Freshwater electric catfish - oops

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M

MissInked

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 28, 2012
53
0
0
Idaho
So one of the lfs (a crappy one, I'll add) was going out of business. The owners were apparently served an eviction notice, and they just up and left, leaving all the fish, small animals, reptiles, and birds to fend for themselves. Everything was free, people were grabbing animals and fish to try and save them. Grabbed some awesome driftwood pieces, some plants, a few snails and a couple little tetras I felt bad for, an upside down catfish.......and a freshwater electric catfish. Crap. I didn't know what he was when I grabbed him, he was just the only one left in his tank, so I grabbed him.
I've got everything in a 10 gallon right now, to make sure nothing comes down with ich or any other diseases before I put them in my bigger tank. He's only about 2 inches right now, so space isn't an issue at the moment. I researched a little about how big they get, so fiance is debating if he wants to set up the 120 gallon, and try and keep him in the 30G until the other tank cycles. I don't even know if he'll make it yet. Most of the heaters and filters in the tanks had quit, so everything was freezing and filthy.

Any helpful tips for keeping him happy? If I can't end up keeping him, then that's okay. But I'd like to keep him alive long enough to be able to at least find him a good home.
 
there are multiple electirc catfish species so posting a pic would be nice but also he is going to need a tank heck of alot bigger than a 10g also i'am suprised he has not eaten your tetras and upside down cat
 
m_electricus3.jpg
This is a picture I found off Google, but this is what I got. Like I said, I didn't realize exactly what kind of catfish it was when I grabbed him, I just knew it was a catfish, and felt bad because he was in a dark, dirty, freezing tank all by himself. The more I'm researching, the more I think I may just rehome this guy with someone experienced. My fiance wants to keep him and get our 120 gallon filled and started cycling, so we can transfer him into it (he'd be in there alone). But that 120G isn't going to keep him happy forever (up to 4 feet and 30 pounds! I can't believe they even SELL fish that get that big), and I don't know if I really want to get an even bigger tank just to keep him.
He hasn't eaten anyone yet, but he's only been in the tank for about an hour. He's happy hiding under a piece of driftwood right now. He's the same size as the upside down catfish, so I'm not sure if he could eat them. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do with this guy. Would be awesome to keep him, and I know the 120G would keep him happy for a while, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. Guess I'll sleep on it and figure it out tomorrow.

m_electricus3.jpg
 
Good job. Hope he survives. This genus has been recently revised to include 19 e-cats. Little is known about them and their differences atm. Some may grow to only 1 foot, others to 3 feet. The external differences in many/most are not enough to distinguish the IDs to the species level for a layman. The pic above (not your cat) shows what looks like the most commonly sold Malapterus electricus. These are known to reach 3'. Still, I have seen many mature e-cats and read reports of keepers whose e-cats never exceeded 1' or so. Thus, IMO, it's a gamble. The safe bet for the sake of the fish is that it will reach 3'. Many of the shorter ones could have been stunted from too small a tanks/poor water maintenance (insufficient WCs in the first place leading to an accumulation of the growth inhibiting hormone in the tank water).

I hope these may help you too:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=32449&hilit=+electric

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=28890&hilit=+electric

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=37248&hilit=+electric

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=37248&hilit=+electric

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33209&hilit=+electric

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=36758&hilit=+electric
 
@thebiggerthebetter, Thank you for the sites. I've had a bit of trouble finding much information about actually keeping these guys. I managed to find a good catfish forum with several people that are keeping the e-cats, so I've found some good information there as well. From what I've found, they seem to stay on the smaller side (around 18') when in captivity, probably because they're only fed once or twice a day, rather then foraging and eating all day long like they would in the wild. He's taken to frozen bloodworms pretty easily. I fed him red wigglers tonight. It took him a minute to realize they were food, but once he figured it out, he was pretty excited about it. I put some ghost shrimp in the tank with him, but so far, he hasn't realized they're food and not tankmates, because he hasn't touched them yet. Although I don't think he's used to eating live food, so he's probably not so keen on leaving the driftwood to have to chase around the tank to catch them. I'm picking up a 70 gallon tank tomorrow to get him switched into, so he isn't in the 10 gallon anymore. Hopefully that will keep him for the next few months, until my lease is up and we can get a place big enough for our 120 gallon to be set up for him.
 
He will be fine in a 75 for a fair bit of time too. These fish like you've seen have a huge growth range. But it is likely this fish will never push 18" even. It likely could be in the 75g for a year and be fine. Also if you check some of those interesting studies on feeding. Fish often have empty stomachs, implying they are eating much less in the wild than we fed them in a tank. It's the exponential amount of space they have which allows them to exceed mega sizes. Of course the option to eat a bird,rodent,big fish, and maybe even a small child never hurts in the wild though =)
 
catfish are pretty hearty so unless he manages to "get sick" he'll likely recover from his ordeal just fine. as for the keep or not to keep.. my husband supports my hobby (fishkeeping) and even has a few fish that are "his" imo if your fiance really likes the fish and your okay with the 120 set-up for the cat.. Give him a good home. and shoot 2 birds with one stone ;) Chances are slim he'll outgrow it but you'll see it coming, and cross that bridge as you get there. and as much as i'de like to say "you'll have no problem finding him a good home" It can be much harder particularly for solitary large fish then one thinks. alot of peopel will stick him in a 55 and call it a "big tank"
 
@monsterminis, I got my fiance into the hobby. He originally thought keeping fish amounted to throwing a little goldfish in a bowl. He got pretty excited when I showed him some of the eels, knife fish, and other big fish you could keep. We went out and got the 120 gallon for him, so he could get a monster fish. He didn't really know what kind of fish he wanted, he was in the process of researching when I brought this guy home. After we did some researching and realized what he was, it was kind of like killing two birds with one stone. Definitely sooner then we had planned on getting the bigger tank set up, but we're just going to have to adjust. Because agreed - finding this guy a good home would be difficult. And I've grown sort of attached to him. He's pretty cute right now at only two inches, getting all excited for dinner time.
 
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