Brachyplatystoma Rousseauxii Growth?

[GiantFishKeeper101]

Going to get me a dourada cat. Love the color and all. What's their growth rate and in a year, how big can it grow?

I know these cat can be quite skittish but my tank have plenty of driftwood so, there's place for it to hide.

And does it true that when it grows older, the silver sheen gone? Or it can grow like in the picture..

 

[Just Toby]

What sized tank will you keep it in?

 

[moe214]

Not sure anyone's grown it large enough to know and reported it

 

[moe214]

Not that I've seen anyway but I haven't searched either

 

[Boomer1224]

hope you have a huge tank lol

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Great photo you've found!

What's their growth rate and in a year, how big can it grow?
*****Slow, perhaps 0.5"-1" a month in the first year.

I know these cat can be quite skittish but my tank have plenty of driftwood so, there's place for it to hide.
*****It is indeed one of the most skittish. Bolts at sudden move, light, sound, anything unusual (like food dropping in the tank), etc. and hits everything in the way. It doesn't hide but it should feel more secure with much cover around, I suppose.

And does it true that when it grows older, the silver sheen gone? Or it can grow like in the picture..
*****As Moe started saying, we have seen only a handful of them grown over 1' on MFK over all these years, it seems. To me, this implies they are very hard to raise to a large size. I myself have lost 5 or 6 already trying, 2 lost to predation by a tank mate, 3 to an unknown disease. Got two left currently at 5".

From the very little we have seen, those at 1'-2' look the same metallic awesome color as the juvies. Larger ones, IDK. Your photo implies the big guys lose it largely except the head but a fish can change its color when caught and pulled out of the water.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

J Just Toby 4x2x2, for grow out. Have an indoor pond if it grow out the tank.

thebiggerthebetter 1" a month that's good growth rate though.

I use to have the same problem with my leiXtsn being skittish but after adding a few more tank mates, no more hitting the glass. He even became territorial over a driftwood spot. Probably have the same effect on dourada.

You make it sound like it is impossible to care for them. To lose that many fish, that's a shame and it makes me think twice of getting this fish. And its also more expensive than capa, capapretum 100$|rousseauxii 150$.

But...challenge accepted! Wanna try raising it and see how long will it last. But this fish always come in small sizes and have unknown disease, like you stated, does most of these fish are captive bred? Like farm raised tsn..

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

1" a month that's good growth rate though.
*****If you are lucky / manage to do everything right.

I use to have the same problem with my leiXtsn being skittish but after adding a few more tank mates, no more hitting the glass. He even became territorial over a driftwood spot. Probably have the same effect on dourada.
*****IMHO, your TSNxLei problem was different, although the main symptom may appear superficially similar. TSNxLei is not a skittish fish by any definition. If yours was, something was wrong and likely making it constantly stressed, which is known to generate skittish behavior.

You make it sound like it is impossible to care for them. To lose that many fish, that's a shame and it makes me think twice of getting this fish. And its also more expensive than capa, capapretum 100$|rousseauxii 150$.
*****I apologize. I didn't mean to make it sound one way or another, I was just sharing whatever little I know about the fish and its history at MFK and other places. You make your own conclusions from reading around and listening to other members too.

But...challenge accepted! Wanna try raising it and see how long will it last. But this fish always come in small sizes and have unknown disease, like you stated, does most of these fish are captive bred? Like farm raised tsn..
*****AFAIK, they are all wild caught. I didn't say they always have an unknown disease. I said three of mine perished from an unknown disease. They were tiny ~1.5". Many fish are sensitive at such young age.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

thebiggerthebetter help, capa or fila?

 

[amazonfishman]

Going to get me a dourada cat. Love the color and all. What's their growth rate and in a year, how big can it grow?

I know these cat can be quite skittish but my tank have plenty of driftwood so, there's place for it to hide.

And does it true that when it grows older, the silver sheen gone? Or it can grow like in the picture..

View attachment 1275776

They keep their golden/silver sheen with age regardless of size. That picture is from Andree's Expeditions and the fish was caught in 2015 in Suriname on the Coppenam River. I fished that same river with them last year and caught a 1.67M that was the largest the locals had ever seen and would have crushed the current IGFA record had I been on lighter line with official scales. The pictures don't do the golden color justice it was a lot more pronounced in person. That said I haven't seen any captive specimens with as much gold almost all are silver sheen which likely has to due with muddy water colorations and diet in the native range. I'll try to find the other pic of a big one from the 2nd trip in 2016 I've got it at home I think. For whatever it's worth out of the 30 fish we landed that week only 1 Dourada, all the rest were Piraiba. Similar catch rates on the other trips.

I noticed similar yellow/gold in native fish that didn't exist in captive specimens with Ageneiosus Magoi from Columbia. The wild pics all had a lot of yellow and captive had almost none.

Great photo you've found!

From the very little we have seen, those at 1'-2' look the same metallic awesome color as the juvies. Larger ones, IDK. Your photo implies the big guys lose it largely except the head but a fish can change its color when caught and pulled out of the water.

Exactly, the color change is significant when boating/releasing these fish from stress and photos can frequently wash out the color even more given the harsh tropical lighting mid day. My fish had substantial sheen the full length of it's body with more golden towards the mid and tail section and more silver on the head.