brachyplatystoma platynemum Aka slobbering cat update

[herman moorr]

Bought my original one back in November at 5in. When he arrived he was thin and looked underfed. Started with live Platys and he took to them immediately and eventually started offering krill. When feeding I had to initially drop it near him for him to eat. But he's feeding well now and even seeks food out now during feeding. I just wonder about this fishes growth rate.. seems to be behind brachyplatystoma flavicans in that regard. He's maybe grown 2.5 in length total but has built up in girth tremendously. This is my first time keeping this species and so far it's very nice. Just want to share a couple pics of my original fishes progress. Had 2 others I tried to keep with the original but ended up trading for a jau catfish and a tiger fish for other setups.They don't do well together for the long run as I was noticing torn fins and filaments. Don't know if I'm gonna regret that later but anyway here they are...

 

[dazzapolypterusweeksii]

Very nice ive never seen one in person read about them on pcf.love to see a vid of it

 

[herman moorr]

Very nice ive never seen one in person read about them on pcf.love to see a vid of it

Thanks. I'll get a video up soon of him. I've never seen them before up until late last year only read and seen pics on the internet.

 

[Renegade Aquatics]

Very nice, I've always loved the tripod behavior seen in most Brachyplatystomas

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

They are very common in their native habitat.

Anyway, too bad you got rid of the other two (I so love to learn about how a group does) but it doesn't matter. Nice job with this guy. Yes, they appear to grow very slowly. IDK if slower or on par with dorado catfish but same ballpark, it appears IME.

You know I lost mine in 4500 gal. I'm looking to try again.

I hope krill is not the only feed you give it. Mine started with marine baitfish but ended up liking catfish pellets so much that ignored the baitfish. I never offered mine live feeders.

 

[herman moorr]

In the time I had all of them at first everything seemed fine but as weeks went on I saw them going at each other as well as missing filaments and torn fins. Wish it would have been better. They don't bother other fish..just each other. As far as feeding, he took mystis shrimp immediately and I switched to krill and also silversides. The feeders you see in this photo was honestly for a nile perch i got from a friend. He has since been relocated. I remember you saying you wanted to try again bigger the better..last time I was at distributor last week they had 3 tanks of these all around 5-7in. Ask around at your lfs and see if they get fish from sunpet.inc. They are like 50 right now I believe.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Are you allowed visiting a trans-shipper? Is that what you mean by the distributor?

Thanks for the tip. Snookn21 is 1 h away from me and he appears to have gotten them in stock. I may get my second victim from him.


That's interesting info. Mine was always beaten up by other Brachies and even by my wels, very timid fish. Looks like they are territorial with their own kin, not surprising but good to know.

 

[herman moorr]

Are you allowed visiting a trans-shipper? Is that what you mean by the distributor?
Yes. I'm really surprised they have kept them this long and so many. Appears they haven't been popular but I personally love them.
Thanks for the tip. Snookn21 is 1 h away from me and he appears to have gotten them in stock. I may get my second victim from him.

Yes they operate kind of like bluegrass or seagrest. Surprise they have kept these since november at least. They list these as med size. Is snooks larger?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I don't know. He had them listed last week at $80. I've emailed him to ask about their size, number, and availability. He answered about all other fish I had inquired about but said nothing about this one. So I asked again. No reply yet. But now they are not on his list anymore.

If you type within quotation marks, your words get embedded in the quote as if I said it.

 

[herman moorr]

I don't know. He had them listed last week at $80. I've emailed him to ask about their size, number, and availability. He answered about all other fish I had inquired about but said nothing about this one. So I asked again. No reply yet. But now they are not on his list anymore.
If you type within quotation marks, your words get embedded in the quote as if I said it.

Opp's just saw this..sorry. Would love to be able to get a large specimen