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We have a 500 gallon tank and plan to raise small catfish from a nearby lake. We are just starting and we need to know what should the temprature needs to be and what the Ph should be in the tank or anything else you think beginers should know. We are not even sure if it is possible to grow them in our tank. Please educate us.

-West Central Valley NResources class

Hi! First off, you could do a small favor by listing the catfish you are planning on growing. There are three catfish not recommended for aquariums, even at 500 gallons. They are; channel, blue and flathead catfish.

I know because I raised two channels, had more but they died, to around 36" and they were becoming hellions in the tank, it was also 500 gallons, and I was considering getting rid of them before they electrocuted themselves. (Long story).

If I were you, a couple of bullheads, say five or six, would be ideal. There are many black and yellow bullheads in your area.

You cannot go wrong with madtoms, they are tiny little catfish ranging from 3" to 6". However, they do pack some mild venom in their fins (madtoms, not bullheads). Just don't mix the two because bullheads will snack on madtoms.

As for temperature, none of the catfish care. The only exception is madtoms. They MUST have cool water and LOTS of oxygen. The others could care less. The Ph is basically non-essential for catfish, but in order for them to best acclimate to the tank, try to match it to the lake water. Just make sure the water is relatively clean and the levels are within acceptable ranges for fish and you're golden. Oh...and make sure you don't have anything too big/sharp in the tank. They scratch themselves easily and every once in a while decide to uproot everything.

Hope this is the information you are looking for!

Tooting my own horn by using the Search feature in the Cat-eLog: North American catfish are in the Ictaluridae family, so the following fish are in the range 6-15":
List.

A 500g tank will possibly go a little bit further than 15", but not a lot.

Also, can I just say that you'll have to think about what you're going to do with the fishes after you've grown them up - they need to go somewhere, but NOT back to the original location you got them from. There are laws that regulate "releasing fish into the wild", but even if there's no law against it in your area, the people who capture fish (scientists and such) for a living say basicly "If you can't release it back immediately, you can't release it back". There are all sorts of good reasons for this!

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Mats