what can you guys tell me about channel cats? i brought a 6" baby home from a fishing trip on sat and haven't much of him since, mostly hides down in the bottom of my 180g in the midst of my plants so all i see if i get lucky is his tail fin. so far i haven't tried to feed him as i figured he'd be too stressed to eat(sure seems like it) my largest food is some frozen krill and aquadine pellets. how fast do they grow? and how long before he stops being a wimp and comes out where i can see him?
channel cat care
- Thread starter Danyal
- Start date
i just tried dropping in about a dozen small shrimp(forgot i had some canned river shrimp in the freezer) and he seemed to ignore them.
Channel cats will get to 3 feet long. They will grow at 2 inches a month until they hit the 20 inch to 2 foot mark. Then growth rate slows drastically. The are carnivorous and noctural. No matter his size, he will always be skittish. They are cold water natives, so they like the water temp around 60, but can be kept in warmer conditions. They will eat earthworms, market shrimp, krill, flake, pellet, lean beef, liver, heart, feeders, pretty much anything you can think of. They will eat anything that is their size and smaller. I know necro will show up in a minute and top this post...
Channels are a favorite species of mine...but honestly not a real good aquarium resident. You can be assured if he's a healthy specimen he'll come out and become a bold and personable "pet" within a few months. However channels don't do well in warm water (like in most aquariums!) and do grow VERY quickly. If you really intend on keeping the cat long term I highly suggest you start digging a pond.
i probably should have clarified that the 180g is in my backyard so right now the water temp is in the 60s, the tank gets 50% waterchanges whenever i feel like it(sometimes 2~3x a week, sometimes once every 2wks) the only other inhabitants are (4) white cloud minnows, (6~12) danios and (1) goldfish. i used to have a blue catfish(before i knew anything about it) and loved him but once he got 6" i put him into a pond and it dried up a couple weeks later. he will be moved when he gets too big. i should have figured it was nocturnal, although it was caught around noon.
There decent tank fish. Hang around the tank alot anf he will no u bring food. And start comeing out to see u. Drop some worms in there he will beat
white clouds gone any minute... ha! i'm pretty sure i've got a pussyfish, i dropped about half a dozen river shrimp and a chunk of fresh thawed krill right next to his mouth while he was hiding under a flower pot and for 5min he did nothing, i had to turn off the dim black porch light and wait for 15min inside and when i came out about 5min ago it looked like he ate them. i like the tank, except for the cyano and it needs more deco. i've got a DIY 12g sump on the tank but only a 3x turnover, if i could get some oil and get my little giant pump running i'd do a 1200gph closed loop and have a solid 10x turnover rate, that'd probably kick up some of the debris better.
mines about 8 inches and ive had him for about a month.
he gets 2 market shrimp every day but mondays and fridays and loves it
try that. tear one in half and drop a half right in front of him and drop another a bit away from him and drop the other somewhere else. mine loves hunting for them
he gets 2 market shrimp every day but mondays and fridays and loves it
try that. tear one in half and drop a half right in front of him and drop another a bit away from him and drop the other somewhere else. mine loves hunting for them