10 Gallons of Stress

Yeah well I'm hoping she'll grow out of it, I've certainly talked enough about it. She's simply of the opinion that animals aren't due the same respect as people, that and she wasn't allowed pets as a kid and now she's trying to catch up without any of the considerations due pets.

One good thing is that I'm getting ALOT of experience in the process, lol.

Ah, I found the reciept from the Pet Store and it's a Blue Channel Catfish.

After some research, it says it can get around 2 feet in a tank and that I'd need a 75 gallon eventually. Looks like I'll be looking at another upgrade following this 55 gallon Friday.

On the feeding end, the catfish goes nuts whenever I feed them and tends to ward away any of the other fish that attempt to consume the flakes or blood worms, but he doesn't seem to bother with the baby shrimp. My striped Raphael catfish and shark are the other bottom feeders so they're snatching up scraps for now. The Gourami seems to be the only one unaffected thus far seeing as he tends to hit whatever's on the surface first and then follow on down to the gravel.

On the upside, only the Loach has been killed and none of the rest seem to be in danger. I have noticed my water's getting cloudy at a relatively rapid rate compared to my usual clean, I'm guessing I'm going to have increase my water changes with the introduction of the catfish to avoid this.
 
It would probably be best to re-home the blue cat...even a 75 will not work for long..maybe more like a custom 600-1000 gal tank with space for it to turn around...
 
Channel catfish get about 3-4 feet long, and they're kinds ugly when they get past 2 feet.

Research is a must before buying any animal, make sure your wife understands this. I research anything I'm looking to buy for about a month before buying it. The longest I've done research on one fish was 1 year, and the fish doesn't even get an inch long.
 
lol...what a nightmare. This tank has all the ingredients of a recipe of failure. All the advice in the world will do no good if the stocking choices aren't dealt with.
For a 10g tank, think a school of 8 Neon Tetras, a Betta and an apple snail. Max.

I wouldn't keep a channel cat in anything other than a pond.
 
Cripes, I don't think you have ONE fish that works in a 10g. I would rehome all of them. Do you have any pics of the tank? I would think it looks a lot like your avatar.
 
I commend you on trying to give those poor little fish a better home. Do you think that you could get a pick of that catfish? Best of luck. I know that channel cats can top out at around 40+lbs so you will definitely need a much bigger tank if you want to keep it. Otherwise I would rehome it. All channel cats that I have seen at the size of 8"( i've caught them from WI to TX) have spots on them that start to fade as they grow. Blue cats( which is what is shown in "blue channel cat" on planetcatfish) can grow to 5+ feet in length and can top out at 100 lbs. They actually make red tailed cats seem like a "smaller cousin". As far as feeding him at least until you rehome it, The pellets will work and for meaty foods you can always pick up some nightcrawlers. They will enjoy those also and it is fun to watch them eat em like spaghetti.
 
As an uneducated noob, I was sold a blue channel cat for a 125 g that eventually grew to about 12" over 6 years before I finally had him delivered (because I was scared to deal with him myself) to the LFS. Some people "collect" big cats, for enormous tanks (outdoor stores, ponds, etc) so it was a good deal all the way around. He ate one of my bala sharks once, and was a big pain at feeding time, since he just opened his mouth, slid around the top of the tank and took everything that was there. I had to distract him with some stuff on the bottom first, and then feed the surface feeders. His size, speed, and aggression scared the bejesus out of me.
 
I would take your wife to the LFS and trade her in for a bigger tank.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom