Four iridescent sharks, ~2'

[thebiggerthebetter]

Going back to 2009-2011. Iridescent shark catfish have been our by far and large the most plentiful rescues, probably around couple of dozen we got in those years, mostly 1.5'-2', mostly normal colored, several albino and one platinum(? no red eye but off white). Here are some in a 4000 gal basement pond 40'x6'x3':




...


Fast forward. Having lost our 2.5'-er earlier this year to a freak occurrence (killed by synodontis - mid second page https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=41670&hilit=eupterus&start=20 ), we have been left with four iridescent shark catfish, all of which are ~2' now.

All of them have always been and continue to be in the same 4500 gal tank with the same synos, FWIW...

Two of the IDS I got last Sept 2016 at ~3"-4" from Aquarium and Reef Center in Cape Coral, FL. They have grown fast having put on ~20" in 15 months. So they would belong to the fast-and-relatively-large-growing fraction of IDS we get in the trade, see these informative threads for more

-- https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/id-sharks-theories.505668/

-- https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/heavily-stunted-id-shark-help.592861/ -- see a collection of links in my post #9

-- https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/id-shark-housing.574589/

Another two had been rescued by a prior owner and are much older, I guesstimate about 10 years. They have not grown much in my care, having been with me for 4-5 years now, maybe a bit. One is missing both eyes. I was told it was housed with a banded leporinus by the original owner (so I am at least a third owner in line) for a long time just fine until one day the lepi has gone mad and attacked the IDS, stripping it of fins, taking both eyes out, and latching onto its stomach (can still see the spot). The IDS miraculously survived that horrific attack.

Here they are today in 4500 gal:

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Truly epic fish in a awesome setup.

 

[Chub_by]

Wow! Very nice Viktor. Do you Happen to have any Paroon sharks? I found this thread and the P. larnaudii one but nothing about Paroons, which happen to be one of my favourite species.

 

[ShanerBock888]

Awesome. That guy without eyes looks pretty great considering his story. Nice job on the rescue

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Appreciate the kind words.

Wow! Very nice Viktor. Do you Happen to have any Paroon sharks? I found this thread and the P. larnaudii one but nothing about Paroons, which happen to be one of my favourite species.

Yes, we currently have 4 paroons, 2'-2.5', but they are in the other 4500 gal. If God's willing, I will shoot a video of them too. Trying to video more or less every fish we have here, step by step.

There is an earlier video of them (6 back then) not too long after I rescued them from Dayton, Ohio in March 2016. It's on page 6, post #55, Tank 22: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...aples-fl-two-4500-gal-13x13x4-5.603969/page-6

 

[Chub_by]

I look forward to seeing them! Paroons have something about them and at 2.5, while far off full grown, they are already pretty impressive.

By the way, please do keep up with the videos and MFK threads for each of your species! A great resource for all of us and I bet they could come in useful once you open to the public - maybe in shortened form as information signs on the tanks

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update on the quartet of the IDSs:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

So I have had this albino IDS runt in a 240 gal for 3 years that grew from 3" to only 15"-16", and even the last 6" it put on only in the last 6 months. It has always been exceedingly skittish and would dart and hit everything on its way. Having had enough of that for 3 years and since it got some size, I decided to rehome it into the 4500 gal, the one with the smaller fish, of course, where the other 4 normal colored IDS reside.

As expected, the IDS threw a nuclear temper while still being caught in the 240 gal, bruised its snout bad, and continued on in the 4500 gal swimming wildly and a bit discombobulated, which IMMEDIATELY drew the attention of our 5 vulture catfish. One or two of them would follow it and test-taste it, first incessantly, then every once in a while when they could catch on to the IDS. It continued more or less all day. These rascals have before shown a taste for the black ear shark catfish in distress too, so apparently any Pangasiidae in distress evokes strong interest and appetite in vultures!

Long story short, the IDS survived the first night having gotten a few scratches and having lost a bit of the lower tail lobe but it was, under the circumstances, a resounding success and great luck.

It's been calm since then, a complete change from the 240 gal and the vultures don't bother it anymore. The IDS feeds exceptionally well, so there is actually hope that it will reach at least a couple feet.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

So I have had this albino IDS runt in a 240 gal for 3 years that grew from 3" to only 15"-16", and even the last 6" it put on only in the last 6 months. It has always been exceedingly skittish and would dart and hit everything on its way. Having had enough of that for 3 years and since it got some size, I decided to rehome it into the 4500 gal, the one with the smaller fish, of course, where the other 4 normal colored IDS reside.

As expected, the IDS threw a nuclear temper while still being caught in the 240 gal, bruised its snout bad, and continued on in the 4500 gal swimming wildly and a bit discombobulated, which IMMEDIATELY drew the attention of our 5 vulture catfish. One or two of them would follow it and test-taste it, first incessantly, then every once in a while when they could catch on to the IDS. It continued more or less all day. These rascals have before shown a taste for the black ear shark catfish in distress too, so apparently any Pangasiidae in distress evokes strong interest and appetite in vultures!

Long story short, the IDS survived the first night having gotten a few scratches and having lost a bit of the lower tail lobe but it was, under the circumstances, a resounding success and great luck.

It's been calm since then, a complete change from the 240 gal and the vultures don't bother it anymore. The IDS feeds exceptionally well, so there is actually hope that it will reach at least a couple feet.

Finally some good news!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update on the now-quintet, four normal IDS and one albino. All have been doing well (except recently someone has bitten the albino's tail fin; I haven't caught who yet).

The albino has grown very well and now is about 20"-22" eyeballing. So as a result I have become convinced that in all / most of those cases where people report a small IDS of under a foot after a long time, sometimes even 5 or 10, or even 15 years, those IDS have been feeding poorly and have been uncomfortable just like my albino had been for 3 years or so. So no great enigma there, I think for now.

Two videos of their entire tank with feeding: