Yesterday I picked up a couple 3" albino channel cats out of the pond fish selection at work. I'm planning on raising them for a while, then releasing them in my uncle's pond. He's already got blue channels, and this year someone pulled out a 38" so it's going to be a while before these guys are big enough to release. The pond covers almost two acres and is 28 feet deep in the deepest spot. There are the big cats, breeding populations of panfish & bass, a breeding group of koi, and who knows what else. It has been stocked with tons of other fish, although we don't really see anything outside of the panfish, bass, koi & cats.
The two little cats reside in a 20 gallon with two small sunfish. I'm hoping to move all four fish to a plastic tub/stock tank this week, although it might take another week or two.
My only real questions are- How fast should I expect these guys to grow? I've heard before they'll grow 1"/month for the first 2 years. Is this a reasonable estimate?
And 2, in your opinion, what size would you let them grow to be until you'd put them in the larger pond? We're all hoping we'll be able to see and catch big albino catfish in a few years, so we'd like to avoid them being eaten by 18" bass and 3' catfish. Anyone know what the survival rates of catfish like these are? Would smaller cats spend more of their time in the shallower portions where the bass & panfish breed, or would they quickly become food for larger fish?
The two little cats reside in a 20 gallon with two small sunfish. I'm hoping to move all four fish to a plastic tub/stock tank this week, although it might take another week or two.
My only real questions are- How fast should I expect these guys to grow? I've heard before they'll grow 1"/month for the first 2 years. Is this a reasonable estimate?
And 2, in your opinion, what size would you let them grow to be until you'd put them in the larger pond? We're all hoping we'll be able to see and catch big albino catfish in a few years, so we'd like to avoid them being eaten by 18" bass and 3' catfish. Anyone know what the survival rates of catfish like these are? Would smaller cats spend more of their time in the shallower portions where the bass & panfish breed, or would they quickly become food for larger fish?
