large catfish in 55

[RumpThumper33]

I would like to keep a couple large catfish in a 55, but need some ideas. Before you go off saying, "Oh you need a 1000 gallons tank for one of those and a slippery waffle 5000 filter with a 2000 dollar pump," let me say that once they reach a length of 18 inches or more, I am giving them to my friend who has a very large tank so dont start. I want one that eats feeder fish and looks cool, they have to be pretty big, like able to be 12 inches or more.

[vfrex]

How big of a tank does your friend have?

[Slappy*McFish]

lol...I'm not going to touch this one.

[RumpThumper33]

he works at the camden state aquarium and can put my catfish in an exhibit. Big enough for ya?

[vfrex]

So get a wallago attu.

[RumpThumper33]

what the heck is that? i was thinknin of like a shovelnose or something, or maybe a channel cat.

[vfrex]

http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/warm_freshwater/wallago_attu.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038/wallago.html

[Slappy*McFish]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/fresh/wallago.shtml

[Slappy*McFish]

......lol.....

[RumpThumper33]

woah baby!!! where can i get on of those suckers????
are they rare? how big r they when u buy them?

[vfrex]

That was a joke... ;) If you're serious about getting it you'd have to talk to someone with connections. I don' think you'd ever see one in any lfs's in the US...

How bout a chaca chaca. Its one of the ugliest things you'll ever see. But hey...

http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/chaca_chaca.htm

or you could go with a shovelnose...tiger, gold, lima. As far as I know lima grow to be the smallest.

[RumpThumper33]

that one looks like fun, but it says it only grows to about 7 or 8 inches. I want something bigger. The shovelnoses look good, i was also thinking of throwing a wolffish in there, thats why it would have to be big and pretty tough.

[vfrex]

If you want something particularly nasty, you could try a mystus wyckii. (aka black devil catfish or crystal eye catfish)

or

an Asian Redtail Catfish
Hemibagrus wyckioides


Both are supposed to be increadibly aggressive. They might even kill the wolffish.

[gravel digger]

my favorite are the red tail, the tiger shovelnose there is one more but i'm not sure if you are ready for him and lucky for me i just located a local source to pretty much obtain any type of catfish that i am looking for now it's just a matter of obtaining the tanks to hold them, good thing i have a opened unfinished basement!!!!!!

[RumpThumper33]

that one looks good, but i need to know how to get one! Are they rare?

[vfrex]

You like the mystus species?

www.sharkaquarium.com

that should do it.

[RumpThumper33]

That thing was 125 bucks, sorry i'm not spending that much on a fish. How much would it be in a pet store? I could probably get a friend of mine to order it for me

[vfrex]

shark aquarium IS a pet store...anyhow, email him and ask how much a smaller one would be.

[RumpThumper33]

oh sorry i didnt know, but i meant like at a local pet store. I ordered fish they didnt have before, if they are common i could probably get one

[vfrex]

Mattimeo picked up some of the asian redtail cats from his lfs recently (bigals in canada).

[waterspirit]

well, you could always get a channel cat...

[RumpThumper33]

yeah i had a channel cat before, he was fun, but he didnt have much character and he didnt look cool. My ideal catfish is one that is like an underwater pet, something that recognizes me when i walk over to him, something that looks really cool and gets fairly big. And they have to eat live food, I love watching that.

[hiratals]

I have one, have had it for about 1 to 1 1/2 months, it's already grown almost 2 inches. If you research this hybrid, you'll find most folks are saying to stay away since it will get BIG, and it's just an EATING MACHINE!!! And, yes, my Red Tail Tiger Shovelnose gobbles up goldfish like nothin'...

[Slappy*McFish]

12-23-2002...lol, I barely remember posting in this thread.

[wwildcats04]

I love when that happens... I dotn even know how people come up with these old old old threads... thats to bad, its to late for me to make my suggestion. I like the giraffe catfish

[themadblimper]

Definately a Redtail catfish.

Look here:http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=929

[graysilm]

Your intentions are good, and if you want a catfish that eats feeder fish I would recommend a flathead. However I will warn you that a 55gal is only 12 inches wide, so these fish will have a hard time turning around. I do quite a bit of catfishing and they are very muscular and strong fish. get one much bigger that 12 inches and his thrashing could easily shatter a 55 gallon tank. be careful and good luck.

[wwildcats04]

a redtail are you serious? I hope not. red tails grow FAST and HUGE. they are capable of eating fish the same size as them and some may even be a little bigger! that is a beast that should not be kept in a 55g

[Veneer]

That was a joke... ;) If you're serious about getting it you'd have to talk to someone with connections. I don' think you'd ever see one in any lfs's in the US...

I've seen them put up for sale at reasonable prices by various importers in the buy/sell forums of www.aquaticpredators.com and www.***********.com.

[Veneer]

a redtail are you serious? I hope not. red tails grow FAST and HUGE. they are capable of eating fish the same size as them and some may even be a little bigger! that is a beast that should not be kept in a 55g

A juvenile could be accommodated, but he would, even then, have to direct it to said exhibit within a fairly short length of time.

[FooF]

i think a pair of eclipse cats (indian sun cats) would be great. i have a pair in my 130. i got them from wal-mart (yeah, i disgust me too) about a year ago when they were about an inch long and raised them in a 55 and then moved them into my 130 when they hit about 8". from what ive read they grow to about 15-20" and theyre one of the most butiful cats IMHO.