Anyone Have Iridescent Sharks?

[Marv_Levy]

just wondering because i have had 1 for 2 years now got it when he was less than 1inch long. Now hes almost 7" and is out growing his 29gallon home. So im about a week away from adding him to my new 75 gallon set up.

Well i was wondering what kind of structure you guys have your sharks hiding in since they arnt really sharks "there catfish". mine use to hang out in a hollow rock ornament but he doesnt fit inside it anymore. Im researching now building him a rock cave using tank safe products for the 75gal tank. If you have any ideas or blueprints let me know.

 

[uacich12]

just wondering because i have had 1 for 2 years now got it when he was less than 1inch long. Now hes almost 7" and is out growing his 29gallon home. So im about a week away from adding him to my new 75 gallon set up.

Well i was wondering what kind of structure you guys have your sharks hiding in since they arnt really sharks "there catfish". mine use to hang out in a hollow rock ornament but he doesnt fit inside it anymore. If you have any ideas let me know.

Ok, for what it's worth I had 2 of these Pangasius cat's when I started about 25yrs. ago, I tell you this because I remember it like it was yesterday (so do my parent's who I still lived w/ at the time) had that good of a time w/ them, for awhile. I also got them when they where about 1 1/2" big, they went right into a 55gl tank. They grew about 5" per yr. When I finally got rid of them they were 3 1/2yrs. old & well over 16" & a good solid 1lb.-1.1/4lb each maybe more. At this time they had literally destroyed everything in the tank & I mean destroyed w/ a capital D. One of them had shattered a heater, fryin himself (talkin sizzlin, smokin, fried critter), while I was doing a water change & although I had to hold him over a pwrhd for almost 3 straight hrs. cause the whole fryin' himself was kinda the only thing that took a the wind out of him, LOL, he survived to my absolute amazement he survived. What can I say this was not exactly the information age & you just lived & learned, ya learned at the time not to necessarily trust the information givin to you by the person making money on our ?'s. I also learned that these type of cat's can survive almost anything to a point. I used to joke w/ my LFS owner, before I bought the LFS, that I could take these cat's throw'em in the toilet for an hr. come bck, put'em bck in the tank & chances were they'd survive. After the second yr they ALWAYS looked beat to crap, they're faces were always torn up, Rocky style, but worse, talkin chunk's of flesh constantly hanging from their face's where they had bounced off of the wall's & the gravel & well everything else. In the end they were all that occupied the 1, 55gl I had. The "end" was about 4 mnth's after the whole heater shattering incident. Chk this out http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0207&view_records=1 read the related article it's not long, but sum's up what I'm saying pretty well & there was allot more on the goggle search I did to make sure we were talkin' bout the same fish. Maybe you'll see where I'm going w/ this, cause this is a classic example of the fish you brought hm, is NOTHING like what it sound's as if your expecting to have. They don't hide when they get bigger, they destroy, an aquarium & everything in it, that is a promise. With you having the 2 tank's you have now, you could have allot more w/out this fish in your collection. These fish truly belong in a pond, lake or large open body of water. They're very cool, don't get me wrong, but I tell you honestly the end is inevitable, in a short time you will have no other choice but to get rid of them, for they're safety if nothing else. When I wrote about it being 4 mnth's after the "shatter incident" that I got rid of them, it was because I couldn't find a hm. for them, where I lived, at the time there was no large zoo like aquarium that could/would take them & I had to drive about 3 hrs. to the nearest city that had 1 & when I got them there, the aquatic biologist that I gave them to was upset that I hadn't been honest about their size, much bigger then the 12" I told him they were, what can I say at about 17yrs. old I thought 3" was 6":duh: :laugh: Please just give the animal's well being a thought then reconsider what direction your future might hold. Should you decide to continue w/ this endeavor further, good luck, not that luck will have anything to do w/ it, none the less

 

[Marv_Levy]

thanks for the good read.

man you must of had some bruiser fish my Iridescent doesnt flip out like your saying. Yeah he will dart around if i do something extreme by the tank but what fish doesnt. He just likes to hang out in hiding i hardly ever see him eat when i feed him no matter what it is flakes or shrimp pellets he just sits there i leave and later on i will see him and my pleco cleaning up the bottom after the food is broken down and soft from the water. I hope he doesnt get into the beast that yours was.

 

[uacich12]

1 mo thing

As I was thinkin' bout it some more the problems didn't occur till around 12". The 1st incident I had was 1 night the smaller of the 2 not the 1 that broke the heater, but the other 1 shot right thru a closed glass top landed 2ft+ away from that tank, bounced into my beanbag chair, sticking his pec fin thru the bag, I had to cut the nylon bag around his fin then get him bck in the tank maybe bout 10min. later I left the room & my mom hollered at me what was that noise I just heard, went bck into my room & he'd done it again, thankfully not into the bag again. He swam w/ that piece of nylon attached to him for at least 2 more wk's. You may not see it now, cause he might feel a bit crowded in the tank he's in, but just be prepared for thing's to change once he's in the bigger tank & has some room to build up some speed. If you ever hear noise that does not compute, don't hesitate middle of the night or when ever to chk him cause you never know. These fish got bigger & this is what started to happen, it wasn't like this from the beginning. Did you read that article from the link here @ AC. Remember you can take the beast from the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the beast, it's instinct & not much will change it

 

[Shocker6966]

thanks for the good read.

man you must of had some bruiser fish my Iridescent doesnt flip out like your saying. Yeah he will dart around if i do something extreme by the tank but what fish doesnt. He just likes to hang out in hiding i hardly ever see him eat when i feed him no matter what it is flakes or shrimp pellets he just sits there i leave and later on i will see him and my pleco cleaning up the bottom after the food is broken down and soft from the water. I hope he doesnt get into the beast that yours was.

The reason you don't see him is because he's a schooling fish in a tank alone. I have 3 that are very active. They never rest. Reason being is that they are a fast water fish and prefer an environment with a fairly strong current. Mandatory equipment if you plan on keeping your ID would be at least 2 more IDs, a long tank, the longer the better and powerheads - multiple powerheads. My 3 have been housed since I got them at 2 inches in a 30 gallon. 4 maybe 5 months later they are in my 150 long and the largest is at best estimate 6". As a species they are generally spastic and skittish and do damage themselves and their environments. Quick to startle, blindingly fast and basically blind is a tragic mixture. Be mindful of the placement of sharp or abrasive objects in your tank, and cover the ends with tall, soft plants, live or fake and you can minimize the potential damage to the fish and their environments.

You also should be aware that although unlikely to exceed a foot in length in an aquarium, there is the possibility that he will grow to exceed 3 feet. Unfortunately, by providing him with the comforts mentioned above(school, current, etc) you will be helping him achieve this impressive size. I would also offer that once your pangoon hits the 12" mark you really need to evaluate where he should be. Anything shy of an aquarium measuring 4'x8' would be terribly constraining and uncomfortable to this typically hyperactive fish. Much like keeping a thoroughbred in your back yard, IDs need room to run.