Big white cat rescued from predation, and starvation

[ctenosaura]

I originally posted this in the wrong section:
Me and my brother rescued some koi and an 18 inch white catfish from an abandoned pond in a backyard of a house that has been for sale for 8 months. The fish were thin and the catfish look real emaciated from not being fed for so long. Plus they were probably getting terrorized by racoons due to the shallow water. Also, someone left a running hose of tap water in the pond and the chloramine in the water was probably suffocating the fish. Any way, took the cat home and set it up in a 150 gal rubbermaid tub. After two days he started surface feeding on floating koi pellets and seems to be making a recovery. My question is, what species is white, has a broad head, and is active and feeding in 55 to 60 degree water? See pics below

[nvcichlids]

albino channel catfish.

[Dave Rinaldo]

albino channel catfish.

Ictalurus punctatus

[Marc van Arc]

I originally posted this in the wrong section

Then it went in the correct forum (Other catfishes) by accident. And I see you've got the same answer(-s) I gave you, which is a good thing because now you know for sure.
I will delete that other thread as double postings are not allowed.

Welcome again. And of course a big for rescueing those fishes.

[Viktor Jarikov]

For sure an albino ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish) unless there exist albino blue channel catfish - a very close relative and a look-alike. If they do exists, will have to count anal fin rays.

Nice fish. Looking not too shabby for being unfed for 8 months. I think it must have gotten a few and in between meals in those 8 months. The fins and barbels are in good shape, not frail/split/torn.

Good job!! Set up or find a nice big home for that guy. Something like a 55 gal tank will not do. The 150 gal stockpond will do but you have to have good biological filtration - I see no gravel; is there a filter of the canister type? This fish should not exceed 2' or at least not by much even in the largest in-home tanks.

They can be trained real well, feeding off your hands and letting you pet them (not that the latter is a good idea for the fish's health).

[ctenosaura]

Thanks for ID-ing him or her. The rubbermaid tub is bare bottomed and there is a cannister filter running. Ammonia levels seem to have gotten high due to it being a new pond set up but the fish is still eating and seems unaffected. I was told the ammonia levels will be gone after the tank is in operation for a while. He probably did catch some insects and stuff that fell in the water and I think the realtor threw some food in the pond every few weeks. I have had him for a week now and have been feeding him alot of koi food and frozen shrimp off a stick which probably is making him crap alot and causing the raised ammonia levels.

[Viktor Jarikov]

I do not know your experience level so forgive me if you know all of the following.
-- ease up on food!!! Ammonia will kill. It takes a considerable time for bacteria colonies to establish themselves and spread. If the cat survived 8 months on sporadic food sources, he/she will be fine with little good-quality food for a long time

-- do not hurry to nourish the fish back to plump - you may kill it well before you accomplish that or cause strong stress (because of poor water); stress leads to weakening of immune system -> decease -> death

-- seed the bacterial cultures - can use stuff like MicrobeLift-PL (~$60-$70 per gallon) and/or PetSolutions BioBoost (http://www.petsolutions.com, ~$20 per quart) - add say one glass of which a day for a week - cannot really hurt the fish with this stuff but perhaps better to be cautious; also, these treatments smell, especially MicrobeLift PL, but the smell will dissipate soon, don't worry, it will smell only at the beginning, when you add it.

-- make sure the canister filter is properly rated in terms of gallons per hour (I'd say at least 350 gph for the 150 gal tub) AND is filled with the media having sufficient surface area for the bacterial cultures to settle on and process your water quickly and efficiently. Same goes for the bottom - using gravel provides for a lot more of surface area for the bacteria to live on. Only know what type of gravel you'd add - e.g., do not use marbel or any kind of stone containing lime for they will turn your water alkaline.

-- even with all of that, it will take MONTHs for your ecosystem and bacteria to establish themselves!

-- you thaw the shrimp, right? if you give the fish a few of those, he can be ok for several days without anything else (right now, at the beginning); when you have plenty of bacteria - you can give him huge meals but not every day! maybe weekly or twice a week - in the wild these cats often eat big meals but rarely - so they are designed to handle best this type of feeding, albeit channel cats are more of the scavengers than predators, which means they pick up small amounts of food here and there every day all day, but then, they come across a carcas or a dying fish and eat it and are all set for a week or longer, depending how big the tasty meal was (what's repulsive and starting to rot for humans is tasty for catfish).

[Viktor Jarikov]

also, the colder the water, the longer it takes to digest food and this relationship is not trivial! meaning that when the water temp decreases little-by-little, say linearly, the digestion process slows down exponentially. 55-60 F is rather cold. When the water temp is 50 F and below, people STOP feeding their outdoor pond fish. Not sure about cats, but koi cannot digest their food right at 50 and below -> this leads to poisoning -> death

Channel cats live in temperate climates and are not tropical fish. They can overwinter just fine outside in Canada and northern US but they do not eat (or at least do not eat much - which it is, you have to find out) when the water turns cold.

If your guy is a blue channel catfish, this species is southern and this water is too cold for him and he will not survive in the water of below 45-50 F, I assume. For such a fish, you may consider adding a heater, if need be.

[ctenosaura]

Should I siphon most of the water out of the tub and refill with treated clean water to drop the ammonia level? I have done this with a tropical fish tank in the past.

[MatsP]

Doing water changes to drop the ammonia level is definitely recommended, yes.

--
Mats

[Viktor Jarikov]

yes and while at it, try to remove/siphon with water feces and detritus - i.e., if you see it - big fish often produce well-visible, chunky feces. These continue to rot and produce ammonia and other unwanted chemicals that pollute your unbalanced, non-established ecosystem. The solid wastes tend to collect in certain places in aquaria which depend on the currents and fish movements, usually in the places where it is the stillest.

also, it is a good idea to make sure there is no uneaten food anywhere in the tub (and in the canister, if you have not been able to make sure none went into the canister in the past). This is by far the worst source of ammonia in your system.

[exasperatus2002]

Nice channel catfish. They're commonly sold for ponds or for stocking for consumption. In the pond or on the table they're a great fish.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Ctenosaura, any updates on the rescued cat? How is he doing?