Electric catfish

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David1999

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2014
324
67
61
SoCal
Hi everyone, I'm getting an electric catfish tomorrow, about 5-6" and I was wondering what should I feed him? I was thinking of pellets and tilapia fillet? Also as a treat, can I give him some live earthworms? For earthworms, should I be from a tackle shop or can it be from my backyard? Thanks! :)


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Nice pick up bro! Just be very careful when you have your hand in the tank, their shock is more volts than an outlet! If you will feed it earthworms that's fine just visually inspect them for any disease or parasites and wash them off in a cup of tank water first to get off dirt.
enjoy your awesome catfish!
 
They are most unfussy. Mine ate everything offered to them and others. Earthworms are a great food. If you mind the dirt/sand they have inside of them (it will come out of your fish eventually), place them in moist cardboard for a day or two so they empty themselves out. I don't think the source of the worms matters, except to your wallet and to your yard plants...

Max voltage is a function of the e-cat's size. I think a ~1'-er can produce ~100 V. The famous ~350 V number has been recorded for the champion adults of ~3'.
 
Eventually it will be more interesting to see what it WON'T eat. My wife does not approve of my fish hobby, but even she loves our "fat catfish".

As a note, mine shocked me several times when he was younger/smaller, but we've been well over a year now without incident (which is good, because he's probably over 12" at this point). He's also been hand-fed his entire life.
 
I had one for years. It never refused food and it loved earthworms. I don't think there is a difference between the ones in your yard and the ones at a tackle shop. I buy them at Wal-Mart.
 
Mine liked massivores before it jumped ship. Don't keep it with anything you care about. Don't worry about the shock (unless you have a heart condition), it's not bad even when you're touching the catfish (obviously increases with discomfort). I used to use latex gloves to move mine, couldn't feel a thing. Mine hid quite a good deal of the time (even for a catfish). Cool catfish for a species tank (also I've heard Synos are immune to the shock).
 
5_8_14 049.JPGThis is mine. I've had him almost a year and he's 12 inches now. He loves Massivore pellets and live blackworms. I've had my hand in the tank every week for cleaning and water change. The only time I got a shock was when I accidentally touched him while removing the cave he outgrew.

5_8_14 049.JPG
 
I had one for about 2 years that grew to a fat 10" then mysteriously died. He lit me up numerous times. Sometimes it really sucked lol
 
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