I've talked about getting a channel and growing it out before giving it to my friend with a pond in the past but since I'm getting a pond in the Spring I'm seriously considering getting one now. The pond I'm building is 8'x7'x4' and roughly 1,500 gallons. It's in a retaining wall outside my garage and it's under my small front porch to keep it shaded and cool in the summer. Getting to the point I'd like to get a Channel Catfish for the pond but I'm afraid to get a small one in the spring because I'm already growing out some of the other pond inhabitants including a trio of yellow bullheads that I'd fear would be big enough to eat a small channel cat by spring (they're 2" now). What kind of growth should I expect to see in a channel if I got it now by the beginning of next April? My house temp from now to then will be 72-68 so my native tanks will run 70-66 F. I'd feed it once a day. I'd probably start it in my 30L Chub Tank because I need a bottom feeder and I know the channel is going to create bioload but it wouldn't be as bad as all the uneaten food there is. After it hit 6-7" I'd put it in my 75 gallon until 12-13" and by then I think I'd have the pond ready. I'd buy the fish at about 2-3". So how fast will it grow roughly and how big should it be by around early April?
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