Goonch (Bagarius sp. Indochina) growout- 3D the Defiler, Lord of Death

Chicxulub

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Greetings all!

In this thread I'm going to cover the growth of my newest goonch cat, an Indochina. This is a new thread, as I see no point in trying to revive my old thread from 2012. I acquired this fish in November of 2018 at 5-6"...

20181115_184019.jpg

And on a steady diet of Massivore, tilapia, shrimp and tankmates, he's now 13" or so.

20200126_125126.jpg

I had ordered this fish as a rutilus, as that is what the advertised pics showed; but when it showed up, it became clear within a few days this fish was an Indochina and not a rutilus. That became apparent because even though it had the oval eyes, it had so many spots that it turned nearly black, as can be seen in the pic above.

The difference in temperament between this fish and the rutilus I have kept before is absolutely astonishing. Mind you now, when I ordered this fish, a rutilus is what I actually wanted. Ime, rutilus are fairly passive, well behaved members of a monster community. I made the terrible decision of believing that the Indochina would be much the same.

That was an expensive mistake.

I ordered a rutilus a couple of weeks after having received this fish. That was a triggering event for this Indochina, whom I suppose I should point out was named 3D by my son. 3D proceeded to murder and attempt to eat the rutilus, and went on a killing spree, taking out my gars and several dithers. That which couldn't be eaten was killed and discarded.

20200126_131512.jpg
Weapons of mass destruction

This guy has been largely by himself ever since the murder spree. The only thing I've kept with him that was able to survive him was a pair of very large Bala sharks.

I am absolutely staggered at how different the disposition of this fish is to the only other goonch species I've kept (rutilus). I've kept several rutis and found them to be consistently reliable. 3D has been a completely different beast.

The long term goal for this guy is to go into an 8' tank in my dining room in my new house with the balas, likely a 240. I've got a janky looking but functional acrylic 365 if he should outgrow the 240. Having 3D outgrow the 240 a very real concern for me, too. I feel confident in keeping a ruti in a 240 for life, but I honestly don't know how big this Indochina will get.

For now, he's the occupant of a 5x3x2 stock tank along with his bala entourage.

20200113_174516.jpg

This is to keep him away from my son's polys and eels, as I suspect a tank full of edible noodles would be GREATLY appreciated by 3D the Defiler.

As I continue my efforts of moving into my new house and setting up cool fish related things, I'll be sure to update this thread.

Thanks guys!
 

tlindsey

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Greetings all!

In this thread I'm going to cover the growth of my newest goonch cat, an Indochina. This is a new thread, as I see no point in trying to revive my old thread from 2012. I acquired this fish in November of 2018 at 5-6"...

View attachment 1403238

And on a steady diet of Massivore, tilapia, shrimp and tankmates, he's now 13" or so.

View attachment 1403240

I had ordered this fish as a rutilus, as that is what the advertised pics showed; but when it showed up, it became clear within a few days this fish was an Indochina and not a rutilus. That became apparent because even though it had the oval eyes, it had so many spots that it turned nearly black, as can be seen in the pic above.

The difference in temperament between this fish and the rutilus I have kept before is absolutely astonishing. Mind you now, when I ordered this fish, a rutilus is what I actually wanted. Ime, rutilus are fairly passive, well behaved members of a monster community. I made the terrible decision of believing that the Indochina would be much the same.

That was an expensive mistake.

I ordered a rutilus a couple of weeks after having received this fish. That was a triggering event for this Indochina, whom I suppose I should point out was named 3D by my son. 3D proceeded to murder and attempt to eat the rutilus, and went on a killing spree, taking out my gars and several dithers. That which couldn't be eaten was killed and discarded.

View attachment 1403243
Weapons of mass destruction

This guy has been largely by himself ever since the murder spree. The only thing I've kept with him that was able to survive him was a pair of very large Bala sharks.

I am absolutely staggered at how different the disposition of this fish is to the only other goonch species I've kept (rutilus). I've kept several rutis and found them to be consistently reliable. 3D has been a completely different beast.

The long term goal for this guy is to go into an 8' tank in my dining room in my new house with the balas, likely a 240. I've got a janky looking but functional acrylic 365 if he should outgrow the 240. Having 3D outgrow the 240 a very real concern for me, too. I feel confident in keeping a ruti in a 240 for life, but I honestly don't know how big this Indochina will get.

For now, he's the occupant of a 5x3x2 stock tank along with his bala entourage.

View attachment 1403244

This is to keep him away from my son's polys and eels, as I suspect a tank full of edible noodles would be GREATLY appreciated by 3D the Defiler.

As I continue my efforts of moving into my new house and setting up cool fish related things, I'll be sure to update this thread.

Thanks guys!
Very interesting read about 3D. Goonch Catfish remind me of a true Shark. Is the difference in the aggressive attitude due to where that specie of Goonch was collected from? Thanks for sharing
 

Chicxulub

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Very interesting read about 3D. Goonch Catfish remind me of a true Shark. Is the difference in the aggressive attitude due to where that specie of Goonch was collected from? Thanks for sharing
Indochina and rutilus live side by side and are often in the same imports as one another. I suspect that with the difference in behavior and the physiology of their food gathering apparatus, these species are subject to a biological pressure known as resource or niche partitioning.

Resource partitioning is when two similar species that would otherwise be in competition with one another each specialize in taking advantage of an available resource. In the case of rutis and indos, I believe that one species is an active predator of fish and the other is a passive feeder of invertebrates which will opportunistically take fish. Think of the difference between a blue catfish and a channel catfish here in the States.
 

fishhead0103666

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So chicx, this Indochina is a different species than rutilus? I don’t remember reading about them in your write up but I could be wrong.
 
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Chicxulub

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So chicx, this Indochina is a different species than rutilus? I don’t remember reading about them in your write up but I could be wrong.
Yessir, different species. I spend quite a bit of time extolling on this species as well in the sticky. I'm not sure which write up you're talking about, as I've done several on goonches; not all of which covered this species.
 

Skyeboy

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What is the secret to keeping them? I have tried keeping goonch few times.only to end up with sudden death after few months. I have tried warmer water. Cooler.more flow less flow.
 

Matteus

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Wow. What a beast. Are they nocturnal or do you get to see the carnage during the daytime hrs?
 

Chicxulub

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What is the secret to keeping them? I have tried keeping goonch few times.only to end up with sudden death after few months. I have tried warmer water. Cooler.more flow less flow.
I've alway gone out of my way to provide ridiculous amounts of flow; 5-10k gph in my trusty 150 growout, combined with an industrial strength bubbler. Heater set to 75 with room temp fluctuations, which results in temps of 75-80 seasonally. The only sudden deaths I've had are when I move one or when something disrupts the stability of the setup as mentioned. They do seem to like hard water.

Wow. What a beast. Are they nocturnal or do you get to see the carnage during the daytime hrs?
The rutilus I've kept seem strictly nocturnal when they feed, 3D doesn't seem to care though.
 
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