Channel cat not doing well

DO NOT RELEASE FISH THAT ARE NOT NATIVE TO YOUR AREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you stupid?! Do you not read the newspaper or pay attention to what's been going on in the hobby?!

Uhh, channel cats are native to north american rivers. If the poster lives in the US where channel cats are common (and he does judging by the fact he got the fish from a state hatchery), he'll simply be putting the fish back into its natural environment.

Granted, if it's been tank kept all it's life it probably won't survive in the wild for very long but it's not going to harm anything.

Perhaps you should think a little before you fly off the handle.

Being in captivity all its life probably gives it a pretty slim chance in the wild. Hopefully he'll make it and if not then nature will take its course.

Releasing aquarium fish into the wild is a very, very bad idea, and often illegal. The aquarium fish may have been exposed to pathogens which will be released into the wild--and these non-native introductions (pathogens and parasites count!) can be lethal to the local fisheries. Please, please, do not release that fish.

Channel cats are very hardy--it's unlikely that the injuries are a big problem, unless water conditions are so poor that they do not heal and become infected. These fish are not appropriate for many home aquaria (and what 5 foot fish would be?), but once taken into the aquarium, releasing them is not a good solution. Find it another home, or euthanize it.

The fish may have been exposed to these pathogens while in your tank--didn't have them before, but does now. There is a very real possibility that whirling disease was released into N. American waters by anglers using goldfish as bait--pathogens from aquariums can survive in waters that kill the hosts, and go on to kill native fish. Please, contact your state Game and Fish, or Natural Resources agency, and speak with a fisheries biologist. See what they say--and then follow their advice!

theFinn said:

Uhh, channel cats are native to north american rivers. If the poster lives in the US where channel cats are common (and he does judging by the fact he got the fish from a state hatchery), he'll simply be putting the fish back into its natural environment.

Granted, if it's been tank kept all it's life it probably won't survive in the wild for very long but it's not going to harm anything.

Perhaps you should think a little before you fly off the handle.

Click to expand...

You CANNOT release fish that have been kept in the home aquaria back to the wild. If you catch something for a home aquaria, make sure you can properly keep it. If not, don't take it home.