spotted bullhead

[Homer Siped]

went to pet store yesterday just for something to do and my wife points out this catfish and I just had to have it we have an aquarium at home but has a hamster in it, so we got the hamster a new home and I get home start getting tank set back up for fish, add water and LEAK!! the hamster chewed the silicone off from 2 of the corners so back to pet store we went, got some silicone and re sealed it, cant wait to get him in his home, he is sharing our other tank with a goldfish for now until tomorrow night when I get home from work. I have never seen a spotted bullhead before, when I was a kid I had a yellow bullhead that I caught. pics soon to follow

 

[Homer Siped]

A couple of pictures

 

[xraycer]

I'm guessing its probably the same fish I have to which I was told was called a marbled bullhead.

What are your plans in terms of cycling the new tank?

 

[Homer Siped]

I was thinking on taking about half the water thats in the tank goldfish he is in now and putting it in his tank and adding fresh water to both tanks, the goldfish is due for his 50% water change anyways. so my thought process would be no different than doing a 50% water change on both tanks, they are both 55 gallons. maybe I am incorrect

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Welcome to MFK!

This is the southern variant of brown bullhead. This knowledge has been well established.

As for the tank, I'd earnestly recommend doing a fishless cycling first (4-8 weeks) before placing the fish in there. Water carries almost no bacteria you need for cycling / nitrogen cycle. These bacteria colonize and live on all surfaces, esp. in your bio filter, so pouring aged water from an established tank will seed your new tank and filter but it will still take 4-6 weeks for the bacteria to grow in sufficient quantity to cycle your tank.

You will end up with problems with ammonia and nitrite and the fish will pay for it. I am stating this with the best of intentions, mate. Everyone on here will tell you the same thing: cycled tank first, fish second.

 

[Homer Siped]

Oh okay I'm a bit new to fish, Im more of a turtle guy, but grew up with catfish, we had a tiger shovel nose and a red tail, but got both when I was around 9 or 10. I had a bullhead that I kept for about a month when I was a kid as well, I turned it loose as it wouldn't eat. Thanks for the insight on what fish it is, I have never seen one before.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

No problem, mate! Yeah, turtles are easier - they breath oxygen from air, not water, so water toxins have a much lessened affect on them but ammonia still burns even skin, not to mention gills.

Whatever happened to the TSN and RTC? What's their story? Got any pics?

The most likely reason your childhood bullhead didn't eat was that the tank was not cycled. Toxins = stress = no appetite, then the immune system gets compromised, then comes an illness (bacterial, viral, or parasitic) and then death. That's about how 99 of 100 fish sold everywhere in the pet shops die.

 

[Chicxulub]

As Viktor correctly pointed out, this is a brown bullhead. This morph is unique to the north and central portions of Florida, and used ot have subspecies status as Ameiurus nebulosus marmoratus. These guys pop up from time to time in pet stores because they're naturally found in areas of Florida that are often used to farm cichlids and feeders.

True spotted bullheads, Ameiurus serracanthus, are far less common and only found in a small section of the Suwannee River drainage. I've never seen one in the hobby, and believe me, I've looked. When I move home to Florida next year, I'm going to be doing an article for Jules over on Planet Catfish about the marbled catfish of Florida. Of course, MFK will get a copy, too.

 

[xraycer]

As Viktor correctly pointed out, this is a brown bullhead. This morph is unique to the north and central portions of Florida, and used ot have subspecies status as Ameiurus nebulosus marmoratus. These guys pop up from time to time in pet stores because they're naturally found in areas of Florida that are often used to farm cichlids and feeders.

True spotted bullheads, Ameiurus serracanthus, are far less common and only found in a small section of the Suwannee River drainage. I've never seen one in the hobby, and believe me, I've looked. When I move home to Florida next year, I'm going to be doing an article for Jules over on Planet Catfish about the marbled catfish of Florida. Of course, MFK will get a copy, too.

Any easy physical feature(s) to look for in identifying A. serracanthus?

 

[Chicxulub]

Any easy physical feature(s) to look for in identifying A. serracanthus?

Mine is the third post in. Posting this is a lot easier than just re-typing it lol


http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39230