Hemibagrus of some kind? Photo heavy

[saphphx]

Hello. This is a fish that has turned up with a free tank. Beh. Was told he was a small catfish with a red tail - so hoped for a plec or syno. Then was told he was an RTC, but I think he really isn't unless he is the strangest coloured one ever.

I had a good hard look and I think Hemibagrus wyckii. I had thought Hemibagrus wyckioides but he is a push over and has been kept with two 3-4 inch spotted talking cats and hasn't touched them. Also his fin is more peaked then the Hemibagrus wyckioides, it is a closer match to wyckii, but that redish look to the tail makes me thing otherwise, though its not as much red as any of the wyckioides pics I can find. He is stressed out and unhappy, having been shuffled at his old home from tank to tank, then driven across town to surprise me and be shuffled some more.

Pics:

Head


Tail

He wont get out of the pipe with me anywhere in the room, but I know he comes out when I am out of the room cause every time I open the door he goes for his pipe haha. I had my husband take the following while I gaurded the tubes and carefully herded him where I wanted him to go.


Almost.. ALMOST!!


Not so red tail looking to me...


Pink, at best.


THERE WE GO! A whole fish. Sorry about the angle, there isn't a lot of moving room in the fish room at the moment, and I moved pipes as Stig snapped away.


Belly! Not as plump as I'd like him to be, but he's had it rough lately - moved about a lot when the last owner shuffled, them groped by my hubby ;)


Tank



And again I have broken my golden tank rule: Never buy a tank you can't touch the bottom of. Though I didn't buy it, I still can't touch the bottom lol. Was a good trick to grab those pipes!

I don't like him in the tank he is in - it is only 60x20x24 inch. I honestly don't think my bigger tank (78x24x24 inch) will suit him either. I also need to find out what he is and if he will eat everything I own - I have no idea why he hasn't eaten the talking cats, but with how he pokes his head out when I am around he definitely knows where dinner comes from - so maybe just lazy. I had a 2 foot poly that would ignore the smaller fish sitting right by her - but I hand fed her, so she probably never really thought about working for dinner haha. Hoping I can get this lad to do the same!

Thanks in advance!

[Silurus]

It is

Hemibagrus wyckioides

.

[saphphx]

not good news then :/ Are they as bad as the PC profile says? The last owner says he's been with other fish forever and not eaten anyone, but at 2 foot he is hardly full grown.

Off to google some more info on them I think!

Hmm. Says can reach 50 inches, but 20-24 inches is more common? Is this true? And why has mine never eaten anyone in his tank? Just lazy? I hope so, no idea what to do with him otherwise!!

[Silurus]

Hemibagrus in general are aggressive, but they most likely display this aggression the most in enclosed spaces (i.e. when the tank is too small). There is probably some spectrum to the aggressiveness seen in this fish, and it is likely that you have an individual that is displaying less aggression than average. This is not to say that your fish will stay docile all the time, as they sometimes will show a sharp spike in the level of aggression for no apparent reason. Keeping the fish in as large a tank as you can may help moderate this aggression.

The reason why the talking cats haven't been eaten is probably because they hide very well most of the time, or maybe they're just too spiny for the catfish to eat.

[saphphx]

Kind of like betas then, some are cool with other fish, some aren't.

Size wise, what is realistic for him? At the moment he is in a 60x20x24 inch tank. The largest tank I have is 78x24x24 inch. Could he live happily in either of these? Probably as an only fish, or with two large plecos - I have another gibby (18 inch) and a common (16 inch) that I would quite like to keep but won't do well in the 60x20x24 inch tank.

The gibby that came with this tank is looking for a new home at the moment, I think three large plecs and this guy may be pushing my big tank.

[nvcichlids]

i personally do not think either tank is large enough for a full grown one. The general rule of thumb i believe is 6y x 2y x 2y where y is the length of the fish fully grown. At 50", that would mean a tank of 300"x100"x100". (someone correct me if I am wrong with this rule of thumb here).

[MatsP]

The rule I try my best to follow is 4L x 2L x 2L - for most catfish, you can cheat on the height, and most catfish aren't very active swimmers, so they don't necessarily need that much length either, but a very minimum of 3L x 2L base and 1.5L height. For a 50" fish, that means 150" x 100" x 75" - and that's the ABSOLUTE minimum for just about any fish.

Bear in mind that smaller tanks mean harder work to keep the water clean. Predatory fish tends to produce the waste "unevenly", so the load on the filtration will vary. In a small tank, this can lead to spikes of ammonia/nitrite which causes health problems in the fish. In a bigger tank, the volume of water will let the spikes be lower (because there is more water to dilute the waste).

Keeping large fish is not easy, and compared to the cost of the fish itself, it can get very costly. Spinning off in a tangent: A local shop was selling South American Red-tail Catfish for £15. In the near foreseable future, any prospective owner would have to spend something along the lines of 100-1000x the price of the fish...

--
Mats

[saphphx]

I think I will be asking around for someone to take him, there is just no way I can house him for life. Now I know why the tank was free! it is a shame, he seems like a really good little guy, but oscars and polys are about the largest fish I can really get away with - aside from my gibby, but I even worry about him getting larger then says on the tin - so to speak haha.

Thanks guys! Will start asking around the big cat lovers I know and seeing if someone wants him.