FishProfiles.com Message Forums

My pictus just passed away last night and my LFS has some really neat new catfish - Tiger Shovelnose.

I think they might outgrow my tank, but are they OK to start in a 70?

how big? u can start in a 70, but it will probably need a 100+ gallon tank when it gets bigger.

Last edited by bettachris at 14-Jul-2005 13:59

Most fish are OK to start in a 70 gallon. Emphasis on to start. But please keep in mind these fish grow to be quite large and have special housing concerns. In addition to their length of a few feet, they have enormous and highly sensitive whiskers that really should not be subjected to repeated scraping and bumping along the glass or decorations. This is a fish suited for a pond, and a very large pond at that since it needs room not only to turn around, but also to cruise around midlevel. If you can provide proper housing, you may be able to keep a very small juvie in a 70 gallon for a few weeks or so before it outgrows the tank. Good luck!

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/pimelodi/pseudopl/328_f.php

---

Back in the saddle!

Tiger Shovelnose? None of the five or so fish that go by that name would come close to fitting in a 70 glalon for any period over 6 months.

It actually wouldn't be ok to start in a 70 gallon tank. This is one of those few fish that truely has a phenominal growth rate. He would be far too large too fast. A starting tank for that fish that it WOULD outgrow is a 125 gallon tank. That is the minimal size they can just "start" in for a reasonable period of time. Unfortunately that is one of those fish that should never be sold to the typical home aquarist.

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Ah, yes, name confusion reigns.

Brachyplatystoma juruense, also known as the Poor Man's Tigrinus, reaches 2 feet with ease. As for Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, also known as the Piraiba Catfish, reaches a whopping nine feet. The ONLY way you'd EVER house that in an aquarium is if your house was a converted B-52 bomber hangar, with two feet of reinforced concrete flooring, and you had the space to put in there an aquarium that was - wait for it - 40 feet by 10 feet by 5. That's close on 15,000 US gallons. Got space for this? No? Thought not ...

I'd leave that Tiger Shovelnose to a zoo. Even if it isn't the giant Piraiba. Because ALL of the "Big Pims" as they are known (members of the Family Pimelodidae) require aquaria that start to become more like civil engineering projects in size. Unless you can spend a small fortune on its living quarters, don't do it.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002