baby Irwini 4 months on

[Rafini]

I got my little Irwini catfish 4 months ago at just around 2" very tiny. Hes been kept in his own 20g long tank and gets fed every night before I go to bed, he eats shrimp pellets, prawns and massivore (he eats ALOT in one siting)

Anyway I read repeatedly that these guys have a slow growth rate but he has grown to 7" in 4 months which is actually a better growth rate than oscars and other CA cichlids, so I am very impressed with his growth rate, here he/she is the day I got them

2" head to tailbase

and today
around 7" head to tail base

let me know what you think!

 

[Jmart159]

Nice fish. It sounds like he is growing pretty fast. What are your plans for him?

 

[Zoodiver]

The ones I've had grew quickly. These guys are real monsters as adults.

 

[Rafini]

Jmart he will be going into my 3 foot wide 225, I just want to keep him in a smaller tank until he hits around the 1' mark, not because i'm worried for him, but mainly because I want to make sure he is big and strong and able to fight for food against my other fish.

Zoodiver do you have any pics of yours?

 

[satnav]

Lovely Looking Fish, how big do they eventually grow?

 

[Ambervikings91]

awesome

 

[Rafini]

Lovely Looking Fish, how big do they eventually grow?

I think they get somewhere between 24"-30" I can't wait til he really fills out. hes quite the character though even feeds from my hand

 

[scarysdad]

Had mine for 5 years now he hit 24" a couple of years ago must be around 26-27 " these days....really laid back cat I need to get more recent pics but here's a few from a couple of years ago.......

 

[Rafini]

Wow that guy is amazing! so would you say they average 1" per month? Mine seems to be getting slightly higher than that but it will obviously slow down. I can't wait til mine gets that big.

Do you know how to sex them? I remember seeing somewhere that females look wide all the way down their body from above, and the males taper off. I can't find the pictures to show this though

 

[scarysdad]

Hi Rafini...I grew him out in a 4ft tank took about a year to get to 12" then put him in my 255 where he went to 24" in another year so yes an inch per month is a good estimate....not sure about sexing them never researched it just always referred to him as a 'him' here's a few pics from tonight as you can see he is a good few inches longer and not quite so obese......

the P. Lapareidei just always seems to be next to him....