Ompoks

[Tain]

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm trying to gather some info about Ompok species, but I've struggled a bit. I did find some threads on here aswell as on Planet Catfish discussing different Ompoks, so I'm thinking that this might be the best place to find keepers/ex keepers.

fatboy8 thebiggerthebetter I saw that you guys used to keep these, and I'd be very interested to hear your experience, if you'd like to share. If anyone else has any experience with keeping Ompoks that'd of course be great to hear aswell.

I'm mostly interested in the siluroides but any info/observations on the others would be equally appreciated. Size when fully grown? Tank size? General behaviour? Schooling? Ever handfed? etc. I do realize that some answers can already be found online, but since there's not that much reliable information available it would be great to hear from people who have kept Ompok species.

Thanks guys. Take care!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I will type up something later. For now will paste my relevant PCF threads. Unfortunately I kept mine only from 2008-2012 and back then I was not documenting my fish as I have been doing later. So I ain't got a nice thread on my experience and I recall little from memory.

normal colored siluroides https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30937

albino / leucistic siluroides https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30936

fatboy8's siluroides https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=36636

pabda https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=39081

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Sorry about the wait. I am afraid I can't tell you much beyond what you must have already gleaned from the threads I linked above. Ompoks IME were easy fish for me except their marked preference for live feed but if there is none present, you should have no issues with your Ompoks accepting non-live feed.

It follows that their tank mates must not fit in their mouths. Ompoks are nicknamed gulper catfish for a reason, for their ability to swallow surprisingly large prey. Not to be confused with Asterophysus batrachus.

As I reported before, mine went from 5" to 10" in about 2 years.

Mine weren't mean to each other but always had plenty of space to get away from each other too. They didn't school all the time but often seemed to enjoy the company of each other.

I don't believe siluroides could exceed 1 foot.

Tank size is probably average, at least 4xL long and 2xL wide where L is fish length. Bigger is always better.

They handfeed, I believe, although I've never tried.

 

[Tain]

Sorry about the wait. I am afraid I can't tell you much beyond what you must have already gleaned from the threads I linked above. Ompoks IME were easy fish for me except their marked preference for live feed but if there is none present, you should have no issues with your Ompoks accepting non-live feed.

It follows that their tank mates must not fit in their mouths. Ompoks are nicknamed gulper catfish for a reason, for their ability to swallow surprisingly large prey. Not to be confused with Asterophysus batrachus.

As I reported before, mine went from 5" to 10" in about 2 years.

Mine weren't mean to each other but always had plenty of space to get away from each other too. They didn't school all the time but often seemed to enjoy the company of each other.

I don't believe siluroides could exceed 1 foot.

Tank size is probably average, at least 4xL long and 2xL wide where L is fish length. Bigger is always better.

They handfeed, I believe, although I've never tried.

No worries! Thank you for taking the time to reply.

They seem to be quite interesting fish IMO, I'm surprised there isn't more people keeping them.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Certainly you must have noted that most keepers go for:

-- color (vast, vast majority, probably 99% - salt water; f/w cichlids; koi; arowana; snakeheads; betta, fancy guppy and Co.)

-- size (very very few, perhaps 0.01%, as housing is extremely expensive and demanding unless it is a dirty natural pond in tropical climate but a lot of such places don't even have internet and electricity...)

-- spectacular predatory habits (0.5%)

-- interaction (0.5%)

Drab, blah, ugly medium catfish are for wackos and psychopaths like you and me and a few in between

 

[cheeseb0y]

Ompoks aren't ugly they're adorable. They have such cute faces.

 

[KATALEKEEPER]

so cute! Whos selling them rn?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Our Ompoks can also be seen in the photos in this thread, a very diverse community, grow out, of roughly 60 different fish species in 120 gal: https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30939

 

[Papa Loach]

Half a year after this was posted I found this thread, here's my experience even though you're probably either keeping them already or lost interest in them by now. AFAIK thebiggerthebetter had/have siluroides which seems to be the most commonly available Ompok sp outside of their native range. They are kind of slow growers and this might be even more complicated by the fact that they can pick on one another unless sufficient space is given. I have Ompok pabda or pabo and ID debate that I have been having with myself and other keepers since the day I started keeping them, whatever these may be they don't grow as big as siluroides, staying within 20-30cm MAX. The largest species is the Ompok malabaricus, which is stated to grow up to 60cm. Keep them either singly if you have insufficient space or get a good number if you have the space, and you might be able to observe natural behaviour.

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm trying to gather some info about Ompok species, but I've struggled a bit. I did find some threads on here aswell as on Planet Catfish discussing different Ompoks, so I'm thinking that this might be the best place to find keepers/ex keepers.

fatboy8 thebiggerthebetter I saw that you guys used to keep these, and I'd be very interested to hear your experience, if you'd like to share. If anyone else has any experience with keeping Ompoks that'd of course be great to hear aswell.

I'm mostly interested in the siluroides but any info/observations on the others would be equally appreciated. Size when fully grown? Tank size? General behaviour? Schooling? Ever handfed? etc. I do realize that some answers can already be found online, but since there's not that much reliable information available it would be great to hear from people who have kept Ompok species.

Thanks guys. Take care!

As stated before, Ompoks are gluttons and WILL eat anything up to 1/3-1/2 of its own size. This is a 16-17cm fish with a 10cm loach in its belly.

All in all, my favourite midsized catfish, I love their 'Wolfish' appearance. They also can grow a potbelly which is apparent in thebiggerthebetter 's specimens and now mine are starting to develop bellies as well.

Lastly, they might feed from the hand, but I haven't really tried handfeeding them till date because of their propensity to go HAM on food morsels.