Hemibagrus wyckii, worth keeping?

catfishcrazy · Post by **catfishcrazy** » 29 Feb 2004, 09:13

I recently bought a 4" leiarius pictus which i plan to grow out as a tankmate for my ever increasingly aggressive Scleropages jardini but imagine my suprise when the woman serving proceeded to net out a second fish from behind a rock, i knew the store was running a buy one get one free promotion but there was only one liearius in the shop let alone the tank and the sign said the promotion was only while stocks last. Realising i was getting a bargain i kept my mouth shut and allowed her to bag and box both fish and didnt really look at what my new free fish was until i got home. Well its a 4" Hemibagrus wyckii which is not a fish i had particually ever planned to own due to its reputation as a aggressive fish murderer, but as its here now and i will have the space for it in the future i may choose to keep hold of it especially since i have discovered the shop has the H.wyckii they have left priced at Â£120 a fish. Are they a species worth keeping, a 150+ gallon tank is IMO a very big tank to dedicate to just one fish, is there any tankmates that could safely live with it when larger?

Thanks in advance for any replies, CFC

Post by **Silurus** » 29 Feb 2004, 10:18

is there any tankmates that could safely live with it when larger?

Unfortunately, no. It's a given that it will kill anything ese you put in the tank (very much so when it is larger). But they are a very cool catfish to keep even by itself.
I would keep it.

gtp · Post by **gtp** » 30 Aug 2006, 14:18

I would contradict you there.

Hemibagrus wyckii is not a killing muderous machine. If it were to kill anything in its tank, and try to destroy every objects like filters and heaters, then it would be very useless in the wild. Why would something evolve into a hobitat and then turn round and destroy it???

What you will find is that people who have kept the fish on its own in a large tank with minimum decoration will eventually have a territorial, 24" fish that will not tolerate anything else being added to its tank.

If you keep the Wyckii with other fish from an early age, you will have minimal problem with it in the future, as long as additional fish are not added.

I keep mine with a Hoplias Malabaricus and some African Tigerfish (Hydrocynus).

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 31 Aug 2006, 15:58

I have successfully kept with .

brnttoast · Post by **brnttoast** » 18 Sep 2006, 21:21

i've been told the Hemibagrus nemurus i have is an evil fish yet it curls up and sleeps with my pair of walking catfish so maybe it depends on tankmates from a young age, or maybe it takes a while for them to become evil, i hope not cause i'd prolly have to build me another house before the wife lets me cut a hole in another wall to build in another 200+g tank. but lets see her feed her cutesy little puffers from her hand

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 18 Sep 2006, 22:17

I had one he was a murderous finger biter. My mate had one that he could stroke, (he was nuts if you ask me) I've said it before and I'll probably say it until everyone is sick of me, it depends greatly on the individual fish. They are particularly clever fish, alot of the predetory cats are.