Indian Hemibagrus

[Shovelnose]

The first of hopefully many (all? ) to come,

Hemibagrus menoda

. I will add a few pictures once it settles down.

[Redtailrob]

Great fish. I've currently got 3 of the Hemibagrus species and have kept 2 others, but never seen this one before!

[bekateen]

Cool! Balaji, is "Malformedearthborn" your own YouTube channel?

Cheers, Eric

[Shovelnose]

Great fish. I've currently got 3 of the Hemibagrus species and have kept 2 others, but never seen this one before!

Good to see you back!

Hemibagrus maydelli

is the most commonly available species (in the wild) but it just grow too large for a tank!! Which species do you have/have kept???

Cool! Balaji, is "Malformedearthborn" your own YouTube channel?

Cheers, Eric

Ha ha, yeah, that's me, name chosen during an unfortunate angst-ridden period. I got it off an Ozzfest (97?) tape IIRC.

[minipol]

Nice Balaji, great cats. As for Ozzfest, this summer I saw Ozzy performing. It's a miracle he is still performing.

[Redtailrob]

Hey there.
Thanks for the reply.
Wonder if these Indian Hemibagrus are available in the UK?
I'm currently keeping Wyckii/Wyckloides/and Filamentus.
Have kept Nemurus in the past along with one of the smaller species "Rooster Catfish".
Around 12yrs ago also kept a beautiful 16"+ Hemibagrus with a yellow tail with fine extensions that I couldn't I.D.

[cichlidlife]

Your Hemibagrus is in really good health all of my local fish stores don't have any or else they have sick, dying/dead, gasping and treading water Hemibagrus. too bad they are never healthy where i live.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Great start to a great collection! Get all 32 of them eventually and thrill Silurus, Balaji! He is well worth it!

Your Hemibagrus is in really good health all of my local fish stores don't have any or else they have sick, dying/dead, gasping and treading water Hemibagrus. too bad they are never healthy where i live.

Would you be willing to snap a picture of these fish at your LFS? I wonder about their ID.

[Shovelnose]

A great start but ended badly with a rookie error, sadly. The tank cover was too light to hold the fish down and I came back home after a weeks' travel to find it on the hall floor. Bagrids generally are not too jumpy. In fact, I think this is the ONLY bagrid I have ever lost to jumping.

I am now back in the market for this species and I estimate I should be able to get another one in the next two months. In the meanwhile, I am getting a cover made with thicker wood. Do not underestimate the sulking bagrid.

On a slightly brighter note, another Indian species is on its way and I will post an update once it reaches me.

[Shovelnose]

Nice Balaji, great cats. As for Ozzfest, this summer I saw Ozzy performing. It's a miracle he is still performing.

Thanks!! Honestly, its a miracle he is still walking!!

Wonder if these Indian Hemibagrus are available in the UK? I'm currently keeping Wyckii/Wyckloides/and Filamentus.

Nice collection there!! This was a bycatch that a good friend was kind enough to procure for me.I'll let you know if any other specimens surface. These are essentially food fish over here so getting a live specimen in good condition is a challenge. Plus, there is no market for grey fish.

[Shovelnose]

Just in and settling down after a really long journey. Not H.menoda but something even better.

I took zero chances this time and got the tank cover done with really thick wood. The driftwood for its 'lair' is still soaking and will be added this weekend, it will be this ungainly piece of PVC till then.
@Silurus, what else would you suggest by way of food? It has started eating shrimp at the moment, hoping to get it on Massivore too. Would dropping in small (live) freshwater crabs be ok?

It's still quite jittery and shoots off at the first sign of movement around the tank. I am now working on making the tank as dark as possible (a natural hallmark of all my tanks ). I'll add videos once it settles down and DOESN'T jump out.

Fish size : ~ 6" TL
Tank Dimensions : 36*15*12
Filtration : Two top filters
Tank mates : None

[Silurus]

Crabs should work, but live fish would be the food of choice. Shouldn't be a problem getting it to eat Massivore.

[bekateen]

Cool fish! I wish we saw more fish like this in the USA hobby.

Good luck, Eric

[Shovelnose]

Crabs should work, but live fish would be the food of choice. Shouldn't be a problem getting it to eat Massivore.

Cool HH, thanks. I have considered getting a bunch of tilapia to breed and use as feeders, I'll do that then.

Cool fish! I wish we saw more fish like this in the USA hobby.

Good luck, Eric

Thanks Eric!

[Shovelnose]

It is now settling in and eating well.

[bekateen]

Hi Balaji,

That's an interesting fish. Thanks for sharing. What did you finally choose hoose for its main diet?

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

Cute stuff. So alert. I can't find where you stated the species... Do you know?

[Shovelnose]

Hi Balaji,

That's an interesting fish. Thanks for sharing. What did you finally choose hoose for its main diet?

Cheers, Eric

Hey Eric,

I've so far been feeding Massivore and what I think is an Acetes sp. which is a local delicacy that is commonly consumed in the dried form. I feed the dry form to my other fish and it works quite well. I've only used the 'wet' form for the Hemibagrus until now, probably a little bias at work here.



The 'wet' form usually comes with other random crustaceans and even small fish at times.




The dry form is EXTREMELY pungent and drives the fish crazy when dropped in.Both forms are easily procurable and are very very moderately priced.





Picked up a few dozen clams today. Just took a break from multiple unsuccessful attempts, turns out I suck at shucking .I've only cooked these for my own consumption and the local recipe requires the clams to be dropped in whole.

I have a supplier for earthworms (Eisenia foetida) but the minimum order is a kilo which is about 600-700 in number. That's too much unless I have a shoal of Hemibagrus maydelli!!!

I can always step out and catch fish for feed but the water around where I live is dodgy at best. I may have to resort to buying tilapia fillets until I get a regular source. I REALLY prefer using live invasive fish as fish food provided they're from reasonably clean waters.

So the live fish and earthworm options are on hold at the moment.

I will be procuring scampi feed (images below) soon. A very modestly priced sinking feed again, works well with catfish and other bottom dwellers.







I realise there is a good chunk of 'marine' feed that goes in and wonder if this will affect the fish somehow? Any thoughts?

[Shovelnose]

Cute stuff. So alert. I can't find where you stated the species... Do you know?

Hey Viktor,

It's a Hemibagrus punctata.

[Viktor Jarikov]

I realise there is a good chunk of 'marine' feed that goes in and wonder if this will affect the fish somehow? Any thoughts?

No thoughts or helpful experience based advice. I feed all our fish pellets and thawed marine baitfish. I do not pre soak to get the salt, what not out. Some fish only take the baitfish, have been for years (3-4). So far I can't say I saw deaths or illnesses that I could firmly attribute to the diet.

For some reason or other I cannot see the pics before you get to the scampi feed pics.

[Shovelnose]

Thanks Viktor, that's a major relief! I prefer to keep a variety when it comes to feed and the marine feed I get is quite effective. Come monsoon (July onward), I'll get an unlimited supply of freshwater crabs as well.

I've attached the images below for your reference.

The 'wet' form usually comes with other random crustaceans and even small fish at times.

The dry form is EXTREMELY pungent and drives the fish crazy when dropped in. Both forms are easily procurable and are very very moderately priced.

The Hemibagrus hasn't shown much interest in the clams yet.

[Shovelnose]

It is now eating clams and Massivore, some nice dorsal extensions developing as well.

[Shovelnose]

I've noticed that the larger bagrids (Rita and Hemibagrus) always clear out the sand around their territory. I have tried fine sand, river sand and gravel and everything invariably gets swiped away.

[bekateen]

Wow, nice, Balaji. It's an active fish, that's for sure!

Cheers, Eric

[Shovelnose]

Thanks Eric, this video was taken at 5 am or so. Tank decor by day and greedy bagrid at night, that's the best way to describe it.

[minipol]

Seems quite active in the video. I have noticed the same with my Horabagrus: they tend to move the sand where they like to hide. Part of it is because they quickly accelerate when swimming. Your Hemibagrus seems even faster.

My Horabagrus hide more and are less active now I use a lot of wood and fake plants. On the other hand, they "hide" more in spots where you can see them.

[Shovelnose]

Ok, that does makes sense but the R.chrysea I used to keep actually used to sweep the area clean, I could see the presence of gravel bothering it. I later found out that this species is usually found around fine sand and added the same to no avail. Swept away.

This H.punctata seems very active at night and sometimes during the day as well. I realised keeping the tank as dark as possible really helps these catfish settle down. I never had to make an effort with the other bagrids I have kept.

I kept a H.brachysoma many many moons ago and it was always out in the open. It later went to friend and polished off half his cyprinids. A proper bullet proof catfish. It was collected in the Chalakudy, punctured the bag and had almost no water by the time I reached home (~15 hours). Dropped it into the tank and it started eating within half an hour!!

[Shovelnose]

A blurry video of the

Hemibagrus punctatus

four years later. The tank is in a nook in the balcony and the sunlight, algae and lack of access ensure the video resembles a found footage horror movie. All the gravel has been swept to one side by the fish and due to the current as well.

It hasn't really grown but looks healthy, I have faced the same (slow growth) with

Rita

as well.

Hemibagrus punctatus

comes from sections of rivers with very heavy flow and high DO, I suspect the DO combined with space contributed to the growth issue with this fish. It is soon getting an upgrade with increased flow, lets see if that makes a difference. Feed is a mix of Hikari Massivore, Ken's Aqua Stable and Ken's Krill pellets.

Ps : There is a white patch at the base of the dorsal-fin spine. I initially (2 years ago) thought it was a physical wound but it neither healed nor worsened, not sure what to make of it.

[bekateen]

It eats well!

Cheers,
Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

Wonderful to see a 4 year update! Such a fun, high strung fish in your videos. Hard to believe it is a tank decor by day.