Arius seemani

[StiffMeister]

I really like this fish by the way it looks and swims. But how large do they really get? I read all kinds of sizes in books and on the internet, varying from 20 cm to 35 cm max. How large do they become and how fast do the grow? Any of u got any experience with this fish??

[Silurus]

35 cm seems to be the max.

[Mooncaller]

A. seemanni, now placed in Hexanematichthys, grow to about 25cm SL fairly quickly. They will get to 30 to 35cm in a few years if feed well. I have only kept juvenials in fresh water. The ones I had long term were in brakish. Though I have never noticed a lack of hardiness while in fresh, as is the case with some other brackish fishes. They seem pretty intolerant of metabolates, so I have always kept them in clean water ( < 20PPM nitrate). The handling is like super overgrown pictus. Their pectrol spines are well barbed and become intangeled in nets if one is not carefull. I avoid using nets. They are fast and strong swimmers. They are also quite "smart" and know when its time to swim with the current. That can make bucket catching in tight quarters interesting. BTW, I had 2 adults in a 90g brackish set up for many years. They did quite well, but I always felt that they needed more room. I would now not put 2 in a tank with a footprint smaller then 24X72 inches.

[StiffMeister]

thx for the info! how much salt do u need to add? is the quantity bad for plants and other fish? as i like those fish very much, what kind of species, which look like them, would u recommend for my tank (80x40x40cm)?

[Katman]

Just am interesting observation on Arius seemani .
When Arius are imported they are always salted to help eliminate stress. What i have noticed
is that they eat the rock salt. I know this doesn't sound logical but it got to be one of my pet
things to do , watch their reaction to salt.

I could never understand how they could balance the amount of salt they ate agianst the fresh
water they were swimming in. I allways thought this would be a major challeng for some one to
tackel.

Then you ask how much salt do the need ?
Lets try this one . Does a fish live in soft or hard water because it wants to or because it
has no choice ? If given a choice would it change its Einviroument ?

If you want to discuss this move it to Speak Easy.

[Mooncaller]

I usualy use one handfull ( ~2 Tablespoons) rock salt / 10gallon of water when keeping brackish type fishes in fresh water. Some plants do not like this but many do. I am not all that experienced with aquatic plant selections. You might want to start with half this amount, but if the fish become listless and dull looking, up the amount. Arius cats should be shiny. When doing brackish, I used sea salt to achieve a sg of 1.008 to 1.018.

I have seen many cichlids eat salt also! Gota go, fishtanks wanting maintainence

thx bob

[Katman]

When I said Arius eat salt,I ment they gorge on it to the point you can see the shape of the
salt pushing out aginst their extended bellies.
They also gather over the dissolveing salt and rub thier bodies aginst it until it is complestly gone.

[Mooncaller]

Hi,

When I said Arius eat salt,I ment they gorge on it

Thats so funny. I saw that for the first time today! I generaly prepare water well ahead of water changes. When I am going to be doing water changes on the livebearer tanks ( etc.), I salt the change water. At home, I usually have kept A. seemani, only in brackish. Today I was real busy so someone else did water changes sans salis. I ran around and dumped salt in all the tanks that needed it. Awile later, I did a quick inspection to see how everyone was doing. When I saw the A. seemani, my first though was to look for uneaten food. Then it dawned on why they were so bloated

The store I work for has quite a few. It took awile for the ordered quantity to adjust to the fact that since I started working there ( and the new store manager started working there,) more fish are living, and less seemani are being sold. I get the impression that many Aquatics stores push this fish. I don't. I explain to the customer what the implications of owning such a creature are. I often get a responce such as "Well so-and-so at such-and-such store said that they would be great for a 10g aquarium". One young man and his wife came in after buying some "Shadowfin Sharks" at "someplace". They had a printout of the Planet Catfish spec sheet ( which I recognized immediatly). They had heard that the new employees at my store know what they are talking about , so brought in the sheet to find out if the printout, or what the other salesman said was correct. They were eventualy funneled to me. I was amazed to hear what they had been told. Is it true that most people buying Tropical fish only expect them to live a few years? Fortunatly, this couple, who really love their "Shadowfins", have decided to get larger tanks as needed. They are also now very interested in brackish! It is really cool to see new hobbiest taking the time to do research. On the other hand, I'm a bit dismayed to learn that so many of these fish are bing sold into homes were they will live short lives. I sure hope that my suspicion, that many of these fish are dying in the tanks of the chain stores, is unfounded.

Well, back to the original topic. I, for one, will never drop salt directly into the aquarium again! It was sure funny, but can't be good for the long haul!

[StiffMeister]

ok, thats clear indeed! im gathering more info atm. do u guys have any more usefull info about keeping these fish??

[Mooncaller]

Hi,

Sorry, I was not trying to be obtuse. So here are the details, all in one place.

Max size 35cm ( mine were ~30 at 5years, my only data point. Most of my logs were
lost in a move )

Sensitive to ammonia ( Amonia spike from introducing too many fish will stress them).
Sensitive to nitrates, keep below 20PPM, particularly when young.
Filter water at 5XTank Volume per hour.

At the first sign of dulling of their normally shininess or a general listlessness, check metabolates, and increase salt if possible. If problems persist concider going brackish ( SG of 1.008 is fine, 1.018 is better). As they get older, they will need more salt. I have had no problems with 1/2 dosages of malachite green while treating other fish in the tank. I have also used neomyacine and nitrofurizone medications with them in the aquarium with positive results.

These are an active fish even as adults, give them room ( like 1.5 Square Meters per adult). They like modarate lighting. They are tolerant of water salinity and tempurature fluctuations. They will eat any food provided. I fed mine sinking algea and shrimp pellets. I have been giving the little guys in the store a pellet that is 50% Shrimp and 50% spirolina, intermixed with Hikari Sinking Waffers. The gulp both down with relish. They also go to the surface to snag flake. My large ones took Cichlid pellets. Provide young ones with some cover as you would P.pictus.

They do not bother anything too large to be food. They like their own company. I assume that given room, and enough indivuduals, they will form loose schools as adults. Most larger fish tend to leave them alone.

Be very carfull with netting, even more so then with some other cats. In many respects, they are like overgrown pictus. One thing to watch out for when handelling is that they will use pectoral fins defencivly, and they will swim fast with the current to excape, even if that requires going up hill ( such as pouring water out of a bucket containing them).

That is all that I can think of to add to what is already available on the Fishbase and
Planet Catfish spec sheets. They really are easy fish to keep in brackish aquariums.

If you have any specific questions, ask, it might jog a memory loose.