Pesky Albino Channel Catfish

[cdawson]

I've got an albino channel catfish that loves to eat my fish and scare other larger fish RIGHT out of the tank. We have a pond outside and I've read that they can live in cold water. Would it be wise to put him out there or just take him to a store for some decent credit. He's only about 5 inches right now and I'd rather get rid of him before he's a whopping 3 1/2 feet and able to eat ALL of my fish.

 

[pinballqueen]

Well, channel cats ARE predatory....

If you want to keep him, rather than taking him to the lfs, I would suggest waiting until spring to move him to your pond, that way he has time to acclimate to the temperature and won't have to deal with REALLY cold temps. It'll give him a year to get used to the outdoor environment before the water gets cold again. He should do fine in the pond, though.

Keep in mind, these fish grow an inch a month or so...

Do you have a quarantine tank you could move him to until the weather is suitable to move him outside?

HTH.

 

[cdawson]

unfourtunealty I don't have quarantine tank. it's just a bowl =(
You're right about the 1inch a month, when I got him he was about 2 inches long (my g/f bought him actually,she was always buying catfish till I came along and said "DON'T! they eat everything!"). I really don't think LFS's should sell these or catfish like the red tail catfish. The red tails at the vancouver aquarium are around 5 feet long!