Two 17"-18" Murray cods, 2 year old

[thebiggerthebetter]

Unfortunately a post mortum report.

~17" Murray cod, 2 years old, from Wes. I think killed by Malachite Green treatment I've conducted against some stubborn external parasites in both of my 4500 gal tanks. Used the usual ~3-5 ppm dose. Too much of a coincidence - had two cods eating exceptionally well and growing and both perished within a few weeks after MG treatment. This was the first time all the fish in both 4500's had ever seen Malachite Green. I try to turn to medications as a last resort only, especially as harsh as MG is. I've been told Methylene Blue is far milder and its killing spectrum is wider.

The other cod is ~18". The tail is damaged post mortum, likely by our 6 vulture catfishes.

Interesting fish. Don't like each other at all of course. Swim very little, just sit on the bottom in one spot a long time then move to another in 4500 gal. They preferred catfish farm pellets but did take some thawed fish too. Didn't seem to care if they were in 4500 gal or 240 gal (one per tank in the latter case, of course).

Haven't noted much tank mate interaction, even with other perch and bass-looking fish in 4500 gal.




The other:

 

[moe214]

Man TBTB, I hope the other threads you updated aren't for the same reasons.. guess I'll see shortly. Sorry again

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

My killing of the cods goes on.

Thought I'd try again. Got a trio of tiny guys 2.5"-ers from Wes again some months back, end of 2017. $65 each. Before I knew it, I think a rescued yoyo loach managed to kill them by relentless chasing and pestering overnight in a 240 gal with lots of furniture and hiding spots, so I didn't catch it in time. Unfortunately, I didn't know much about the loach at all. It appeared to have done its dirty work at night mostly, when no one was watching.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Blast from the past Apr 2016:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

June 2016:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Aug 2016:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

1st try 2015
2nd try 2018
3rd try 2023:

 

[Friller2009]

They’re a cold water fish. Don’t like long periods of high heat.

They also stress really easily. I remember local aquarium was having issues with keeping cod on display. They realised that the constant turnover of people were stressing the hell out of them, keeping them off food and making them weak/vulnerable to infections and illness

They’re also very much a one fish only kind of deal. They can be fine then bash the s**t out of everything one night just for fun. Theres videos of Murray’s chasing people on the Banks of creeks

They’ll attack those catfish’s for sure

 

[Monstermikefishkeeper]

They’re a cold water fish. Don’t like long periods of high heat.

They also stress really easily. I remember local aquarium was having issues with keeping cod on display. They realised that the constant turnover of people were stressing the hell out of them, keeping them off food and making them weak/vulnerable to infections and illness

They’re also very much a one fish only kind of deal. They can be fine then bash the s**t out of everything one night just for fun. Theres videos of Murray’s chasing people on the Banks of creeks

They’ll attack those catfish’s for sure

I just bought one, comes Tuesday, what would you recommend for temp? And could I grow it out in a 75 or 90 gal by itself for like 3 months

 

[Friller2009]

I just bought one, comes Tuesday, what would you recommend for temp? And could I grow it out in a 75 or 90 gal by itself for like 3 months

I'd say around 20 C. Don't want to get above 24 for too long.
It'll do fine in that tank for a bit, but you'll need a big tank later on.
They get to at least 4/5ft and become a barrel much like a grouper. They can and will inhale a duck like nothing. There's a chance it'll get over 6ft and over 2ft across