Electric catfish

All posts regarding the care and breeding of catfishes from Africa.
Post Reply
david
Posts: 15
Joined: 05 Feb 2003, 16:41
Location 1: dundee scotland
Interests: football,water polo

Electric catfish

Post by david »

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.
User avatar
Silurus
Posts: 12419
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 11:35
I've donated: $12.00!
My articles: 55
My images: 893
My catfish: 1
My cats species list: 90 (i:1, k:0)
Spotted: 424
Location 1: Singapore
Location 2: Moderator Emeritus

Post by Silurus »

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.
Image
User avatar
Chrysichthys
Posts: 1331
Joined: 09 Jan 2003, 17:22
My images: 1
My cats species list: 43 (i:0, k:0)
Spotted: 1
Location 1: Oxford U.K.
Interests: catfish!

Post by Chrysichthys »

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.
STOP AND SEARCH TO BE REPLACED WITH GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED VIOLENCE
(Daily Mash headline)
User avatar
oneoddfish
Posts: 109
Joined: 01 Jan 2003, 00:54
My cats species list: 13 (i:0, k:0)
Location 1: detroit,michigan
Interests: large cats-odd balls-I also breed alot of different african cichlid. but my favorite thing is collecting RARE or very hard to obtain fish...

electric cat's

Post by oneoddfish »

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.
what's the matter?---cat got you'r tongue.

Jerry L Brown
User avatar
jscoggs27
Posts: 200
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 13:12
I've donated: $130.00!
My images: 4
My cats species list: 11 (i:0, k:0)
My aquaria list: 1 (i:1)
Spotted: 2
Location 1: UK
Location 2: Stevenage, Herts, UK

electic cats

Post by jscoggs27 »

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

jason
User avatar
Sid Guppy
Posts: 757
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 15:36
Location 1: Brabant, the Netherlands
Interests: Catfish, Tanganyikan fish, Rock'n'roll, Fantasy

Post by Sid Guppy »

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.
Plan B should not automatically be twice as much explosives as Plan A
User avatar
Mika
Posts: 466
Joined: 02 Jan 2003, 06:57
Location 1: Helsinki,Finland

Post by Mika »

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

http://filaman.uni-kiel.de/identificati ... &areacode=
Well i wish i was a catfish
swimmin in a oh, deep, blue sea (Muddy Waters, Catfish blues)
Rusty
Posts: 682
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:51
Location 1: New York, NY
Interests: Mochokidae, Clariidae, Heteropneustidae, Malapteruridae, Chacidae, Cetopsidae, Bagridae, Amphilidae
Contact:

Post by Rusty »

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
User avatar
Silurus
Posts: 12419
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 11:35
I've donated: $12.00!
My articles: 55
My images: 893
My catfish: 1
My cats species list: 90 (i:1, k:0)
Spotted: 424
Location 1: Singapore
Location 2: Moderator Emeritus

Post by Silurus »

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.
Image
User avatar
Dinyar
Posts: 1286
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 00:34
My articles: 3
My images: 227
My catfish: 10
My cats species list: 3 (i:10, k:0)
Spotted: 94
Location 1: New York, NY, USA
Interests: Mochokidae, Claroteidae, Bagridae, Malepteruridae, Chacidae, Heteropneustidae, Clariidae, Sisoridae, Loricariiadae

Post by Dinyar »

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
User avatar
Dave Rinaldo
Posts: 2178
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 10:49
I've donated: $601.00!
My images: 238
My cats species list: 64 (i:0, k:0)
Spotted: 97
Location 2: Austin, Texas

Re: electric cat's

Post by Dave Rinaldo »

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
Posts: 6
Joined: 20 Jan 2003, 21:11
Location 1: Basingstoke, UK
Contact:

Post by Caz »

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
User avatar
coelacanth
Posts: 880
Joined: 31 Dec 2002, 13:19
My articles: 1
My images: 2
My catfish: 4
My cats species list: 32 (i:4, k:0)
Spotted: 3
Location 1: Bolton, UK
Location 2: UK
Interests: All things Aquatic

Post by coelacanth »

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
Posts: 72
Joined: 16 Jan 2003, 00:49
Location 1: the Net
Interests: Fish,Girls,Competition,Games

Post by PeacockBass »

LOL
User avatar
jeffthefish
Posts: 5
Joined: 07 Oct 2003, 01:02
Location 1: New Orleans, LA
Interests: fish, music, christianity, my wife.
Contact:

Re: electric cat's

Post by jeffthefish »

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.
<a href="http://www.jeffthefish.com" target="_blank">This cute mild website uses 100% Japanese apple and cheerful hamster.</a>
Post Reply

Return to “African Catfishes”