Columbian Catfish Questions

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MitchFish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 25, 2013
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Newfoundland, Canada
So I am in the process of redoing one of my tanks and using it as a grow out for some new fish I am interested in. One of my LFS has a display tank with several brackish fish in it and the columbians really caught my eye at their size of about 5 inches. The store also has some others for sale at about 2"-3". I have read mixed things about columbians online being fresh/brackish/salt and as I have never owned them I am looking for some advice from you guys. Is it possible for the columbians to live in freshwater as some sites claim? The remainder of the stock I am looking at are freshwater fish so I am pretty well 100% guaranteed I am doing freshwater for this tank. If the answer is no, do you guys have any suggestions for catfish similar to the columbians that I could incorporate into my freshwater tank? The store also had pictus catfish for sale at a nice size, however, while I do like some aspect of the pictus, I am not a fan of extremely long whiskers on catfish and I am ask looking for a catfish with a similar temperament to the columbians who will spend oat of their day swimming and visible as opposed to hiding like the pictus appear to spend most of their time doing.

Any help would be great.
 
I kept a group of 3 in the past and they definitely do best in brackish and they need full saltwater as adults. They're really entertaining to watch but they need a pretty big tank because of their activity level. Mine grew to about 8" before I got rid of them because the 150 didn't seem big enough for them. Btw I started them off in fresh and when they were in brackish, they became fatter and grew way faster then in salt, they were just crazy. They loved it and it totally reminded me if a school if sharks swimming through the reef.

If you're going fresh then don't get them. They NEED to be in full saltwater as adults. The only recommendation I would make is the pictus catfish but you already shot that idea down. I personally think a school of them would look really cool.


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... The store also has some others for sale at about 2"-3". I have read mixed things about columbians online being fresh/brackish/salt and as I have never owned them I am looking for some advice from you guys. Is it possible for the columbians to live in freshwater as some sites claim?
***It has been reported here (3 times on my memory) but it is extremely rare for them to survive for a long time in f/w. They will never reach their full potential and full size and I believe they will be suffering too as they would not swim (much) and not do their usual antics.

The remainder of the stock I am looking at are freshwater fish so I am pretty well 100% guaranteed I am doing freshwater for this tank.
***No.

If the answer is no, do you guys have any suggestions for catfish similar to the columbians that I could incorporate into my freshwater tank?
***I cannot think of any Ariidae (sea catfishes) that'd be ok in f/w for life. What attributes do you mean when you say similar? Please, be as specific as you can. Size? Color? Body shape? (One thing you said - they should not be hiders.) (Another thing you said - no long barbels.) Would one of the bullhead species work for you?

The store also had pictus catfish for sale at a nice size, however, while I do like some aspect of the pictus, I am not a fan of extremely long whiskers on catfish and I am ask looking for a catfish with a similar temperament to the columbians who will spend oat of their day swimming and visible as opposed to hiding like the pictus appear to spend most of their time doing.
***In the correctly set up tank (for pictus), they do not hide that much, actually they hide less than not. And, in the agreement with the above, they are lots of fun to watch at that.
 
thanks guys for your input! I found some Chinese highway catfish in my LFS that the owner just brought in for the first time so I decided to give these a try. Bought two at around 3"-3.5" but I know nothing about these catfish and I cannot find much information online. Any help would be appreciated.
 
:) I highly value your honesty, but would you buy a dog not knowing anything about it, whether it is a great dane or a chuahua or a pittbull? :)

Anyhow, this is your hillstream catfish and its data/care sheet -- Tachysurus trilineatus -- http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?species=tachysurus+trilineatus&article_id=333

Their max size is listed at 3" SL (standard length = not including the caudal fin). It sounds you bought adults. Note the temp range -- 16.0-23.0°C or 60.8-73.4°F -- sounds like they cannot handle well normal temps of a tropical fish tank, which are closer to 80 F. On top of that, it needs lots of oxygen, whose concentration is lessened at higher temps.
 
thebiggerthebetter said:
:) I highly value your honesty, but would you buy a dog not knowing anything about it, whether it is a great dane or a chuahua or a pittbull? :)

Anyhow, this is your hillstream catfish and its data/care sheet -- Tachysurus trilineatus -- http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?species=tachysurus+trilineatus&article_id=333

Their max size is listed at 3" SL (standard length = not including the caudal fin). It sounds you bought adults. Note the temp range -- 16.0-23.0°C or 60.8-73.4°F -- sounds like they cannot handle well normal temps of a tropical fish tank, which are closer to 80 F. On top of that, it needs lots of oxygen, whose concentration is lessened at higher temps.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the help but I did know some about the fish .. I knew their max size was roughly 12" and I knew what kind of other fish he has had them live with so I knew that I could make them work in my tank. I wouldn't have bought them without knowing at least basic details. The catfish you have mentioned are actually just highway catfish which are much different. Chinese highway catfish is just another name given to "Amur catfish/Yellow Catfish/Tawny Dragon Catfish". I found some more information on these on planet catfish but I was hoping for some more in depth experience from MFKers who have owned these cats themselves.
 
Sorry, I went off of the face value of the info provided, "nothing", but really, it was not my business to start with. So I must apologize twice.

Tachysurus fulvidraco -- http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=457 -- appears to be rather rarely kept. I cannot remember seeing posts about them here on MFK except that thread -- http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?550755-My-T-fulvidraco&highlight=fulvidraco -- which has not gone anywhere yet.

I know Yellowcat had them. He is a member both here and PCF.

I've met several keepers on PCF.

They are also kept sometimes in CA outdoor ponds because they tolerate cool water.

Very little here too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachysurus_fulvidraco here http://eol.org/pages/613220/overview and here http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=28052

This is good: http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/tachysurus_fulvidraco.htm
 
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