bullhead help

[rjssniper]

bullhead catfish has not been growning too much, feeding hikari cichlid gold, sinking bottom feeder pellets and the occasional feeder fish got to about 8 inches and quit. any ideas.

 

[Owain4]

is a Brown or a Black Bullhead? i just read that the average length of a black bullhead is 6-10 inches and the average length for a brown bullhead i thought was 8inches?

 

[muffywrx]

Yep... bullheads stay smaller.

 

[farawayinn]

I try to feed only 3 times a week, but my yellow bullhead gorges when he eats. Growth rate slows way down as they get bigger, but they put on a lot of weight. A typical meal for an 8" bull could be 2 to 3 medium market shrimp (uncooked, head off, tail on). How much prepared food is he taking?

 

[rjssniper]

i believe its a black one ....its pretty dark in color.....im feeding cicglid gold to the bass everyday whatever is still left when the lights go off go to the cat, and he gets a couple bottom feeder tablets every other day. ive caught bullheads quite a bit larger than the 8 to 10 range. hmmm thanks for the replies though

 

[FLESHY]

Just because the color is dark does not make it a black bullhead. Yellows can be yellowish to dark brown. Their colors are all over the place once you start to see lots of them.

Most bullheads get to 8-10 inches...but I have never seen them do it slowly. Smallest tank I have ever kept one in is a 120...fed exclusively minnows, nightcrawlers, and commercial game fish pellets.

These guys get big...way bigger than you might think hearing the 8-10 inch rule. I wish we had pictures of the last one we had that was "full size". The black bullhead record is over eight pounds...

Like all native fish (IMO) these guys require lots of protein and fat to get where they need to be. I would start incorporating more whole foods like minnows and earthworms.