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Anyone have any experience with the sun catfish from india?

Anyone?

Sorry it took me so long to track this down, but it seems you've hit upon a rarity - assuming my ID is correct! At least it's been a rarity in the hobby till recently ...

The fish I've been pointed to as the Sun Catfish is Horabagrus brachysoma, which hails from southern India (in particular the Kerala region).

It is definitely one of the larger catfishes - it reaches 45 cm in the wild - and expect it to reach 30 cm with ease in the aquarium!

As far as water chemistry goes, it's fairly adaptable according to reports, with a pH range between 6.0 and 7.5, and a fairly healthy range of tolerance of hardness too.

First of all, do NOT put this fish in with small companions! It's a predator, and will eat any other fish that it can fit into its mouth! Second, it's nocturnal by nature, so initial feedings will be of the 'lights out' variety, and small ones can be acclimatised to the aquarium by dropping in live Bloodworm at 'lights out' and leaving it to find them. It's fairly shy at first, but becomes bolder with size and familiarity with its surroundings.

Juveniles are reported to be shoaling fishes, but it has also been reported that with increasing age, the species becomes increasingly intolerant of others of its own kind. Best to keep just the one, not least because it'll require large quarters!

Juveniles are quite attractive, but that predatory tendency means that it will soon require large tankmates, preferably its own size - which means that best results are likely when it is housed with other large, peaceful fishes such as Tinfoil Barbs. This alone gives an indication of the size of aquarium you'll eventually need for it!

The fish will eat meaty foods with relish once acclimatised. It's advisable to treat this fish in the same manner as large Barbs in this respect, and feed modest meals often rather than large banquets at one sitting, as it is likely to possess a Barb-like capacity for fouling the water if allowed to gorge.

Oh, and it's being farmed in India as a food fish for humans. That should warn you what to expect size wise!

Hope this helps!


Last edited by Calilasseia at 01-Jan-2006 19:03

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have two of the sun cats. I just got them and didn't realize that they will get as big as they do. Right now my 2 hide out most the day and only move when its dark. They are getting along well with Platys and Pictus cats.