dolphin shark

[big mick]

I recently too the Dolphin shark home from a tank at work because they bought him "because he was a shark" but didnt realise he would eat the other fish.

He is only about 2" but I put him in with my pangasius and clown loach for now till I sort out what Im doing with him.

....anyway, after a few days I was feeding praws as a treat and he was like like pac-man......so much so infact I really thought he was going to do himself damage with the size of his belly......they next morning he was the same size and later that day he regurgitated the food back up and seemed fine.....the next day he had developed white spot and it has now spread to one of my clown loach.

I did a 30-40% water change and treated the tank with Protozin, Im due to add a second dose today then again tomorrow.

Im weary of treatments with the clows being in there and wondered if anyone had used Protozin (made by waterlife) before and confirm that it is effective because it seems to treat alot of things and the whitespot on the dolphin shark is pretty bad, I dont t5hink he'd last the time to switch meds.

 

[CFC]

If your "dolphin shark" is what i think it is being Cetopsis coecutiens ( http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/cetop...opsis/339_f.php ) then i would seriously consider removing it from your tank before it can do some real damage to your fish, with a predator like this in the tank whitespot is the least of their worries.

Protozin is ok but often needs two complete courses to completely rid the tank of the parasites, for future refference in case you need it the Interpet anti whitespot plus is a far superior treatment and usually only takes two doses spaced 4 days apart to completely remove the white spot from the tank.

 

[big mick]

No its not like that, Ive been trying to get info on him but I only brought him home a week ago.......he looks alot like the pangasius but has a more pointed in and a fatter head.

I do quite like him but because the shop had sold it as a "dolphin shark" and they didnt ask anything else when they bought it so thats all the info Ive got to go on.

I cant even post a picture because a friend of mine has my digital camera.

Ive always used the interpet stuff and usually didnt have to do a second dose but when i saw the protozin stuff I got it because it treats a range of things and thought it would be handy to have on stanby (plus it was twice the price so I assumed it to be better) but Im beginning to wish Id stuck with the one I knew.

I might do a water change and get some carbon in for a day or two then use the interpet one but I dont want to drag it out incase I lose him and the clown loach (he is in alot worse shape than the clown loach but active enough and still eating like a hungry hippo)

 

[CFC]

Try and get a picture so we can get a positive ID on the fish, there are a lot of Cetopsis species appearing in the trade recently all under the dolphin/whale common name and they are all bad news for community tanks.

 

[big mick]

I will definatly try and get a picture, if you can imagine a slightly stubbier pangasius (almost identical colouration) with a fatter head and much pointier dorsal fin.

If I do decide to keep him he will only stay in with the pangasius and the clown loach (they are about 3 times the size of him just now but I'll see how big he is going to get)

Ive found a picture that looks just like him saying he is a high finned catfish but when searching for info I just keep getting info on the Columbian shark which he isnt because the two look completely different, here is the picture i found
http/www.fishesnpets.net/gallery/catfish...nedsharkcat.jpg

..see what you think.....thats not a columbian shark is it?

 

[CFC]

Oh dear, i hope you have room for a 2 and a half meter long catfish and a steady supply of chicken and dog carcasses to feed it, the fish you have is Pangasius sanitwongsei ( http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/panga...gasiu/268_f.php )

 

[big mick]

Sweet Lord!!!

Sadly it does look very much like that.....Cant see me keeping the little fella now, we are planning an indoor pond for the pangasius but dont think we have the room for (and ther means to feed) both.

When you say they reach 2.5 meters is that the same as people saying my pangasius will reach 3 foot, which Im sure in the wild they do but my friend has one that he must have had atl east 3-4 years in a 450ltr and his is little over a 14".

 

[CFC]

It probably wont reach 2.5 meters in captivity because it will die long before it can grow to that size but you can pretty much guarentee that given the room it will reach at least 4 feet (1.2 meters) and will have eaten any tankmates it might have.
Pangasius cats usually grow to around a foot quite quickly and then depending on the available space grow another 1 or 2 inches a year until reaching full size taking 10 years or more before reaching their maximum.

 

[big mick]

Even at 4 foot wont be able to house him properly atall, we have had plans for an indoor pond for the pangasius but it will have to be some size for a 4 foot monster....he is very impressive and can see why the work were attracted to him but I doubt even I can help them out of this one.

Cheers for the advice though.

 

[kat and james]

there was another posting regarding these fish the other day, and that fish also had white spot, they appear to be prone to it. i think you are going to have to find a new home for this fella though, as the profile actaully says "Not recommended for home aquaria"!
They grow massive, and actually live in the river (the the chao phraya) which runs through bang kok, in thailand..! from my experience they become quite frenzied at feeding time!

 

[big mick]

There is no way I'll be keeping it, I will rehome him with care though. He certainly likes his food though.....thats how he got the witespot I think, thats what I was saying in my first post.....he just hoovers the entire tank in seconds mouth wide open....thinking of that at 4 foot long scares the sh*t out of me frankly.

 

[kat and james]

haha.. maybe you should name him vax!! maybe you could offer him to an aquarium or something, as they will probably be the only ones with a tank big enough to house him!!
hope you find him a nice home.. good luck!

 

[emma12321]

In the past i have successfully treated clown loach wth protozin. I used half the recommended dose then repeated once i had finished the first course. Worked a treat.

Emma

 

[big mick]

The only worry I have with the Protozin is each course is 6 days......two courses is a long time considering with the interpet whitespot plus its always been clear in 4 days.

I'll stick with the treatment Im doing now because Ive added the 3 daily doses then rather than wait another 3 days to ad the 4th dose on day 6 Im going to do a big water change tomorrow, get the carbon in for 2 days then blast it with the interpet stuff.