Found Mekong Giant Catfish

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thebiggerthebetter said:
Thank you so very, very much! Great job, brother!

Just off the top of my head, I think I see IDS in there too and at least one paroon but the rest are the alleged MGC, right? With the eye sitting notably lower than that in IDS?

See they hybridize MGC with other Pangasidae at the food fish farms and hence we are never sure what exactly we are looking at.
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TL has a few vids in this exhibit. There is Paroon sharks, mgc, and ids I believe. From what I see the easy way to see the difference between the IDS and MGC is the dorsal on the IDS is much smaller in comparison to the body. And you know how to easily ID The paroons.
 
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HELIOX said:
I have had some experience with the Pla Buk in the past....

Got them from my Thai supplier who caters to the Japan market. 3 batches imported in total. First batch turned out to be bocourti. The last two were MGC. The bocourti grew fast to a meter long... the MGC, real slow.

Feeding heavily did not help at all.

I ended up releasing them to a green water pond hoping for better results, but they were still falling way behind the growth rate of the bocourti or sanitswongsei in the same pond.

The pond was heavily stocked but food was plentiful.

The results of the experiment is great information... I guess space is what counts. And maybe very light stocking level.

Those very dark colored MGC is River Safari were imported Big. You should see the Sanitswongsei in that tank, very impressive.
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You are knowledgeable and keep cool catfish. I am happy that you are becoming active here. We need more guys like you, who can get and keep some of the fish we can't or most of us can't (yet ;) ).

Superficially, the slow growth of the two batches of the alleged MGC could be interpreted that they are not the real deal because it is widely quoted and scientifically shown that MGC are one of the fastest growing fish:

https://www.fishbase.de/summary/6192 says: "Shows one of the fastest growth rates of any fish in the world, reaching 150 to 200 kg in 6 years (Ref. 12693)"

Reference 12693: Rainboth, W.J., 1996. Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. FAO, Rome, 265 p.

The book: www.fao.org/docrep/010/v8731e/v8731e00.htm


Of course, other explanations are fathomable but this one is the first that jumps at you.
 
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thebiggerthebetter said:
You are knowledgeable and keep cool catfish. I am happy that you are becoming active here. We need more guys like you, who can get and keep some of the fish we can't or most of us can't (yet ;) ).

Superficially, the slow growth of the two batches of the alleged MGC could be interpreted that they are not the real deal because it is widely quoted and scientifically shown that MGC are one of the fastest growing fish:

https://www.fishbase.de/summary/6192 says: "Shows one of the fastest growth rates of any fish in the world, reaching 150 to 200 kg in 6 years (Ref. 12693)"

Reference 12693: Rainboth, W.J., 1996. Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. FAO, Rome, 265 p.

The book: www.fao.org/docrep/010/v8731e/v8731e00.htm


Of course, other explanations are fathomable but this one is the first that jumps at you.
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Thanks man,

I may have a couple from those batches that are 2 feet long... if they are still alive, and the next time I get to catch them, I will check the gums....

This can help add another clue...
 
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Yea, tooth patches are one way to tell MGC, if I recall the revision correctly. At least from IDS and other genuine species.
 
Correction: 2 measured at 16" & smallest at 14". Last growth since 30th August 2018 - 23rd September 2018:
Specimen 1 = 15" to 16"(from space 3.)
Specimen 2 = 13.5" to 16" (from space 2.)
Specimen 3 = 12" to 14" (from space 1.)

*refer to my previous experiment

New source of Growth: Growth hormones/Growth Inhibitory in Fish (Next experiment)

The explanatory about growth of fish are as following:-
1. Temperature - warm water fish will grow faster in warm water
2. Gender - some species have males that have faster growth & others are female
3. Genetic - hybrid fish aren't usable, usually pure bred or wild caught with good genetics A+A
4. FCR - feed conversion ratio, how many food given from the start till current growth
5. Water quality - oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, ph, etc

There's a new source for rapid growth in fish use by river farms & discus breeder that doesn't stand on space & diet. Apparently water quality are the effects of hormone growth, the better the water, lesser the accumulation of hormone, thus better growth rate.

I was suggested to done water change at least 20% a day but there's a few limitations to it. So I decided to done at least 50% water changes twice a week see how the theory/facts go. Starting yesterday, 50% water changes. Immediately feed em with hikari pellets, they eat it straight away, so no stress level there. Seems good, tomorrow start a new cycle of water change.

Focus on 4 & 5, considered 1. See them grow in a month, previously average 1-2.5" a month, next target 4-5" a month.
 
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GiantFishKeeper101 said:
Correction: 2 measured at 16" & smallest at 14". Last growth since 30th August 2018 - 23rd September 2018:
Specimen 1 = 15" to 16"(from space 3.)
Specimen 2 = 13.5" to 16" (from space 2.)
Specimen 3 = 12" to 14" (from space 1.)

*refer to my previous experiment

New source of Growth: Growth hormones/Growth Inhibitory in Fish (Next experiment)

The explanatory about growth of fish are as following:-
1. Temperature - warm water fish will grow faster in warm water
2. Gender - some species have males that have faster growth & others are female
3. Genetic - hybrid fish aren't usable, usually pure bred or wild caught with good genetics A+A
4. FCR - feed conversion ratio, how many food given from the start till current growth
5. Water quality - oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, ph, etc

There's a new source for rapid growth in fish use by river farms & discus breeder that doesn't stand on space & diet. Apparently water quality are the effects of hormone growth, the better the water, lesser the accumulation of hormone, thus better growth rate.

I was suggested to done water change at least 20% a day but there's a few limitations to it. So I decided to done at least 50% water changes twice a week see how the theory/facts go. Starting yesterday, 50% water changes. Immediately feed em with hikari pellets, they eat it straight away, so no stress level there. Seems good, tomorrow start a new cycle of water change.

This really isn't new, it's scientifically proven and I've known about it for years, what I really want to know is wether these pheromones are species specific (i.e. Would catfish pheromones effect a cichlid?)
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