Iridescent Shark Issues...

[henward]

pangasius sutchi is the most common one sold in pet stores apparently. though in new zealand, there is only 3 left in the country that we know off. i just bought two of them

its been aroudn in the country for years and years! the big one is 80 cms long, the other is about 50 cms long.
they eat lots, they need s*it loads of filtration.
i mean twice to three times recommendd on filters.
you should return your fish, and stick to smaller cichlids in that 20 g of yours. sorry to say, that monsters cant be kept in cages like that, they will die.

pangasius sutchi may grow to 10 metre max in captivity, its unusual to hear of them growing larger, fish do not grow to the tank size, thats a myth, fish will keep growing untill they have no room and they will kill themselves.

i have seen arowanas in small tanks, and alive, but they dont look happy, with destroyed fins and really bad colour.
imagine if someone kept you in a cage where you cant even turn around, you just standing there, its the same.

i am planning on keeping a 50to60cm pangasius sutchi in a 8foot tank.
here is one rule someone told me once, its worked for me so far.

the depth of your tank, front to back, should be 25% to 30% longer than the total fish length, so they will be comfortable, any less could be ok, depending on the fish. but when they reach close to that length, think of upgrading.
your small sutchi catfish will get to 5 inches in a year or less.
when they reach 15 inches or so, the growth is slowed somewhat. in a large aquarium, 1200litres minimum i think to keep one. there are multiple spiecies of pangasius, most are not sold in pet shops......

 

[murphyk32]

You can get dwarf versions of this shark (idk how many times ive said that on this forum and am ignored), idk if its only in NA or what, but they are available, and those ones do grow to a max size of 12-18 inches.. personal experience here idc what a website sais.

With that said, your tank is still too small and fish dont grow to the size of their tank like people believe, they will be stopped from growing to their max compacity and die at a much earlier age. go with a 50 gallon MINIMUM id recommend.

As for your problems with them, listen to the otehrs cuz i have no clue.

Murph

 

[cheesy feet]

Dont worry man, they wont grow more than about 12-18 (after a looong time)inches, im not worried about that. I just wanna know if my fish is ok, since it hasnt really moved from the bottom. I know they get scared and lay on the bottom or hide, but he doesnt move really at all.

Speaking from experience with these fish, keeping two stunted 12 and 14 1/2" inch ones in a 40gal, they will definetely NOT grow to the size of the tank.One of them, the larger one, was about 5-10 years old when I got it. It was kept in a 30gal, with silver dollars, 2 different 10-12inch catfish and others, the tank was seriously neglected.They were underfed and overcrowded, along with this the tank maybe got a water change every month at max, so as you can imagine it would grow and die right?
No, it reached 14 1/2 inches in length and in doing so it got veryyy 'stunted'.
My point is if you actually care for these fish properly, they will grow huge.

 

[murphyk32]

*feels ignored**

yes if u take care of the normal id sharks they will grow massive,, BUT he is stating that they only grow to 12-14 inches, and my point jsut made and ignored above is that he may very well be right Because a dwarf id shark is available... that dwarf id shark is known for growing 12 inches, not the 2-3 feet.

The matter of size can be solved by people letting off a bit cuz that wasnt really his problem and him just going to the place he bought them and asking if they are dwarf or what....

really simple.

Murph

 

[andywg]

*feels ignored**

yes if u take care of the normal id sharks they will grow massive,, BUT he is stating that they only grow to 12-14 inches, and my point jsut made and ignored above is that he may very well be right Because a dwarf id shark is available... that dwarf id shark is known for growing 12 inches, not the 2-3 feet.

The matter of size can be solved by people letting off a bit cuz that wasnt really his problem and him just going to the place he bought them and asking if they are dwarf or what....

really simple.

Murph

You are forgetting just how rare the smaller species of ID sharks are in the trade. The ID sharks get in because they are a food fish which some breeders realise sells for more money, earlier when sold to the aquarium industry (just like clarias catfish). Not that many dwarf pangs are kept for fish farming.

So yes, you are right that the smaller species stay smaller (I believe the smallest of the Pangassius genus only hits around 8-9"), but in reality we are going to be buying those far less often thatn the larger growing food fish.

 

[doresy]

Ah, the old Iridescent Shark syndrome.

Had it myself once but thankfully I went to see my old mate Google first.

When you see those lovely creatures gracefully cruising back and forth in the LFS at 2-3" you instantly want to have one.

They should carry a government warning or at least a sign to say how big these mothers want to get! I say want to get because thinking they will adapt to your claustrophobic conditions is just plain lunacy.

I know you haven't gotten the answer to your original question but EXPERIENCE is usually what you get when you are looking for something completely different

Go on.....take them back or get a much bigger tank and we'll say no more about it

 

[murphyk32]

yes it is rare, that is y i said he should go and ask them if it is a dwarf or not.. and rarer in the uk, im in canada, see them atleast once every 2 months at multiple lfs's, he is in the us, maybe they are more common down tehre aswell.

Honestly i nvr said it is a dwarf or nottin like that i said he should ask and needs a bigger tank still even if they are dwarfs.

sigh*

Murph

 

[Mikaila31]

This thread is about 2 months old.

 

[murphyk32]

wow didnt even realise, so.,.. y did somebody bring up a 2 month old thread??

 

[doresy]

This thread is about 2 months old.

Oh yes.....it seems a newbie called Henward breathed life back in this old thread. I didn't spot it

 

[Mikaila31]

They come up on the similar topic thing at the bottom of the page (Down there VVVVVVV), Which is any thread that is still in the forum, they can be new or a year old. Its not the first time its happened .

 

[murphyk32]

actually ive seen them as old as 2002,, which is y i complained about it before and i will definitely be adding this to the complaint

Murph

 

[WillyRBeek]

yes it is rare, that is y i said he should go and ask them if it is a dwarf or not.. and rarer in the uk, im in canada, see them atleast once every 2 months at multiple lfs's, he is in the us, maybe they are more common down tehre aswell.

Honestly i nvr said it is a dwarf or nottin like that i said he should ask and needs a bigger tank still even if they are dwarfs.

sigh*

Murph

Murphy I notice you're from Halifax. I'm from Cole Harbour and I was in the Pets Unlimited story in Burnside about a month ago and they had Dwarf ID's. I remember this clearly because about a week before I seen the Dwarf ID's at that Pets Unlimited, I had bought a normal ID Shark at the Pets Unlimited in Cole Harbour and the guy who sold me it never bothered to tell me how large they got, so as you can imagine when I asked the guy at the Burnside store about how big the Dwarfs got compared to the regular ones, I was not impressed.

When I found this out I was debating taking it back, but soon after I noticed that the ID had grown a large white growth on it's belly, and within a few hours it was dead.