Tiger Shovelnose Catfish

[jhuepenbeck]

Hello all,

I finally got my first Tiger Shovelnose. It is about 4" long right know. I have done alot of research on this species, but I know have a question. I am having a little trouble with feeding the little guy. Everywhere I read on the internet suggests that these guys are great eaters and should eat almost anything. This specimen has not eaten anything in 3 days. I have tried frozen brine shrimp, catfish sinking pellets, flakes, chiclid pellets, beef heart, and even goldfish food. I have not tried a feeder fish and would not like to if possible. Anyways, if you have any suggestions that would be great. Also, this little guy doesn't seem to be active at all. Even at night he doesn't do much. Is this just part of the breaking in period or is something wrong?

Now let me also stop all of you out there that cruise this forum to bash people about there fish and there size of aquariums. I currently house this little guy in a 55 gallon aquiarium and he will stay there until he has grown enough to be added to my indoor pond. Yes, the pond is good size (8' long by 4' wide by 3' high. So anyways, please keep the common complaining to yourself and just help me. I truly need some advice about the feeding habits of little Tiger shovelnoses. Thanks in advance

HOOPY

[pturley]

Try live Mysis shrimp.

Many predatory fish will take a while to adjust to prepare fare in the aquarium. The behavior is not at all suprizing.

BTW: Being in Minnesota, you may want to check this link:
http://www.mn-aquarium.org

EDIT: We don't CRUISE the list looking for people to bash. I for one believe it is cruel to keep a fish without proper accomodations. IME: 99% or more of the people that currently keep shovelnoses, red tail cats (both Asian and S. American) and the like, have no business keeping these fish if they are not willing to commit the necessary resources to do so in an appropriate manner.

[jenkys baby]

mine loves frozen blood worm i defrost a lump in a glass of tank water then tip it into the tank once defrosted hes not a rampent feeder but he fills his belly.

[coelacanth]

Now let me also stop all of you out there that cruise this forum to bash people about there fish and there size of aquariums. I currently house this little guy in a 55 gallon aquiarium and he will stay there until he has grown enough to be added to my indoor pond. Yes, the pond is good size (8' long by 4' wide by 3' high. So anyways, please keep the common complaining to yourself and just help me. I truly need some advice about the feeding habits of little Tiger shovelnoses. Thanks in advance

OK, I'll bite, even though I shouldn't. As someone on the wrong end of the trade in these things, I'm one of those who each month have to tell people over the phone that no, I won't take their 2ft TSN off their hands, because even though I have 3 aquaria in excess of 1000 gallons to play with plus many more, I don't consider any of them to be big enough for this species, and even if I did have space I still wouldn't because more often than not these are the same fools who six months ago I was trying to warn off buying 'that cute 3" fish'. At the time of warning them I normally get the same 'I know better' attitude, which always magically disappears by the time they are frantically seeking somewhere for the fish to go.
So basically, if you place a post on this Forum concerning such fish, be prepared for people to comment on their potential size, and be happy that there are people on here more concerned with the welfare of the fish we keep than the cheap ego trip of having living trophies.
Pete
p.s. if you'd like to list your references indicating that a fish with the potential to reach 4ft will be correctly cared for in an enclosure with a footprint only 8ft by 4ft I'd be very interested to read them.

[general-sherman]

coelacanth,
your' job sounds very similar to mine! Especially the warnings about buying the cute little fish, although in Australia the fish is moe likey to be oscars/other large cichlids, Arius catfish, Murray cod, Barramundi (Lates calcifer) and common plecs. Just the other day I was told that 3 oscars would be fine in a standard 4' tank (Australian standard is: 48"Lx14"Wx18"H)!!!

The 8ftx4ft pond will be too small.
As far as feeding them goes, you may have to try starving for a while. It should eventually eat non-live food I guess, maybe start by trying frozen fish or shrimp, something tempting. Or if you simply want to get it off feeders it should eat earthworms. Pseudoplatystoma sp. are true predators and do not adapt well to a diet of non-live food IMO (otherwise we wouldn't see these "I can't get my shovelnose to eat pellets/frozen/fish etc" all the time)...they don't adapt well to captivity on the whole as far as I can tell. Never seen a large specimen in a suitably sized tank, hardly ever seen any specimens without a bent nose

EDIT: I didn't cruise for this. It was easy to find.

[steez138]

I replied to your same question on predfish, if you didn't see it, me and detroit kid (me being steez138) have had much luck with large pims especially multiple tsn cats and tsn cross breeds.