Electric catfish

david · Post by **david** » 14 Feb 2003, 17:11

Hi guys im thinking of importing an electric catfish to a 6 foot tank and i know i may need to feed it live fish and frogs. But how big will it get? and will i need a licence to own it? as some people may consider it a dangerous animal i am in the uk.

Post by **Silurus** » 14 Feb 2003, 17:36

Electric cats will get about 1.2 meters (though I have yet to see one larger than a meter in an aquarium), and unless you have the perverse pleasure of watching them zap their prey (which they don't even do all the time....most times, they'll just suck 'em right into their mouths), you don't really need to give them live food. Besides, live foods (especially fishes) carry disease risks.
Mine is happily eating trout chow and frozen food, but it'll even eat Tetra Bits.

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 14 Feb 2003, 18:30

You don't need a license for one in the U.K. as far as I know. Juveniles show up on retailer's lists like any other catfish. If you are importing an adult yourself directly, that might be different.

oneoddfish · Post by **oneoddfish** » 14 Feb 2003, 19:21

I've owned several electric cat .you don't need a permit at least not in usa. they eat just about anything you drop in tank .I probably wouldn't use frog's for one it's really not nessasary for two they really foul up a tank when used as feeder's beside's pellet food is cheaper ,healthier and alot easier to use .remember the bigger they get the stronger thier electric charge become's.

jscoggs27 · Post by **jscoggs27** » 14 Feb 2003, 19:59

Try wildwood in North london They have some currently in stock. About 2" long

jason

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 14 Feb 2003, 20:44

Don't feed frogs; they're not captivity bred, for one thing; unlike most feederfish like guppies, carp or goldfish.
And frogs are in decline all over the globe, so it's a bit unethical.
keeping live wild animals is one thing; feeding them with other live wild animals that are already under pressure due to pollution and habitat destruction, is another...
Malapterurus won't mind if he just gets goldfish or fishmeat from the fridge.

Mika · Post by **Mika** » 14 Feb 2003, 23:21

Not every electric catfish species grows to a one meter lenght if FishBase is believed.

http://filaman.uni-kiel.de/identificati ... &areacode=

Post by **Rusty** » 15 Feb 2003, 01:16

Or Dr. Roberts is to be believed...

I don't think I've ever seen anything but electricus in the trade. I have seen dead specimens of many of the 11 species, and they are pretty easy to tell apart, if you know what you're looking for.

Rusty

Post by **Silurus** » 15 Feb 2003, 01:52

I've kept <i>M. microstoma</i> before, so I'm sure more than one species of <i>Malapterurus</i> makes it to the aquarium trade. Depends on where you catch 'em, I think.
Who knows? Maybe one of the electric cats that doesn't get big could be the miniature species with poorly-developed electric organs that Tyson alludes to.

Post by **Dinyar** » 15 Feb 2003, 03:15

Yeah, I suspect that if an importer could get a hold of e-cats reliably identifiable as belonging to a sp. that stays small, there'd be more demand for them. I'd be interested (again). What was the smallest size that TR cited? 20 cm?

Dinyar

Dave Rinaldo · Post by **Dave Rinaldo** » 15 Feb 2003, 04:18

oneoddfish wrote:I've owned several electric cat .you don't need a permit at least not in usa..

They are illegal in Texas and I would imagine other southern states where it is warm enough for them to live through the winter.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » 18 Feb 2003, 08:59

My fiance had one before I met him - he used to feed it dead chicks and baby mice (the kind you get frozen from a reptile store), as well as whitebait and bits of fish from the local supermarket.

He used to hand feed it - but I wouldn't recommend it. They are a lovely (usually friendly) fish.

Sadly he went away on holiday and the cleaner killed it she fed the food packets he made up every day, instead of every two/three days - "it looked hungry" apparently sitting in uneaten mouldy food means it is hungry!!.

Caz

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 18 Feb 2003, 12:33

SG_Eurystomus wrote:Don't feed frogs; they're not captivity bred, for one thing; unlike most feederfish like guppies, carp or goldfish.

Just as an aside, practically every fish store I visited in Singapore had frogs on sale as live food for Arowanas and those dreadful Flowerhorn creatures.
These are mostly Rana cancrivoris as far as I know, and are farm raised for the purpose.
Generally though, given the status of Amphibians across the world, anyone feeding wild specimens to captive fish should be made to drink dead tubifex water.

PeacockBass · Post by **PeacockBass** » 20 Feb 2003, 12:51

jeffthefish · Post by **jeffthefish** » 07 Oct 2003, 01:07

Dave Rinaldo wrote:
oneoddfish wrote:I've owned several electric cat .you don't need a permit at least not in usa..
They are illegal in Texas and I would imagine other southern states where it is warm enough for them to live through the winter.

They're legal in Louisiana. But pirhanas are not. yay.

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