ID sharks theories?

[thebiggerthebetter]

its a food fish where I live and have seen it being cultivated, caught from lakes & on sale . Like I said around 14" max maybe a bit more but never a truly monster size.

Two thoughts occur right away

-- are you sure you are talking about Pangasianodon hypophthalmus and not about one of those I mentioned above?

-- in food-fish-farming, the fish is never let grow big, it is only let grow during the fastest growth period to reach marketable size; channel catfish grow to 3.5' but are harvested as yearlings at 1'-1.5'; same with all others.

[ColeFishing]

yeah i will post this up on PC. but here is a great link showing possible possibilities in my hypothesis. Also, if your not similar with this website then i should probably tell you that the stuff highlighted in blue it submitted by other people and their experiences. Also, just ignore some of the non-correct information he has.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Pangassius.htm

[ColeFishing]

read the top ones then scroll down past the picture of an ID with ick and read those ones.

[mindfuloffish]

I have an ID that I rescued 11 years ago. It was about 2 inches when I got it. I kept it on a low-calorie diet for over ten years in an attempt to keep it from growing fast. It grew from 2 inches to 12 inches in that time. About seven months ago I put it in a 1000 indoor pond, where I could no longer regulate its food as well. It has grown over 5 inches in the last seven months. And that's at age 11 years! I didn't expect such fast growth on a fish of that age. I was assuming it would never reach its maximum size, but now I don't know what to expect. He may outgrow the 1000 gallons after all.

So my theory is that if an ID shark isn't growing as large/fast as usual, it may not be getting enough food.

[Chub_by]

Of course you could be right, there possibly are more than 1 species which we call ID shark. But I'm 100% sure that the small ones you see aren't. The reason for this is that no ID sharks are wild caught anymore. They are bred as food fish, and some go into the fish trade. So either there is just 1 species in the trade, or the ID sharks we know are hybrids between 2 species. But IMO it's impossible that 2 pure species are in the trade right now.

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[thebiggerthebetter]

yeah i will post this up on PC. but here is a great link showing possible possibilities in my hypothesis. Also, if your not similar with this website then i should probably tell you that the stuff highlighted in blue it submitted by other people and their experiences. Also, just ignore some of the non-correct information he has.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Pangassius.htm

Yes, more enigma - more data pro and con. I've seen and read this before, long enough that I had forgotten. Thanks for the refresher, Cole. Sorry, no new substantial thoughts can I offer atm.

[thebiggerthebetter]

I have an ID that I rescued 11 years ago. It was about 2 inches when I got it. I kept it on a low-calorie diet for over ten years in an attempt to keep it from growing fast. It grew from 2 inches to 12 inches in that time. About seven months ago I put it in a 1000 indoor pond, where I could no longer regulate its food as well. It has grown over 5 inches in the last seven months. And that's at age 11 years! I didn't expect such fast growth on a fish of that age. I was assuming it would never reach its maximum size, but now I don't know what to expect. He may outgrow the 1000 gallons after all.

So my theory is that if an ID shark isn't growing as large/fast as usual, it may not be getting enough food.

Interesting and unique datum you provided. Thanks!! These fish can be expected to live half a century. So 11 years is like 17-20 in human years. Besides, as opposed to humans, the fish, reptiles, amphibians, etc. never stop growing thoughout their entire lives, they just slow down a lot (as far as I understood).

What's the low-calorie diet and how did you keep the fish on it? Typical food just little?

[thebiggerthebetter]

Of course you could be right, there possibly are more than 1 species which we call ID shark. But I'm 100% sure that the small ones you see aren't. The reason for this is that no ID sharks are wild caught anymore. They are bred as food fish, and some go into the fish trade. So either there is just 1 species in the trade, or the ID sharks we know are hybrids between 2 species. But IMO it's impossible that 2 pure species are in the trade right now.

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Sound logic.

But in general (not to you, Chub_by) I'd like to point out that all we have been doing insofar is speculating. We need someone with knowledge to weigh in. None of us really answered Cole's question.

[projectile]

Two thoughts occur right away

-- are you sure you are talking about Pangasianodon hypophthalmus and not about one of those I mentioned above?

-- in food-fish-farming, the fish is never let grow big, it is only let grow during the fastest growth period to reach marketable size; channel catfish grow to 3.5' but are harvested as yearlings at 1'-1.5'; same with all others.

Yes its the same fish as even lfs guys buy from these growers.
ppl were growing african catfish ( not sure of species) , after these got banned , ID sharks took over.

As for harvesting , I agree that could be the reason for smaller size , but with a steady diet of minced chicken and veggies. I was thought a bit more size would give a nice large fillet

Btw this fish is not native in india.

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[KNH]

Ids will grow very large given the chance. When I was a kid I had 3 in a 20g for a few months and their growth was minimal. As an adult I bought two 1.5" ids and they grew to 26" in less than 2 yrs in a 750g tank. They are a good example of a fish that will stunt easily if not given proper conditions.