Catfish Breeding

[tscharf]

Ive got alot of catfish and they arent yet up to breeding size but i was wondering if anyone on here has ever tried breeding them before? Any recommendations or facts i should know? i havent found out if they eat their young but i believe some species do protect the fry, atleast for a little while, especially the north american cats. Once they get a bit larger i would like to attempt it. If im succesfuly ill post on here what iv figured out, right now im just looking for some input. below listed are the cats i have
2 channels cats
1 bullhead cat
1 tiger shovelnose
1 redtail cat (soon to have another)
1 RTC X TSN hybrid
1 Niger Cat
2 plecos (wouldnt mind if they bred either)

 

[crisgaston]

Hi. That's quite a big job. I have bred plecos before in soil ponds and they burrowed into the banks to lay the eggs. We induce Clarias spp (walking cats) and pangasius (hammer head sharks) to spawn artificially. Large catfish need a lot of space and some species take a few years to mature sexually. Of course you must consider where to grow the tens or even hundreds of thousands of fry if you succeed. Good luck.

 

[mkman]

you'd first need to sex them.......two male cats can't breed

 

[tscharf]

haha good call on that one? any one kno of an easy way to sex them, the only way i know, atleast for channel cats is to observe them during the spawning season, maleas get a thick muscluar surface on the top of their heads and females bellies become red and swollen.