Anyone kept a Channel Catfish?

[Arctic_Fishery]

I wanna know if anyone has ever successfully kept a channel catfish before and if so where did you keep it(tank or pond size)
and how big did it get.Also how is the experience of watching it?

[Hypancistrus-zebra]

:eek: CHANNEL CATFISH!?

mate you are aware they get bigger then people?

were talking 300lbs +

this thing is illegal to own without a permit in the UK, just incase it gets into the wild. If it does, it will destroy the local fish stock. So where ever you have it, have it alone, and have it someone like a.... lake :)

Or fill your lounge with water.

Who every got you to take that lovely fish you better go beat the crap outta them :D lol. Good luck bud

[Ledslnger]

Yep, they get big! Better plan on getting yourself a nice 480G tank or so for when he gets big. I know a guy that has a bunch of them. He has a bunch of big tanks too! They will eat anything that will fit in their mouth. Active mostly at night, but if there is food in the water they will move around. Good luck!

[Arctic_Fishery]

oh i know how big they get zebra....but i did not know they were illegal to own in th u.k. i wonder if its like that here in america?i was just curious cuz i saw these monsters and HAD to see if any of the AC guys had owned one or know how they work....

[oscar andy]

300lbs? :rolleyes:
I think thats a bit of a streach.
All I know that the record american catfish is a flathead(I think, either that or a blue, they both get about the same size) and was something like 113lbs. And chanel catfish are one of the smaller catfish that usualy only get to be about 25-30lbs, and a few huge ones geting around 60lbs. So unless theres another kind of chanel catfish your thinking of then I'm pretty sure they don't get that big.

[oscar andy]

actualy I just looked it up the world record channel catfish was 58lbs. and the record blue catfish was 111lbs.
So yes they get big, too big for most aquariums, but not 300lbs.

[Ledslnger]

I think the blues are also channel cats, just a color variant. They get big compared to most fish! I doubt there are issues with owning channel cats anywhere in the U.S. Since you can probably fish them out of any major river!!! :)

[latazyo]

I'm not sure what the laws in OH are, but here in ND it is illegal to keep game fish for the reason they stated in the UK, if it were to somehow develop some kind of weird disease and get it into the wild it would devastate natural populations

[Ledslnger]

latazyo...is it illegal to catch game fish and put them in tanks or is it illegal to buy them from a LFS and put them in tanks? Both!?! I wonder...I know you cannot catch sturgeon and put them in tanks in many states. But, you can buy them at LFS. Yep, I do remember the releasing sick fish laws in certain states.

[latazyo]

good question...I can't imagine that there would be a law against catching them, since you can legally catch kill and eat them

I think the law is just that you can't have it in captivity regardless of how you get it

[OrionGirl]

Most states have laws restricting the transportation of live fish as well as the release of specimens OTHER than those caught and released immediately.

According the the ND webpage (http://www.state.nd.us/gnf/licenses/fishguide-2002.html#jj #10), stocking would be illegal, while transportation might be legal, as long as the fish was legally captured.

In WY, it doesn't matter. Fish stores can not legally sell the fish without a commercial hatchery license (which requires that the source of the fish be documented and tested prior to stocking the fish in our waters). The only legal way to have a channel cat in your aquarium is to purchase it from an authorized vendor and obtain the required permits.

Not saying the don't get sold illegally--the local LFS recently turned down 2 cats that were 24" + from some woman who figured she would just go dump them in a pond somewhere instead.

[jiggerpolebill]

blues and channels are different species. here's a good link that even has a comparison chart of the two in addition to a couple of other species.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/catfish.htm

there's an LFS here that currently has two very large ones for sale, but it best to check your state regulations first on info for native species. not that i condone any illegal activity, but i dont see why any CO or DNR official would give anybody a hard time over transporting a channel cat. but then again, ya never know.......

[Hypancistrus-zebra]

:rolleyes: oh dear, just read in my fishing encyclopedia, and there seems to be 6 catfish, all varieties of channel cats. But i aint sure if this book is correct as its a fishing book not a fish book.

Common Channel Catfish Ictaurus punctatus 60lb
Flatehead Catfish pylodictis olivaris 100lb
Wels silurus glanis 700lb+
White catfish ameiurus catus 17lb
Tandan Tandanus tandanus 13lb
Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus 100lb


Catfish I thought it was (http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/silurida/silurus/338_f.htm)

[Ledslnger]

If it is a fishing book....it is a "fish" book. They do not have separate scientific names in fishing books. They use the same as aquarists use......and probably many of the same common names. Many of the common names we use probably come from the people that catch or provide those fish actually! :)

[Hypancistrus-zebra]

so its correct in saying that those 6 catfish are channel catfish?

[tuthelimit]

With common names, there really is no correct and in correct. If people started calling Metrialima zebras, little nasty firecrackers with stripes... then that would be their new common name. haha im just kidding. But this is sort of like "Electic Yellows" "Yellow Labs" etc. Multiple names for the same fish. This is why scientific names are so much better to us.

In this case those catfish, some are from different families.

When we go fishing, we just call whatever catfish we pull up a channel cat! haha, but in reality only Ictalurus punctatus is. They are from the family Ictaluridae according to my literature, which contains Channels, Blues, Flatheads and Bullheads.

They are all from North America.

That other monster fish, it seems to come from Europe. Maybe they call it a channel cat there. Who knows.

For all our fish keeping purposes it is only safe to say there is one channel cat! :cool:

In maryland we get them in stores all the time. Albino ones too. The water in tropical tanks is probaly too warm for them and they reason I don't see big ones outside of Outdoor World in the local mall.

[Hypancistrus-zebra]

:D k

i heard the bullhead is one hell of a fighter, not too easy to catch tho?

[AikidoGuy]

what ever happend to that member named ChannelCAT, he was a funny characater that guy!

[Ledslnger]

I miss ChannelCAT too! Very funny, great emoticons and such! I don't know...he just sort of disappeared!

[latazyo]

Originally posted by Hypancistrus-zebra
:D k

i heard the bullhead is one hell of a fighter, not too easy to catch tho?

AHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HAH AHA HA HA HA HAHAHA HA HA HA HAH AHA HA HA HAH A HAHA HA HA HA HAH AH AH AHA HAH AH AHA HA HAHA HA HAHAHA HAH A

sorry...the BULLHEAD is the easiest fish to catch in the world, it is a pain in the *** when you are trying to fish

the *******s will bite ANYTHING regardless of whether or not you have bait

my friends and I go to the river to catch them just for fun, you can LITERALLY catch 1 per minute of fishing


I'm not flaming, I just thought it was funny that you suggested bullheads were hard to catch

haha

if you want a bullhead, it will get to be about 12" IF it gets huge and they are kind of fun to catch and no one would really give a sh|t if you took a bullhead as they are desireabole to catch, however I think it woudln't be that bad to have in an aquarium, especially since it would eat anything that moves

[FatCatFever]

http://photo.starblvd.net/KillDaWabbit/3-4-3.jpg
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http://photo.starblvd.net/KillDaWabbit/3-4-5.jpg

Hi folks, nice board here! Have a question. Started out the size of a tadpole, is currently 2-3 inches long. Not sure what it is, cat/bully. Would like to get more, any ideas?

[PredatorFish]

Does that fish have a forked tail or a round tail. Bullheads have round tails and channel cats have forked tails. Cannel cats a for sale at almost every pet shop in Michigan and I think it probably the same in Ohio. I did have a bullhead in a tank for a while. He was neat but my Blood Parrot and Texan Convict killed him.

[FatCatFever]

Round tail, came out of a creek in PA. kids thought they were tadpoles!! Would love to get more. Probably have to wait till breeding time?

[vfrex]

btw, mojo keeps a channel cat. Check out the "pond pictures" on his site.

[big mo tro cat]

ive got a illinois lake channel cat that was caught wild out of a local lake. hes about 8 inches and pretty cool. seems to do just fine in the warm water with the tropical catfish. very skittish though. he hides in his clay pot and never comes out anymore than to poke its head out to suck up pellets. i think it may be illegal in this state to keep the wild caught catfish too. not sure though.

[Ronne]

It may be different in the US but in Canada you need a scientific collection license to keep live specimens that are caught. Completely different paperwork to your standard sport fishing license.

[tyler]

not that anybody (but us nodaks) cares, but from the aforementioned site


10. TRANSPORTATION AND STOCKING
Possession or transportation of any live fish, live fish eggs, live amphibians, or other live aquatic organisms, shall be illegal except for:
- Licensed anglers transporting legal bait and/or legally caught game fish.
- Dealers of tropical fish species for the pet trade sold by commercial outlet.
- Individuals in possession of the appropriate license or permit from the game and fish director.

It shall be illegal to import any live bait or Bait fish without a legal and valid North Dakota bait vendors license.

Stocking of any live fish, live fish eggs, live amphibians, or other live aquatic organisms into any waters of the state shall be illegal except with the appropriate license or permit issued by the game and fish director.

[waterspirit]

Interesting question...

I have heard of people keeping very small channel cats in an aquarium. I have also heard that they grow slowly, but thats neither here nor there.
Interesting factoid for you all though...

At wheeler dam in Alabama, they sent divers down one time to inspect. They came up and refused to go back down, saying there were catfish sitting in the mud at the bottom of the dam that were big enough to eat them:eek:

[gravel digger]

great fish to own, held his own up to about 10 inches then a snakehead decided he did not like him anymore and pretty much cut him in two. they were raised together from about an inch and a half to the 10/11 inch size the cat was when the snake head finsihed him off. i never got another but i did love that fish, great color and personality!!!!!

[friend of oscar]

Arctic_Fishery, I have an albino channel catfish in an outdoor pond. Right now it is a little over a foot long. It loves to eat goldfish flakes,floating pond fish pellets(the kind you feed fish in a pond like bluegill and such),sinking shrimp wafers,worms, and tadpoles are probabley his favorite. It is fun to watch him chase them.

[Stephen]

The channel cat and blue cats I've purchased at the local fish stores around here and kept usually grow really fast. My experience has been, get them at 2" in 4-6 months they are 10". I've got a huge outdoor pond for the outgrowing the tank problem though. I'm not real fond of the looks of large native catfish in an aquarium. They do however keep the outdoor pond nice and clean. Last year during the summer I put in 2 10" blues and 2 10" channels. I'll let you know how much they've grown over the fall and winter when I clean it out this spring. They might be headed for our farm pond if they are too big.

One raising them it's pretty simple. They will eat anything. But really liked those tetra min tablets. Chicken liver was ravaged too. It's messy though and you'll need a good filtration system and regular water changes. They will do fine in colder temps also.

I noticed someone said something about bullheads. We call them mudcats around here. You can find them in huge schools swimming in shallow water after they big ones spawn. Very easy to scoop up a bunch in a net. I've actually kept some and they grew a lot slower that channels and blues. They don't get as big in the wild either. They liked to be in schools. I fish sometimes and catfishing for the 40 pound blues in a local river is a perfect night out for me. But the mud cats (bullheads) make it miserable. They will eat anything. And although easy to catch, they can steal soft bait from your hooks like champs.

[latazyo]

Originally posted by Firefighter
But the mud cats (bullheads) make it miserable. They will eat anything. And although easy to catch, they can steal soft bait from your hooks like champs.





AMEN

[waterspirit]

double amen to that :p