Chinese wels care and pond size

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Just ordered an albino Chinese wels from Wes. It will be going into a 1800 gal indoor pool/pond. I know I should be feeding it cut fish. I was planning on moving it outdoors later on, but if I don't want to, can it live in my 1800 for the rest of its life? What would be the minimum pond/tank size for the wels? The water temp in my indoor pool is 57 degrees and has stayed like that for the past week or so. There is 5 small sturgeon, 3 small mirror carp, and 1 small albino channel catfish in it right now. I am running a large canister filter suited for 4000 gallon ponds. The sturgeon will be going into a large outdoor pond later on. I have 4 Siberian sturgeon and 1 diamondback in case anyone was wondering.

Thanks,
George H

 

[tigerbob]

Wels catfish is not native to China. Maybe it's raised in China. That shouldn't change its behavior or requirement though.

 

[ReApEr666]

Wels catfish is not native to China. Maybe it's raised in China. That shouldn't change its behavior or requirement though.

There are many silurus species in different regions including china.... the o.p is not referring to silurus glanis aka european wels... hes referring to silurus merdionalis aka “chinese wels” from the yangtze river. A smaller relative...

 

[ReApEr666]

Just ordered an albino Chinese wels from Wes. It will be going into a 1800 gal indoor pool/pond. I know I should be feeding it cut fish. I was planning on moving it outdoors later on, but if I don't want to, can it live in my 1800 for the rest of its life? What would be the minimum pond/tank size for the wels? The water temp in my indoor pool is 57 degrees and has stayed like that for the past week or so. There is 5 small sturgeon, 3 small mirror carp, and 1 small albino channel catfish in it right now. I am running a large canister filter suited for 4000 gallon ponds. The sturgeon will be going into a large outdoor pond later on. I have 4 Siberian sturgeon and 1 diamondback in case anyone was wondering.

Thanks,
George H

1800 gal is plenty room for life imo, ive yet to see one in captivity over 30” even. They are in no way comparable to silurus glanis for temperment nor growth rate. Rod n reel record is only around 50”... U should expect maybe 12”-14” in the 1st year... 20” or so after 3 yrs. they do not grow quickly. Oldest one i know of on this forum is a mere 24-26” after almost 5 yrs. no reason to think u have to feed cut fish either unless u wish too. They will accept pellets readily aswell as anything else u might throw at it. I do not recommend u advocate or promote keeping them in lower temps for legal reasons. No need to help the opposition in making new laws to ban them like their european cousins. Great choice of sp. and i hope u enjoy it o.p. Good luck with it!

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Thank you for the advice. Super excited for him to arrive. I ordered the Chinese wels and a tor sinensis. Do you think the sinensis can live for life in the pool like the wels? They’re both getting here tomorrow.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

An 1800 is large enough for a fish that gets 4 feet. I don't know if they will hit 4 feet in captivity, though. So you'll be fine in terms of the fish being able to live in the tank for life. As for the Tor Sinensis, it'll be fine assuming the Tor can't fit in the mouth of the wels catfish.

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

The sinensis and Chinese wels are both 14” so they’re about equal in size. I’m not worried about the wels being able to eat the sinensis

 

[AaronKWolfe]

The sinensis and Chinese wels are both 14” so they’re about equal in size. I’m not worried about the wels being able to eat the sinensis

Shouldn't be an issue then, just monitor it as always and make sure nothing bad happens

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Got an albino Chinese wels from wes a few days ago. It's doing great so far. I'll try to update as much as possible. I have some cool underwater photos to share as well. right now he's at least 15". Keeps spitting out his cut fish but I think it's been in the freezer to long. I have fresher silversides coming soon. This is the rarest fish I've ever kept. He's in a 1800 gal intex pond in my basement. water temp is at 57 degrees. Also have a tor sinensis which is about 14". I'll keep updating you guys as time goes on!

After looking at the pictures more closely, turns out he's not albino because he doesn't have red eyes. What would he be then?

 

[Iamfish]

Beautiful cat, if it does not have red eyes that would make it Xanthic