Rescuing large catfish from lfs

All posts regarding the care and breeding of these catfishes from South America.
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TheFishGuy
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Rescuing large catfish from lfs

Post by TheFishGuy »

Just thought I'd share what it's like rescuing large catfish. For those of you out there this method of moving large specimines works rather well...

I forgot to take my camera with me to the lfs where I rescued the cats from but my wife took about 50 pictures when I got home. :lol:

The first thing I did was make a box out of plywood that measured 76" long, 34" wide and 20" deep and lined it with pvc pond liner and put it in the back of my van.

When I got to the lfs the four cats were still in the leaky display tank so we put the water from the tank into the holding tank in my truck using a large powerhead.

With only a few inches of water left in the display tank it was easy to catch the fish :roll: First off the top of the tank was only about 30" off the ground so it made it easy to get to the fish. I brought along a pillow case and a bed sheet along with a 30 gallon rubbermaid container to move the fish from the display tank to the holding tank in the truck.

Step one: Line the 30 gallon rubbermaid with the bed sheet, then add about 6" of water.

Step two: Drape the pillow case over the top of the catfish and wrap your hands around its pectoral fins and hold on tight, you're going for a ride!

Step three: Once you have the beast subdued lift it out of the tank and into the rubbermaid.

Step four: Once in the rubbermaid wrap the beast up with the wet sheet and take it to the holding tank now filled with 8" of water and slowly unwrap the fish untill it's free... I make it sound easy don't I :lol: Repeat steps one through four, three more times and get on the road. I should mention that I had an old sliding glass door panel to cover the holding tank, it got strapped down to prevent water and fish from going everywhere :lol:

Now the fun part, get home, drain the holding tank to a minimum, re-capture four angry three foot catfish and release them in my 800 :thumb: Sounds easy eh? Here's the sequence of catching the last of them, a 34" South American Redtail Catfish...

Here's the holding tank in the back of my van:
Image

And here's the last cat:
Image

Here's the first attempt, I'm not exactly a small guy and this thing took me for a ride!:
[IMG:640:457]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/032-2.jpg[/img]

The second:
[IMG:640:456]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/033.jpg[/img]

And finally got em!:
[IMG:640:456]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/031-4.jpg[/img]

Ok, so just get em in the rubbermaid :lol:
[IMG:457:639]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/034-1.jpg[/img]

I carried the container with the cat in it downstairs and slowly released it with the help of those flower power sheets it was a breeze!:
[IMG:455:640]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/ ... 012-16.jpg[/img]
Image
Image

The end result, a happy catfish and a wet fish guy 8) :lol:
[IMG:426:639]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/039-2.jpg[/img]
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Post by sidguppy »

if there are pictures in this post...can't see em :(
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Seedy
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Post by Seedy »

sidguppy wrote:if there are pictures in this post...can't see em :(
I can see them...perhaps you are at work or somewhere where they filter the internet for content?

And they are pretty impressive. :D
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Post by sidguppy »

nope; at home with the latest Firefox version.

however I see a few dots.
it takes some precise aiming, but if the pointer hits a dot i can rightclick it and view the pix.

only the lowest 3 have the dot. the rest not all. refreshing the page doesn't help.

weird.....
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Post by Seedy »

Perhaps you can see them when I link to them?

Image
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Post by Marc van Arc »

sidguppy wrote:nope; at home with the latest Firefox version.
Weird indeed. No problem over here with the same browser & version.
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Post by sidguppy »

wow!

this whole thing strongly reminds me of the Croc Hunter with those wraps around the fish covering the eyes.....

amazing job!
:lol:
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Post by DAWN »

Looks to me like you've got a few shovel-nosed catfish too! My brother had one, but outgrew the six-foot tank!
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Yes, they can do that! These fish should not be sold to the public :?

As a matter of fact, the TSN I just rescued was mine six years ago. I bought him intending to keep it in my 185 (60"x24"x30" tall) Boy was I wrong... He grew to 24" in about a year. I didn't do my research before getting him... After having him for a year the dawn of the internet reached my home so I went to a search engine and punched in Tiger shovelnose catfish and read that they specialized in eating sleeping fish like cichlids... Which is what I was keeping with him. That night he ate a $40 fish :?
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Post by MatsP »

TheFishGuy wrote:After having him for a year the dawn of the internet reached my home so I went to a search engine and punched in Tiger shovelnose catfish and read that they specialized in eating sleeping fish like c*****ds... Which is what I was keeping with him. That night he ate a $40 fish :?
You shouldn't have shown the fish the page you found, then your fish would've been safe! :-)

--
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe it LOL He ate a female green texas :?
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Post by Bas Pels »

So fish do read aquariumbooks? :shock:
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Oh, that reminds me... I've got to find a picture... hold on....

Here's a picture of the tiger shovelnose "tigger" way back when I had him...
Image

LOL, but that's not the picture I was looking for...LOL

Here it is, my two year old "reading" LOL:
[IMG:800:533]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/jstraz/012-2.jpg[/img]
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Post by bronzefry »

You have a good website and I commend your efforts. I wish more folks did their research. Keep up the good work. 8)
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Post by Marc van Arc »

bronzefry wrote:You have a good website and I commend your efforts. I wish more folks did their research. Keep up the good work.
I couldn't agree more. One question, however: how come Tigger 2 is so much more expensive compared to the other fishes you have? Or is it a typo?
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Not a typo, he was raised here from a pup... He's our pet... But everything's got a price :D

And thanks for the kind words...

I've got a question... A friend of mine thought it'd be a good I dea to sell "Support Monster Fish Rescue" "T" shirts and sweatshirts to raise $$.


Do you think they'd sell? You know, if I had large cats or c.i.c.h.l.i.d.s. on the front...

What do you think? I'm looking for feedback :)
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Anyone?
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Post by Angelface23 »

do t-shirts, everyone loves t-shirts!!
and large cats...because catfish are cool :D
TheFishGuy
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Post by TheFishGuy »

Thanks angelface23...

Judging by your forum name I'm going to guess you're a middle aged male with three days growth on your face and big ol stains on your T-shirt :razz:
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Post by Angelface23 »

haha love it ;)

I'm not a fan of sweatshirts...they cost more $$'s and don't sell well...unless it's winter. But a t-shirt can be worn all year long...providing you wash it on a regular basis ;)
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Post by TheFishGuy »

LOL LOL :D
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Post by bronzefry »

I love on your website seeing "A D O P T E D" across some of the lists of fishes. Does your family prohibit you from attending auctions? :wink:
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Post by TheFishGuy »

It's more the career choice that prevents me from going to auctions and shows. I'm a carpenter so summer is very hectic. Usually things slow down in winter but I've got three big jobs that will carry me through winter...

There's just something about making money.... I can't stop doing it! LOL

This is also the reason that MFR doesn't get the attention it desrves from me... No time... I need to win the lottery LOL
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