Clarias gariepinus

[Hotspot]

Hi there,

I may have the opportunity to buy Clarias gariepinus , a seller offers them for a very low price, seems to be a fish farmer I think .

Before I ask if he or she ships them I'm searching for info of aquarium kept specimens.
I'm interested who keeps them and how and for how long, max sizes in captivity as they can reach quite some length in nature and the behaviour towards other fish.

Thanks in advance !

greetings,

Peter

[Viktor Jarikov]

Very few people keep them and on this forum I can think only of RedtailRob but he has been inactive for years.

You can try on MFK too but I'd not be surprised if you only get little or even no info from firsthand keepers.

It's a cool catfish that I unfortunately never come across, seeing how all Claridae are banned in the US.

I'll finish off with a photo of C. gariepinus of Lake Gadisar:

[Bas Pels]

If I would want some, I would go to Wageningen University, where they are studying raising them. The fishes are rather hardy, but gregarious feeders.

That is, hard to kill, but they will eat anything. Not a good fish for a tank, in my eyes

[Hotspot]

Thanks, at least for the info that there is not much of it .
Very nice picture Viktor .

The seller of the gariepinus mailed back, they do not ship them so I would have to get them by myself. I have to sleep over this decision, but I tend to do it 'cause the low price of the fish alone compensates the quite long drive of over 500 km/310 miles .
Next week I'll also get two Clarias batrachus , right now I'm quite hooked on the Clarias-catfishes in general .

[Viktor Jarikov]

Glad to see you have such a drive for a catfish I don't mean drive as in the kilometers you will have to travel but as in motivation If you end up getting gariepinus, please, make a thread on them and update it every now and then as you please. That would be tremendously interesting and helpful. To me, for one.

[Chilo_glanis]

Hi. Unfortunately, I cannot provide information regarding captive specimens but I can provide some observations from surveys.

As stated above, they are hardy and have even been collected by our research group in proximal distance to a paper and pulp mill where practically no other aquatic fauna can survive. They also occupy an array of hydraulic biotopes with the exception (from my experience) being rapids.

They are aggressive predators and they tend to eat other samples when captured in fyke nets. I have even observed an individual occupy a culvert and consuming migrating fish as they move through.

For an idea of size, here is one I am holding that was captured in the Vaal River just upstream with the confluence of the Orange/Senqu

I agree with Bas Pels, not a good fish for the domestic aquarium. Nevertheless, they are fascinating and possess a beauty in their own rights.

[Hotspot]

Thanks for the post and the cool picture Chilo-glanis, they sure get massive .

One night sleeping over gariepinus did make me even more drooling over them, I will definitely post a thread here if I get them .
From my understanding a few color forms do exist, the fish I'm about to purchase are rather dark colored with higher contrast mottling than I have seen on most pictures from the internet, I'm quite excited how they look in reality.
I added two pictures of them from the seller's advertisment .

Sadly Clarias are, with the exception of Clarias batrachus, not often kept and besides gariepinus and batrachus very seldomly found in the trade.

[Chilo_glanis]

Thanks for the post and the cool picture Chilo-glanis

- Sure, no problem .

I have noticed geographical and size-class variation in colouring and/or pigmentation but colouring also varies according to turbidity, although this is not an issue in aquariums.

Good luck if you do end up getting them

[Hotspot]

Yesterday I got my two Clarias batrachus which are just awesome, they are also the first ones I saw life what made the drooling hardcore .

I'm also not 100% confident about getting the gariepinus, especially as I don't know how big they can get in captivity.
I have a 1100 Liters/~290 Gallon tank with following dimensions of 200 cm length * 100 cm width * 55 cm height / ~79" * ~39" * ~22" available in the future (tank is already bought).
But if gariepinus tends to grow towards it's max-size it would be too small, but what is the common size of captive gariepinus ?

[Viktor Jarikov]

I don't think there is such a thing as a common size of a tank-kept gariepinus because they are not commonly kept, and certainly not commonly kept in fish tanks or small artificial ponds. It seems if they are kept, it'd be mostly in large natural ponds in Africa and SE Asia (escapees and irresponsible releases in the latter).

Judging from (1) other large-growing catfish like RTC, TSN, channel, blue, iridescent shark, paroon shark, large Doradidae, Hemibagrus, etc., I mean from what their reported max sizes are and what they grow to in fish tanks, and (2) gariepinus' reported max size of 5', I'd say that a gariepinus with average genes would reach 3'-4' in several years in an adequate fish tank, which would have to be about 5000 gal at least. In a decade or a few, it may be expected to reach its full potential. Whether it'd be 5' or close, I don't know. Such fish may require champion genes.

If one houses it in a smaller tank and thus has the fish stunted with excess hormones in the water and poisoned with ammonia and nitrite, in my book that'd constitute animal cruelty. But even then, the fish, if lucky enough to survive, will not stop growing at 2'-3'. It will continue growing. Stunting usually appears to limit the growth by some percentage, meaning fish would mature at 20%-50% smaller size but it doesn't mean fish will not grow past 1/4th, 1/3rd, or 1/2nd of its reported max size.

[Bas Pels]

As Clarias are raised to be eaten, I would assume it is a fast growing species - needing a decade to reach a meter (3 feet) does sound to be overly long for them.

I would guess this point to be met in a some 2 or 3 years - assuming keeping them properly

[Hotspot]

Thank you Viktor for your opinion, I needed to hear this .
So I have decided not to buy the gariepinus, as badly as I want one (or two) I really do not have and also will not have the space for them. Also any cruel things "to keep them smaller" are in no way an option, I love animals and like to keep water parameters and other things at max. I like to see my fish thrive, not the opposite .

The two Clarias batrachus (38 & 40 cm/15 & 16" total length) I got yesterday also showed me what type of fish these cats are and a Meter (or more ...) long specimen would just be insanity and also cruel for the fish unless I'd have a pool-sized containment, as you mentioned before.

I also got a cut at my left hand while moving the batrachus, good thing I turned out to be very insensitive to catfish-injuries .

[Viktor Jarikov]

It was just my opinion. You didn't need to heed it. But I am glad we think alike. And I am glad to meet a keeper with self-restrain and who puts animal's well-being before their desires.

Yes, be careful around catfish spines. They can inflict a nasty injury.

[Hotspot]

I just got really excited about those fish but hesitated 'cause I knew I did not have the space but clinged to the possibility that formed itself out of the black hole of captive information (together with drooling-induced make-believe by me ^^) until you did the reality check *lol*.
I really like to catch fire for certain fish, but as you already said: fish first, then my desires .

I'll look forward into getting the normal color-form of batrachus for the 291g in the future, batrachus is gorgeous on it's own and much better suited for lifetime keeping .

[Viktor Jarikov]

Batrachus are quite quirky and fun to keep. Very resourceful fish. And master escapees, beware.

We have them here in every puddle now - C. batrachus have been spreading and wrecking ecosystems throughout south Florida for several decades starting from Miami area and despite great efforts (paid by us, taxpayers) by Florida Wildlife Commission the catfish won superbly. They could not be stopped and have taken over the Everglades and both east and west southern Florida.

Once I get my permit approved to display them in our Aquarium, I can catch as many as I want. They are kill-on-landing banned fish.

[Hotspot]

Oh yeah, I read from all the invasive species in Florida, many species from Africa and SA are present. Ten years ago forum members of Aquatic Predators went to FL to catch peacock bass and it was very interesting and also sad to see all those "wrong" species they caught.

I just read about your big exhibit of aquariums, very very cool . One last dream of mine ist a concrete-style tank which let me keep the fish I can't due the lack of space .

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you.

Pbass belong to a different category as they have been released by the government a decade or two ago, if I recall correctly, for the cause of increasing fishing pleasure of tourists, snowbirds, and locals. They suffer significant die-offs during cold spells in winter, so their geographical spreading is either quite limited or not present.

But I understand what you are saying. When fishing for pbass, one can catch many kinds of invasives that are harmful to the environment.

Again, if memory serves, Florida waters are a home for about 300 of non-indigenous aquatic species.

[Fishmandavew]

Enjoy your Batractus, sounds like you too have the marbled variety, which have unfortunately taken over, so finding the natural colour form is not so easy anymore. Good thing is that you should be able to sex them and even breed them, although getting rid of the offspring could be hard. Dont believe the 16" as max size either. My two females are over 18" @ 8 yr old. Just taken on a third which i knew was male, now all three taken to hiding more between the liners in my pond.
Just one word of warning as victor mentioned when keeping them in a tank. NO gaps, and heavy glass covers, preferably fitted sliding. Cant over emphasize how good they are at escaping, partly by accident due to them air breathing, (so whilst no gaps, you do need to consider how they get that air) but mainly cos they sometimes get bored and try to leave! Ones i had in the past were good at reminding me i didnt leave enough gap between water surface and glass covers - by trying to lift them.
Great fish, safe with anything which they cant fit in their mouth in my experience although your biggest problem will be making sure any tank mates get food, they are the greadiest fish ever, first to any and all food, no matter what it is!

[Hotspot]

I just want to get back to this thread, thanks for the info Fishmandavew.
I did secure the tank's lid and also added heavy stuff onto the maintenance-openings of it, I did keep big Mastacembelus-eels in the past and did not want to take chances with those catfish .

The two C. batrachus are doing very well .
I measured them correctly and the bigger one is 45 cm / ~18 inches and the smaller one is 38 cm / ~15 inches big, the bigger one seems to be female and the smaller one seems to be a male, she is stockier and the differences of their genital papillias support this observation. They even showed courtship behaviour and dug out some very large pits in the gravel which was just very cool to observe, but no eggs 'till now . The big Channa marulioides that also inhabits the tank calmed down and got used to the cats very well and even lost her shyness she developed when she was alone in the tank, it worked out very good .
And yes, they are the greediest catfish I have ever owned and will snatch food directly from the marulioides' (which is ~70 cm / 27,5 inches big) mouth if she is not quick enough, good thing she does ignore the cats and they are free to do what pleases them .

[Viktor Jarikov]

Cool stuff. Some visuals would be much appreciated.

I pumped down one of my semi-natural ponds to rehome the koi and in the process caught about 50-100 walking catfish free loaders. 10 of them are swimming right now in one of mine 4500 gal.

[Birger]

I pumped down one of my semi-natural ponds to rehome the koi and in the process caught about 50-100 walking catfish free loaders. 10 of them are swimming right now in one of mine 4500 gal.

hehe...would these be in natural coloration or the mutant strain?

Birger

[Viktor Jarikov]

If gray is natural, which I think it is, then yes, as gray as a stormy sky. I've seen a lot of them through our years here in FL in all kinds of circumstances in water and out of water walking about in the rain and they are invariably colored gray or a shade thereof.

Surely any lighter colored fish get picked off first by the myriad of hungry mouths around here.

[Viktor Jarikov]

You can see them in this video. They make good appearance closer to the end.

[Reindas]

I was looking for info about Clarias gariepinus because a friend of mine went fishing and instead of the usual catch ended up with lots of Clasrias. It has invaded a river here in puerto rico, it will probably continue to other rivers thanks to the ability to walk. Is nice fish, but will prove to a nasty one in our rivers.