Vulture catfish info?

Quo Vadis · Apr 6, 2015

Anyone have any? How big did they get for you? How aggressive were they? What size of fish would they eat? Planet Catfish makes them sound like cold blooded killers, but almost everything else I have read seems to disagree with that assessment.

I am mainly interested in how aggressive they really are, and in how big of fish they can/will eat when full grown.

Would love personal pictures or stories too!

thebiggerthebetter · Apr 6, 2015

Quo Vadis said:
Anyone have any? How big did they get for you? How aggressive were they? What size of fish would they eat? Planet Catfish makes them sound like cold blooded killers, but almost everything else I have read seems to disagree with that assessment.

I am mainly interested in how aggressive they really are, and in how big of fish they can/will eat when full grown.

Would love personal pictures or stories too!

I've had two but only for one year, from ~5" to ~8". The rest I learned from reading. Mine were not aggressive at all, not to each other, neither to tank mates. I never housed them with fish they could swallow, so IDK what size fish they could eat (if live is meant).

They appear to be scavengers, not predators, in home aquaria. PCF describes their behavior in the wild. They appear to be quite mellow in home aquaria. My current thinking is that if one had a large school of them and they were hungry and something triggered their natural response (like a struggling or wounded fish), then their wild behavior could be observed in captivity too. IIRC, I cannot recall a single account right now where they'd behave as vicious.

Mine were not fussy and took all foods offered, dry and frozen-thawed.

They are active and like to swim around.

crenicichla444 · Apr 6, 2015

Mine at 8-9 inches is active peaceful and a freakin pig. Eats voluptuous amounts of food and hand feeds. Constantly does laps when food hits the water. I've gotten bit by him several times but it was because he was having a great time hand feeding and the bites didn't hurt at all. Get one or a few they're really fun. Max size is 19.5 inches which is the largest documented size according to fish base

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cgibby · Apr 12, 2015

I have one that is about 5-7" inches in my 70 cube very fun fish mine is much more active at night will eat most prepared foods and has eaten live ghost shrimp and the odd gambusia but not predatory or overly aggressive haven't noticed much growth in the three or four months i've had it

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Mustardtiger101 · Apr 12, 2015

My 12" vulture wasn't aggressive at all to other tank mates but went nuts when it was feeding time.

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isde02 · Apr 12, 2015

thebiggerthebetter said:
I've had two but only for one year, from ~5" to ~8". The rest I learned from reading. Mine were not aggressive at all, not to each other, neither to tank mates. I never housed them with fish they could swallow, so IDK what size fish they could eat (if live is meant).

They appear to be scavengers, not predators, in home aquaria. PCF describes their behavior in the wild. They appear to be quite mellow in home aquaria. My current thinking is that if one had a large school of them and they were hungry and something triggered their natural response (like a struggling or wounded fish), then their wild behavior could be observed in captivity too. IIRC, I cannot recall a single account right now where they'd behave as vicious.

Mine were not fussy and took all foods offered, dry and frozen-thawed.

They are active and like to swim around.

x2 I agree with this...I've had a couple also that I grew out to 16-18"and they were peaceful but it seemed that when they were larger certain things would trigger their predatory instinct. I wouldn't call them cold blooded killers but they're definitely equipped to hunt. The first one that I had was kept in a community tank with cichla, bichirs, and a black wolf without any casualties.

thebiggerthebetter · Apr 13, 2015

isde02 said:
...but it seemed that when they were larger certain things would trigger their predatory instinct. I wouldn't call them cold blooded killers but they're definitely equipped to hunt...

Tell us more if you will, please.

isde02 · Apr 13, 2015

thebiggerthebetter said:
Tell us more if you will, please.

Peacock bass are always looking for a meal and a few times during water changes, redecorating or moving stock their behavior would send my vulture into a feeding frenzy. The larger one mouthed the net a few times, and a 9-10" endli was mouthed as soon as I added it but no damage was done. Here's the only pic that I could find of the larger of the two when it was around 14"

victor448 · Apr 13, 2015

My Vulture is 14 inches and in a 180 as the sole inhabitant. Very aggressive eater that gets very active at feeding time. I gave my previous Vulture ,10 inches to a friend who had it in a 180 in which it took a chunk out of the bottom of a 12 inch plus peacock bass which ultimately healed and then transected a 10 inch Bolt Cat killing it.

thebiggerthebetter · Apr 14, 2015

Thank you much, both. Victor, IIRC, this is the first time I read of this behavior. That's valuable to know that they can get nasty in captivity too. I wish we knew how your friend kept/keeps it so we may understand why your 10"-er turned on its tank mates whilst all/most others do not do it.

What exactly do you mean by transect? Superficial scratch across? Or a deep wound?


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Vulture catfish info?

Quo Vadis

Gambusia

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator

crenicichla444

Polypterus

cgibby

Jack Dempsey

Mustardtiger101

Plecostomus

isde02

Arapaima

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator

isde02

Arapaima

victor448

Plecostomus

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator