Paroon Shark

[damion]

I have seen a paroon shark that is stunted. Looked very strange like a dwarf ID. The only lfs that I've encountered that won't take "any" fish is a mom & pop store. Other than that, the larger chains or larger lfs welcome large fishes. In the past 3 months owners have surrendered lg aros,Jack Demsey, blue channel cats,pike cichlids and 1 paroon shark. Found only 1 store that sells 5"baby paroons for $69.95.

[ChilDawg]

????

[crash]

Ah.... lol. And I like hamburgers.

Anyways a stunted Paroon Shark eh? How did you know it was stunted, couldn't it just been a juvenile? Although, I did say once that I read on Planetcatfish, under the Pangasius sanitswongi (Paroon Shark) that there's an a hybrid on the market (well it stated artifical, which is man made, so I assume its a hybrid) I havn't yet seen enough to see if it's true or not as Paroon Sharks are somewhat rare.. so it's just generally hard to even find one. I think there cool as hell though, and I want one!

But housing a alleged 100" fish, I will not attempt. Although I heard Pangasius Pangasius is almost identical to the Paroon Shark and smaller, but I don't have enough info to back up that statement. As there isn't much info on the Pangasiidae family, accept for the more common Iridescent Shark, which I also think is cool as hell, but even that outgrows most aquaria.

[crash]

Just one more thing to add, you mentioned you seen Junvenile Paroons selling for $69.95, that's expensive, although pretty normal as they are rare in the hobby. One of my LFS sells 5-6" Paroon Sharks for $19.95 actually.

I wonder, I stated that I wouldn't buy one, but at the same time, I don't see how any Paroon Shark being sold in a Fish Store would ever live to adult, or for that fact be give adequete space to combat it's size. So what's better? Don't Buy it or someone else does, and then the catfish will be short-lived. I mean not to say that would always be the case, but I would put some money that most fish hobbyist don't have a big enough aquarium to house a Paroon Shark. That's some food for thought for myself, or anyone in that matter.

[ChilDawg]

I doubt any actually have the resources to house one...well, unless they can dechlorinate the pool and keep it heated!!! :)

[brianfl]

Generally for Paroons or IDs for optimum growth and for the best health, they need for length 20 x their length and probably 1/2 that for width due to the amount of swimming they do. So if we had a small 6 ft Paroon, we would need a tank or pond 120 feet long x 60 feet wide for it to live a happy, normal life. That would be a pretty big swimming pool :) I do have an id that I will put into a pond this winter but it won't be nearly as big as it should. Probably 10 ft x 8ft. I wish I could go bigger, but I have only so much backyard. They are wonderful fish and I really like the one I have but giving it backwould only give it a worse life (probably).

[damion]

How did you know it was stunted, couldn't it just been a juvenile?
Because one of the more reputable lfs owner had advised me of the hybrid when I had told him that I've never seen a stubby paroon. Guess it could be seen as a juvenile to a newbie. It's like saying how do u know a midget isn't a kid, maybe something doesn't look right? 5"-6" paroons are rare, only 1 lfs had them in stock while others can't get them which might explain the inflated price.

[brianfl]

I have seen a few from time to time. But usually around $15-20.

[damion]

That's very cheap. Guess it depends on availability and location.

[long2534]

they are around 20$ at my lfs, if only they didnt require 8 ft tanks minimum i would love one. also i wish someone would surrender a lg aro to me . . . . .

[sardesign]

Man... they are cool animals but I don't think I could ever afford to install a regulated pond in any place I own. I bet they eat a ton of food too. I agree that most LFS probably don't have the means to house such a beast... one of the LFS here has more capabilities than most. They have an entire backyard filled with big ponds but no where near the size needed for those fish.

It would be cool to build a gigantic tank in a seperate structure to hold one of those though :)

[bigbigfish]

i have a 250 gallon tank and im into fishes for the past 10 years, im currently looking for large paroon shark and pacus and other large fresh water fishes. If thers anyone thats currently selling any please let me know asap

[red devil]

An awesome looking fish...that is the kind of fish I wish I could raise and then give to a public aquarium.