't catch him. My boyfriend wasn't purposely catching catfish either, he was trying to catch minnows in a minnow basket in his creek. He thought it was cool and decided to keep him. My boyfriend has a small lake/big pond but it has lots of bass, bream, and big catfish in it. He has talked about building a small pond for his "pet" catfish. He is truly a pet. He eats krill and occasionally guppies. He has never fed him anything bigger than that. I am sure he would eat bigger things though. I know catching fish from creeks, ponds, and lakes and putting them in an aquarium isn't the right thing, but its my boyfriend. He thought it was cool. He loves this catfish, seriously. I have told him he needs a bigger home so hopefully he will listen and build "Leroy" a small pond.

edit: I did some research and I believe he is a bullhead catfish. He looks exactly like one of the pictures on planetcatfish.com.

Last edited by GirlieGirl8519 at 29-Sep-2005 18:44

*Kristin*

To be honest, Wingsdlc, I would be quite freaked out if I ever came across one of those cats!

MONKEYS ARE COOL, BUT SEA-MONKEYS ARE BETTER.

Here are some crazy cats for you!

http://photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Cat%20Fish/

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
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My boyfriend has a catfish that he caught in his creek. He put it in a 10g which is now too small for him. He was about 3" when he got him and now is about 7-8". He eats guppies and kills anything you put in there. I put a Chinese AE in there once b/c it was killing my fish and 2 days later it was in 2 pieces. I am talking my boyfriend into getting a bigger tank.

My question is...if he gets a 48 gallon or something similar...are there any fish that might can go in there with the catfish? I was wondering if maybe some type of cichlid or oscar could take up for itself. What do you all think?

We haven't tried any larger fish...the CAE was only 3-4". He didn't eat it, only killed it.

*Kristin*

again, please dont add anything to the tank given he is a big eatter, and he is a large cat in a small tank, most U.S cats are again very large, and are often sport fish, so really anything to defend itself from the cat in a 50 probably wont fit, and the cat alone doesn't fit.

If you were to get a large tank, 55+, you could probably keep it a little longer. Some people keep albino channel cats in large decorative ponds, I would try to find a similar person and try to find your fish a more suitable home.

If you are to keep a fish with it, I would try a pumpkinseed perch.

NO fish were "made" for the aquarium. They were corrupted by forced (no other choices) breeding (or tattoo'd or genetically modified) to have the characteristics many fish have today.

If you enjoy catfish, maybe try a raphael catfish next time.

A friend of my mom's "inherited" a catfish caught from a local river; after eating its way through several different people's aquariums, and attaining a rather impressive size, it made an unfortunate aquaintance with a large bag of cornmeal....I personally rather enjoy fried catfish, but it seems unsporting somehow to do this to a pet; I hope yours is truly a pet, and not a future social event...

Anyway, I have never heard of anything a catfish won't eat. (An LFS - not my favorite - has a small (two foot) redtail in a large tank; they charge $1.50 to kids who get to feed it live mice - again, unsporting). And they move faster than they look. Some cave-dwelling catfish have been known to eat bats. (I saw it on the National Geographic channel.) And catfish can get big. There's an urban legend around the lake I grew up near about 700 pounders. I agree with putting it in a pond. There are no other inhabitants that will be safe, unless they are of substantial size. Maybe another catfish?

whats done is done, really it isn't good to release an anmial back into the wild unless u are a very trained animal specialist, but in N.A there are alot of cats that will grow HUGE. Channel cats/blue cats/ flat heads/ etc..

these cats can go over around 50 inches, and a tank would have to be larger than the REd tails tank.what u need to do is make a 10000+ gallon pond and let him go in there,
I would suggest nothing for his tank mates, seing how he is 7 inches long in a 10 gallon, and a 40 wouldn't even be close to cutting it.

It was mentioned above that we shouldn't take a animal out of its habit in the wild and keep it as a pet. I know that many of us own fish that have been caught in the wild (anyone own a Black Ghost Knife?). It doesn't matter if you caught it or someone else caught it and sold it to a fish store. If you can provide an adequate home for these animals then it shouldn't matter where they came from. I do agree though that if this is a large growing species of catfish that a 46 gallon will not suffice. A large pond or his original home in the creek would probably be best.

You should look and find out what species of catfish it is. Do a google search and some of us could help you if needed.

Once you get all the info of species maybe we could help you with some more advice. For the large catfish you need a much big tank than the 46gal.

You shouldnt release an animal kept for a long time in captivity back into the wild either, not only will it likely fall to predators in the first few days as it finds itself without territory, but it may also be carrying diseases from the other fish you either kept or fed it with. You could kill off whole species in a given locale by doing that.

you know, you should really never take an animal out of its natural habitat in the wild and try to keep it as a pet. i think the most that can do is cause stress to the fish and possibly un-needed killings of fish that belong in aquariums.

if you want a catfish that bad, maybe you should purchase the mini-versions made for aquariums, such as a pictus cat...

that way the catfish from the wild doesnt get stressed out from the cramped space and you can keep other community fish with it.

just a thought.

Chelle

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

It really depends on what kind of cat fish it is. Some from north America can and will get quite huge! You might try other cool water fish like a bluegill or rock bass or like me a warmouth. Some time though the cat fish will get huge and either need a pond or released back into the wild.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
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