Anyone know how fast this catfish grows?

[Oddballhunter12]

So I recently bought a species of catfish off aqua imports called a spotted flathead (Platysilurus mucosus) about two months ago and it came it kinda scrawny but I’ve since vastly improved its health. I wanted to add this catfish to my larger Amazon cichlid community but with a large Lima I’m trying to grow it a little more to avoid any swallowing issues. But I don’t know anything about this fishes growth speed since I’ve found little to no info on this breed besides the very short and vague description on aqua imports. It’s pretty hardy and eats just about anything but I’d still like some help from a more experienced catfish owner about this fishes growth so I can put him in its new home. The most info I’ve pulled is that it is from the pim cat family and is more closely related to basal shovel noses then it is to more conventional pim cats like the pictus it’s closest relative being (Platystomatichthys sturio) and (Platysilurus malarmo) the first of with looks different having a more enlongated snout and the other being essentially identical besides having less spots. Their is also virtually no info about these two species. So if anyone does know anything about these three species and their growth that would be very helpful


Note the first two images are when I originally got it delivered and the last photo is what it currently looks like as of this post.

 

[Midwater]

Planet Catfish https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=1641 is always a good reference.

I don't think you have got a big one there.

 

[kno4te]

I’ve had my mucosus for couple of years now, I think. Gotta check some threads/emails of when i bought but very slow growing.

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

I've seen a small one at a store; it supposedly grew rather fast for a few months and slowed down after hitting around ~3-4" SL. I don't think I've personally seen any imported bigger than ~8" SL, which matches PC's description, but I've heard of some around the 1' mark . Cichlids might nip at their filaments- had that problem one too many times when keeping them with geos.
Good luck! They're lovely catfish in my opinion.
They used to be pretty common back in 2021-2022, I think. Haven't seen as many this year.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Nice catfish but never gonna be big enough to “thrive” in a cichlid tank. Even the smallest of Lima cat is gonna be one and a half to two times bigger than this guy, although limas are generally softies and not overly agressive. I do own one over 20” though and he hates my 2ft tiger shovelnose with a passion!

 

[Yellowcat]

I've been keeping a pair for over 6 years now, one is about 6" long, the other is close to 8". They seem to grow slowly, mine are likely fully grown by this time...

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

You've got the ID correctly and the above input from peers is all agreeable. This fish doesn't exceed 8"-10" total length (not counting the extensions) usually even 6"-8", and is of a rather fragile build, thin and cigar shaped to be housed with robust cichlids or mouthy predators.

 

[Oddballhunter12]

Thanks for the info guys I really appreciate it I’ll keep him permanently in my calmer ambush tank it only has a brown ghost knife some Asian leaf fish, an flounder, and a very calm marble angel. I wanted to make sure since this catfish is beautiful and I wouldn’t want to put it in harms way. So thank you all seriously this helps me a lot I honestly couldn’t get any answers from other fish forums so you guys giving multiple responses and suggestions with viable sources makes me feel alot more confident with asking questions here

 

[Oddballhunter12]

I really hope more people visit your site for fish info since you guys are honestly excellent at your jobs. You give good sources you are all, very kind, and most importantly you all seem very big on working on the issue as a group.

 

[Oddballhunter12]

Also if you wanted an update on the little guy hes with a fellow long whisker catfish instead of a Lima he’s with a much more moderately sized spotted pictus it’s hard to see because of the glare but he’s sitting behind my pictus their very close buds