albino channel cat

[ilroost]

just a pict of my 2 foot albino channel

[derekp]

Very nice. I have 3 and I love them. What size tank is he in?

[MollyFishLover]

I really want one, but I don't think my pond will be big enough and I want to have a lot of goldies in there. That's a nice fish ^_^

[Shogun_FC]

I've fished for catfish pretty much my whole life, caught thousands on channel cat. Couple years back I caught a 11lb Albino, pretty awesome looking fish when their pinkish white lol. I've got a polaroid pic of it around here somewhere...

Anyways, great looking fish. I see You live in Illinois, so if that dude gets to big for ya, I'm fairly certain chucking him into a local pond or river would do no harm. They are pretty tasty fried up and placed on a bun to, but after keeping one as a pet I'm sure that could be weird... lol'

[ilroost]

he is in a 150 gal now but is getting to big for it. come spring he goes out to the 1000 gal pond

[derekp]

very nice. Im sure he will love it.

[soobie]

I see You live in Illinois, so if that dude gets to big for ya, I'm fairly certain chucking him into a local pond or river would do no harm.

No no no no! Please never release a fish that has been in your aquarium!

[Shogun_FC]

No no no no! Please never release a fish that has been in your aquarium!


Even massively populated native-to-your-area fish? Channel catfish are pretty much in every body of water in North America, could it actually cause a problem?

I mean, I would never in a million years think of dumping a fish that I wasn't 100% sure is native to that body of water. People stock there ponds/lakes with fish from fish farms, wouldn't it basically be the same difference?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm interested to know more about it.

[fishorama]

The concern is that you might introduce disease or parasites that may be in aquaria to natural habitats & infect wild populations.

[soobie]

The concern is that you might introduce disease or parasites that may be in aquaria to natural habitats & infect wild populations.

Exactly.

[andyjs]

The concern is that you might introduce disease or parasites that may be in aquaria to natural habitats & infect wild populations.
Yep, it's hard enough getting the general public to understand how introduced species can destroy ecosystems. Getting them to even think about the things that they can't even see is even harder. Even if that catfish appears completely healthy, who knows where it's been and what pathogens from all over the world it has come in contact with. Even if it is immune to them, other wild fish might not be and you could be responsible for the next epidemic in US waters. It's also illegal by the way....

Nice channel though!

[Shogun_FC]

I guess You learn something everyday. It's not like this is something I do or support, just thought with the native fish it would work, guess not. I did keep a baby largemouth bass with an Oscar a few years ago, though he was wild caught while I was bait fishing, I returned him to his lake months later. I can see how ever that wouldn't be a good idea though.

This sort of makes me wonder about all my years spent fishing for big catfish. I've always kept a livewell for my bait (old deep freezer filled with water, with canister filter). I'd go out and catch bluegill, shiners, bullheads, perch and stock it up, then take and use this bait in many different bodies of water where I fished for flathead and blue catfish. Sometimes your bait goes flying off the hook, landing in the water and surviving...

I know a lot of guys like to use goldfish, koi, israeli carp and other non native fish for bait. (personally I don't like to pay for my bait, I like the free route of catching my own). I know plenty of lakes/ponds where people have lost these baits off their hook, and the fish grew up in the water. I've been carp fishing and caught a few huge goldfish and iraelis.

I at least hope what I do is somewhat safe, considering all my bait comes from within miles of where I eventually use it. As You could likely never get people to stop using foreign fish for bait, I know guys that will take and use small gamefish such as largemouth bass under 15" for bait, even though taking a bass of that size out of state park waterways can cost you over 10k in fines and time in jail...

[fishorama]

I should said to the OP, Nice Channel! We had a marbled channel cat, Florida, that we loved many years ago. When she outgrew our tank the lfs said we should eat her! Of course we didn't but we didn't ask what happened to her either. Ours was an eating machine, as many pellets as we threw in, they were gone in 30 seconds! Neat fish!

[ilroost]

yes a eating machine is right. i have had this catfish for 3 years now and raised it from a 2 inch baby. i have a old koi pond that he will go in this spring.

[armyguy27587]

i had one that out grew my 125. i think he was about 3 foot or so when i got rid of him, i did not want to let him go in the local lake or pond so i donated him to a zoo. just recently they weighed him at over 12 pounds. we had put a small koi in with him, about 6 inches. the next morning we woke up to NO koi. very fun fish but hard to keep with anything. he even attacked my 15 inch oscar.

[ilroost]

i tried other fish in with him before, it never worked. i think he would eat anything you put in there