Channel cat???

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

FlammingWoodChuck

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 14, 2005
1,028
1
0
36
California
Hi. My friend got back fromt he mountains and brought back sum tiny cats. they are about an inch. I think they are channel cats but not posotive. here are sum pix. dose any1 know wat they are for sure????




Also wat should i feed them at this size. They are in a 5g tank for now(no where else for them) Like i said they are about an inch long.

100_5077.JPG

100_5088.JPG

100_5089.JPG

100_5090.JPG

100_5091.JPG

100_5094.JPG

100_5092.JPG

100_5093.JPG
 
Ameiurus melas- aka black bullhead! Up to about 2ft. when full grown. Best kept in water temps under 83 f. Will eat anything smaller than itself. ph recomended 6-8. Look for more info on www.fishbase.org or www.planetcatfish.com Hope this helps, it can be distinguished from the channel cat by the caudal fin. In the Channel cat the caudal fin is deeply forked and in the bullhead family the caudal fin is unforked or only slightly forked. Black bullhead distinguished by very thick black barbells! Hope he does well keep us updated!
 
Actually there are 2 of them. the other one was shy and hiding under the filter lip. Hopefully he will be out ans swinngin 2morrow. Wat would u recomend that i feed them at this stage. they are VERY tiny. I was thinking a melted blood worm gum drop. would that be good???
 
That would probably work very good. I am sure they would probably accept most anything that will fit in their mouths. Try the blood worms, and when they get a little bigger try feeding krill. Just remember that they are mostly nocturnal so if they do not feed during the day cut the lights and see if they will eat. Just make sure to give them about 30 mins to adjust to lights out before feeding. Don't be alarmed if you don't see them all day. They love to hide and rest during the day. As they get bigger try feeding more variety of foods. They are not picky eaters. It might also take a couple of days for them to adjust to their new environment before they will eat. Try to avoid feeder fish if you can when they are bigger. How big is the tank again? I think you said 5 gal? is that a typo or the actual size of their tank? They will need much larger once they start to grow!
 
It is a 5g maybe 8 idk. its just a lil smaller then a 10g. I do hav bigger tank to move them to. One is an 75g(not set up. Will be as soon as i get a stand) and a 100g(all my bigger fish in it. Will eat them in a second). I do know neither of these tanks will house them for life. I will be putting them into a pond I am going to build soon. I can tell that they are nocotrnal. when i took the pix the one that is out was only 1 moving, the other one was hiding. But as soon as i set up the 75g the will go str8 into that. I just dont want them to get eaten and this was the only thing i could set up in a quick time to hold them for awhile
 
That should work fine! They do get kinda big, but not in a hurry so you got plenty of time. Not sure on the life span, but I think it is around 10-12 years. 12 years being when one would be expected to be around 2 ft. I personally have never raised one, but I don't think they get too big in their first year! A 75 gal should do nicely for at least their first year! I have caught them around 18 inches in the wild. They get really fat at that size and bigger. Once they get bigger I would suggest fresh shrimp, and they might even take pellets. I have a stonecat that loves pellets!
 
yah hopefully they start to eat pellets it makes it alot ezier to feed em. all my fish except my peacock bass eat pellets(bass does eat blood worms tho). Im gana try and stay away from feeders and if anythign get them hooked on frozen and pellets. I had a RTC b4 but had to get rid of him cuz he got to about 12" and started emptying my tank of fish(he got a Green Terror 4", a gold fish 3", a ornate bichir 5", and 2 albino bichirs 7-9" b4 i got rid of him), other then fish she seemed to like the hikari sinking carniovrus pellets. the only problem with that was the biggest bag i could find was less then 8oz and cost over 15$.
 
damn, everyone getting rid of their rtc and I want to find someone getting rid of one close to me lol. I need to find one someone can't handle in their tank to go in my pond! Gonna have to be at least 16"+ though least he get eaten!
 
that is small, I think my stone cat could eat them. My stone cat is about 6 inches, and they max out around 9-11 inches!
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com