Daily ins and outs of Wels care

knifegill

Peacock Bass
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Sep 19, 2005
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Update: Kitty in 75g tank for winter. Hasn't really grown much in the outdoor pond in spite of plentiful food and water changes. Short days are a real bummer here in this valley. Ate right away in the 75g. Hit him with prazi-pro at the sight of a whitish poo just for insurance. Pics to come once noteworthy growth attained.
 

knifegill

Peacock Bass
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Sep 19, 2005
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He's a tad chunkier, maybe 7"-8" at the most. My next days off are ten days away, I'll throw a pic up then if I remember.
:)
 

knifegill

Peacock Bass
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Sep 19, 2005
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How large are you expecting your Wels to grow??
It's nice to fantasize that he could hit sixteen feet, but I've got to be more realistic. I live in a colder climate, he will probably never get more than 8 to ten feet.
 

rodger

Polypterus
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Apr 29, 2008
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It's nice to fantasize that he could hit sixteen feet, but I've got to be more realistic. I live in a colder climate, he will probably never get more than 8 to ten feet.
I don't believe you are being realistic even at 8 feet. Are you aware of anyone raising one to that length? Based on what I read, a wels that large is around 50 years old. Maybe older.


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Chub_by

Redtail Catfish
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Jan 30, 2012
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6' is the maximum anyone will achieve in private care. 16 isn't even realistic in nature..
 

fatboy8

Piranha
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Mar 9, 2012
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I've been looking into size for if (more like when) I get one and the research I concluded on was they'll max at 4-6ft. From what I read they normally average 4-5ft in the wild. Now I have had other people say they'd get to the 9-12 ft range but I just can't see that happening in captivity


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thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
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Dec 31, 2009
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I've been looking into size for if (more like when) I get one and the research I concluded on was they'll max at 4-6ft. From what I read they normally average 4-5ft in the wild. Now I have had other people say they'd get to the 9-12 ft range but I just can't see that happening in captivity
Very few get lucky to live long enough to get to 8'-10' mark. Everything caught over 10' is almost always a reference to 100-200 years ago and in my severely limited understanding, these wels must have been 50-100-? years old at that point already. There could be some gene pool erosion or gene freaks too. Humans can reach 8' but very few do and most are between 5' and 6'. Maybe the same applies to the contemporary wels.

But 16' is a legitimate record that most likely will never get repeated and even approached even if only due to overfishing and pollution and habitat destruction of both wels and its food. Same with 15' arapaima, 15' alligator gar, 9' piraiba, 6' RTC, and 9', 700 lbs Mekong Giant Catfish.
 
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