Chinese wels care and pond size

[Chicxulub]

Good looking little fish!

The red in the eyes is the visibility of the blood in the capillaries not being blocked by other pigmentation. You need fairly bright lighting to be able to see this. If you can't see it easily, that doesn't mean it's not albino.

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Okay. Thank you for the info on the eyes. I just installed a lighting system over his pool. They're pretty bright lights. Would I almost have to shine a flashlight in his eyes to see the red? Not that I want to do that.

 

[Chicxulub]

Albinos can have red eyes, but that trait isn't always expressed in such a way as to be easily visible. The expression of the red color comes from being able to see the capillaries in the back of the eye in the pupil, not the rest of the eye. It can be challenging to see. A flashlight may help if you're worried about it.

This fish is almost certainly an albino, especially since it came from fugupuff . Things tend to be what Wes says they are, his word is gospel imo. If by some chance Wes was wrong, then this fish is like to be leucistic, which would be even more rare.

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

I think it's leucistic, I just shined a bright light in it's eyes. No red.

 

[necrocanis]

There are different types of both albinism and leucism. Albinism can affect eyes and skin or just one or the other. There are also types that only affect certain colors. You can have T+ or T- albinism. Leucism is a partial or complete loss of skin pigmint that does not affect the eyes. You can have blue eye leucistic, brown eye leucistic and some even say red eyes leucistic which I suspect is an albino with complete lack of melanin in both the skin and eyes. This may be more confusing than helpful lol. Nice fish

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Thank you!
Here's a little update.
Right now I'm feeding him nightcrawlers and hikari silversides. He especially loves the nightcrawlers. He's been eating a lot, but he's a wels so I guess thats to be expected.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Good job. I'd never call the fish wels without the qualifier "Chinese", because just wels catfish are federally banned. You don't want to attract unwanted attention from authorities.

Maybe the silversides are old or maybe it was used to other feeds and at the beginning it is not uncommon for the fish to mouth and spit out new types of feed.

57 F is pretty cold, it might not have a big appetite at that temp. I'd be careful to not overfeed at such low temp and get a indigestion or a clog.

Are chinese maheer hardy to such cold water?

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

Wes told me the Chinese mahseer would be fine in 50 degree temps. Even 40 degrees. Yeah I have no idea why it died. It was doing fine for a few days. Thanks for the advice!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

That is unsettling that the mahseer died in a few days in a newly set up pond. You better make sure there is nothing wrong with your water. Mahseer are quite hardy and adaptable, they don't die for no good reason usually. If everything with your water is good, perhaps then it could be penned to as an exception to the rule.

I am sure Wes didn't keep it at 57 F but at 75 F or higher. If there was any hard-to-digest or long-to-digest feed remaining in its gut, the stress of the transfer and the cold water might have resulted in the clog. Was it bloated? Has the tummy color changed?

 

[GeorgeHaddaway15]

My water parameters were fine last I checked, but I can check again once I get home tomorrow. The wels has been fine. Nothing looks wrong with it, however it doesn't eat as much as it used to. Water temp is at 58 now. The wels does not look bloated. I have a picture of the dead masheer.