Clarias Cat

[CAC]

Hi, ive been advised by someone on this forum, that a single clarias cat could live in my 38g tank...
Would this be possable, and would it need re-homing at some point?
Do they need anything special?
What about decor?

Thanks alot, Mikey

 

[CFC]

Which someone was that!! They need their head examined, Clarias batrachus (the most commonly seen species) not only get to about 18" but they grow at almost an inch a week, you would be rehoming it within a few months if you can find anyone mad enough to take one.

 

[CAC]

Lol, ill take it as a no then!! It was diademhill in this topic: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=162635

Though having a 18" fish is abit odd...

Thanks CFC, solved alot of trouble!!! Mikey

 

[CFC]

You dont know just how much of a lucky escape, one of my lfs has a continual stock of these that get sold and come back a few inches longer and a bit fatter a few weeks later. They are absolute gluttons that eat anything and everything, including the fins off of any tankmates they cant actually fit into their mouths. Someone i know had two of them at about 18" in a 80g tank and had to euthanise them in the end because he couldnt keep the tank anymore and no where would take them.

 

[nmonks]

To be fair, I'm sure one could survive in a 38 gallon tank. They're pretty well indestructible. When I was at university, one of the research groups had these fish for some reason, and they were in fairly small tanks. Basically enough water to cover the fish, but that's about it.

Not ideal as a pet. Not even that good as food. Tried one, once. Muddy-tasting. Not as good as Ictalurus sp., which is excellent eating, for a freshwater fish, anyway. I'm told Siluris is pretty good, too. Saw them (alive!) in tanks alongside carp in a market in Budapest. But never actually tasted one.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[CAC]

Well the fish i keep, i dont want them just to surrvive, id like them to have a decent standard of life...

Thanks, both of you.

 

[CFC]

i'm pretty sure they could survive in a bucket of pee if thats the way you wanted to keep them, i agree they are indestructable.

The fore mentioned friend had his tank in the garage for some time, during the middle of winter the trip fuse for the garage blew without anyone noticing and the tank was without heat or filtration for what must have been a few days at least as the water temperature was only just above freezing. The cats were very lethargic but once the power went back on and the water started warming they were right as rain.
When he euthanised them he used the heavy blow on the head method and placed both corpses in the bin. A few hours later his mrs screamed from the kitchen and one of them had come around in the bag and was thrashing about

(and no i couldnt have taken them to prevent their death as i had no where i could house them without endangering my own fish)

 

[CAC]

Its a shame all these fish still get sold...
Like with the tire tracks, i can imagine that the buyers just told that theyll get only a few inches bigger, when they infact grow to 40"...

Dont really understand how they can do it

Mikey

 

[nmonks]

One of the great mysteries of the hobby.

A lot of these beasts -- Clarias cats, Fugu pufferfish, Tilapia, grass carp, Nile perch, barramundi, long-arm shrimps -- are food animals and grown on farms. Since fish sold live as pets are more profitable than fish sold by dead weight as food, there are always a few fish farmers more than happy to supply the trade.

Quite why fish importers and wholesalers buy them is the mystery. There really can't be a pent up demand for giant catfish and predatory shrimps. And these wholesalers have GOT to know anything traded by a fish farmer is [a] fast growing and very big and likely [c] totally unsuitable for aquarium life. And yet they buy them in and pass them on.

The next step is the retailer. Why they buy them from the wholesaler is another mystery. The only explanation I can think of is that they are relatively cheap, so selling them on to unsuspecting hobbyists seems like a good deal. But really, when there are literally thousands of reliable aquairum species out there, why a retailer would feel the need to stock up with Clarias or Tilapia eludes me.

Cheers,

Neale

Dont really understand how they can do it

 

[CAC]

Yeah, surrpose if their being raised on farms allready, then why not make extra profit, but its at the fishes expense


MIkey

 

[nmonks]

Well, I guess that depends. The tilapia that ends up as a pet (however impractical) may be having a better time as the one that gets filleted, turned into fish-fingers, and sold at Tesco!

Cheers,

Neale

Yeah, surrpose if their being raised on farms allready, then why not make extra profit, but its at the fishes expense

 

[CruX]

My Mother was mis-sold the 'piabold' clarias. Infact 2 of them, the retailer never questioned the size of the tank and they turned from cute pink catfish into monsters overnight. The only use of them was cichlid fry that she couldn't get rid of soon disappeared when placed in the clarias tank. I tried to help them re-house them but no one would take them, we were advised by another retailer to let them loose in the lakes on a hot day. Un/fortunately they snuffed it in a mini eco disaster, so perhaps not indestructable.

 

[Saedcantas]

Hopefully someone advised the retailer who advocates and encourages releasing large, predatory and highly adaptable non-native animals into our native ecosystems, that it is not only incredibly damaging to our wildlife but is also highly illegal to do so.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

for real! that guy is EXACTLY why cool fish keep being banned from import lists.

 

[Fella]

I used to quite like the look of these fish, however, one day i saw the most gluttonous creature I had ever seen and it turned out to be one of these, a true mix between jabba the hutt and a fresian cow.

I quite liked them, but they have limited appeal now I've seen their true behaviour (eg, not a lot).