electric catfish
- Thread starter voss345
- Start date
Check out this link.....http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=109
I've heard that some species of synodontis cats are immune to the shock, but don't know which ones. Any tankmates would be a risk but I've seen them in BIG tanks with other fish such as cichlids.
The shock can be pretty kick ***.
I've heard that some species of synodontis cats are immune to the shock, but don't know which ones. Any tankmates would be a risk but I've seen them in BIG tanks with other fish such as cichlids.
The shock can be pretty kick ***.
yea my friend that worked there was braggin to me how hes never gotten shocked by it and whatta know he got shocked it was only like 7 inches so prolly not that big but scared the hell out of him gave some other people a laugh, this guy wanted to buy it for his 20 gallon tank, i had to talk him out of it, or else he would of lived a bad life
My boss got shocked by a 12" E cat and it rocked his world! He went flying off of the stool he was standing on while attempting to catch it for a customer.
I would love to get one of these cats- but at nearly 3 ft when full grown are out of my league for sure.
I saw one get put in a tank at work with a bunch of clarias, several oscars and clowns knives. Within seconds there were fish flying out the top of the tank, the oscars were upside down and one clown went straight into the glass and the other headfirst into the gravel. It was like some sort of slapstick comedy (albeit with dead fish).
And then I made the foolish mistake of adding one into my american cichlid tank...he was great! For like five minutes lol
And what did we learn? Don't put ECs with fish you like!
And then I made the foolish mistake of adding one into my american cichlid tank...he was great! For like five minutes lol
And what did we learn? Don't put ECs with fish you like!
Ah, Malapterurus Electricus! One of my favorite species!
E-cats will kill just about any tankmate with a few exceptions:
1) Fish with scales is a bit more resistant to electric shock
2) Scaleless fish is much more vunerable (except synodontis cats)
3) The larger the tankmate is, the less it will be affected by e-cat's discharges
4) Don't try to keep these with super aggresive cichlids, etc. E-cats are easily damaged, as their skin is quite soft. Also, this fish "charges up" -- stores up electricity over period of time (few hours), and then discharges in a series of bursts. The first burst is the strongest, and they get gradually weaker until the charge is depleted. I once tried to house an 8" electric cat with a 10" tilapia butticoferi thinking that the e-cat can keep the beast at bay. Butti quickly learned that after a painful initial shock, e-cat becomes less dangerous and explored this weakness for a couple of days. I ended up separating them in order to save the e-cat
5) I have successfuly kept e-cats on 2 separate occasions with various species of synodontis (eupterusm, decorus, ocilefer, and "lace catfish"). Not sure why but synos are not affected by e-cats electricity at all
6) I have also succeeded in temporarily housing a 6" e-cat with equallu sized bichirs -- never observed any ill effects
7) do not attempt to keep 2 e-cats together -- they will get along just fine as babies but will definetely begin "ripping each other apart" when they get older. Here is a series of shots depicting a pair of 8" electic catfishes that coexisted peacefully for a few months and just went berzerk one morning (I am almost certain that if not promptly separated, they would have ended up killing each other):
E-cats will kill just about any tankmate with a few exceptions:
1) Fish with scales is a bit more resistant to electric shock
2) Scaleless fish is much more vunerable (except synodontis cats)
3) The larger the tankmate is, the less it will be affected by e-cat's discharges
4) Don't try to keep these with super aggresive cichlids, etc. E-cats are easily damaged, as their skin is quite soft. Also, this fish "charges up" -- stores up electricity over period of time (few hours), and then discharges in a series of bursts. The first burst is the strongest, and they get gradually weaker until the charge is depleted. I once tried to house an 8" electric cat with a 10" tilapia butticoferi thinking that the e-cat can keep the beast at bay. Butti quickly learned that after a painful initial shock, e-cat becomes less dangerous and explored this weakness for a couple of days. I ended up separating them in order to save the e-cat
5) I have successfuly kept e-cats on 2 separate occasions with various species of synodontis (eupterusm, decorus, ocilefer, and "lace catfish"). Not sure why but synos are not affected by e-cats electricity at all
6) I have also succeeded in temporarily housing a 6" e-cat with equallu sized bichirs -- never observed any ill effects
7) do not attempt to keep 2 e-cats together -- they will get along just fine as babies but will definetely begin "ripping each other apart" when they get older. Here is a series of shots depicting a pair of 8" electic catfishes that coexisted peacefully for a few months and just went berzerk one morning (I am almost certain that if not promptly separated, they would have ended up killing each other):
Housed a 10-11" one for about a year. Loved that fish easily the most personable fish I've owned followed closely by my SAL. Synodontis seem to work with them, I housed 3 synodontis multipunctatus, and 2 synodontis flavitaeniatus with mine just fine the entire time I had it with zero complications. I would love to get one again but don't have the tank space right now. They are great fish and very adaptable to most water conditions just not very tank mate friendly.
Nice pics Stab! Haven't ever seen those but knew you used to be into E cats for a while and I think I have some pics of a baby one you used to have on my comp
~Trent
Nice pics Stab! Haven't ever seen those but knew you used to be into E cats for a while and I think I have some pics of a baby one you used to have on my comp
~Trent