speckled bullhead?

beejium · Post by **beejium** » 11 Dec 2006, 07:56

a while back i purchaced a small bullhead about an inch long. there was no tag but the guy at the petshop said they only get about 6 inches. it looks like a black bullhead (more in shape than color). it has a black upper body with silver speckles or splotches all over it's top half. it has a white under belly and black barbells. it has a round tail like a bullhead. the clerk said it's a bullhead-catfish. i have not been able to find anything under that name except for the brown bullhead. i have worked with the brown bullhead in school and the fry are grey/silver on top. white on the bottom with no splotches and black barbells. so my first question is what is it? and second why does it sleep head up and tail down? my brother is taking pics right now and i will get them posted as soon as i get them.

sorry about the book

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 12 Dec 2006, 12:46

Common mames = Bullhead

None of them stay at 6 inches tho' (except for the one from Taiwan, whcih I doubt is what you'd get from a shop in New York as a "bullhead").

Pictures will of course help with the identification process - it's VERY difficult to identify fish based on descriptions.

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Mats

beejium · Post by **beejium** » 13 Dec 2006, 00:44

if its just a bullhead, what size tank would i need? if the fish grows between 10-12 inches than i doubt it has enough room where it is... still working on pics, they are too dark.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Dec 2006, 10:11

The rule I use is to give at minimum tank-size of 4L x 2L x 2L where L is the size of the fish. Which for a 12" fish means a 4 x 2 x 2 ft tank - 125 gallon or so.

Did you look at the link above for "Common name is bullhead".

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Mats

bullhead · Post by **bullhead** » 13 Dec 2006, 16:20

If it is a North American native, perhaps it is one of the madtoms. Search for "madtom" under common names in the cat-elog. I think that all madtoms adapt readily to aquaria, although they may like it a bit cooler with more current than the bullheads. They are a bit smaller, generally maxing out near 6" (150mm).

beejium · Post by **beejium** » 13 Dec 2006, 17:28

i did look at the link, it looks like the spotted bullhead. it's a great looking fish, but i don't have access to a tank that big... because it's wrong to release it into the wild for obvious reasons what do i do with it?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Dec 2006, 17:49

You have a few different options:
1. Find someone else that wants one - either individual or zoo/aquatic life centre/pet-shop etc.
2. Take it back to the shop - if they told you it grows to 6" and it actually grows to well beyond that (not quite double that at 11"), it's reasonable to accept that you get shop credit for the amount you paid.
3. Keep it until you think it's uncomfortable in it's current tank, and see what you can do to get a bigger tank around that time.
4. At any time, you have the option to humanely euthenaze the fish [commonly recommended method is to euthenaze the fish by "freezing it" - chill a suitable amount of tank-water in the freezer [but don't let it freeze] and plop the fish in, then place it back in the freezer. The initial cold water will tranquelize the fish and freezing it will take it's life - if the water is pretty cool to start with, it doesn't take long to freeze either].

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Mats