Giraffe catfish at Fish Story

thebiggerthebetter

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The smaller Volta (bought second) can be seen here more or less well. It is about 8"-10" I'd guess (versus the bigger, first bought, in the 4500 gal that's closer to 18"). It seems to be doing well but it's been a long time since I saw it feed, not because it doesn't but because of the cat-&-eel pile that forms at feeding. Still I somehow think it has not been feeding as well as in the beginning years, never see its tummy bulge.

 
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RemainVayne

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An obligatory yearly update. A clip from a few videos showing the 6 gcats residing in the 4500 gal. Nothing much to say comes to mind now... except the Congos / wittei pair keep growing significantly whilst the rest either doesn't or not significantly.

Happy (one of the wittei) is around 2' now.

What size is your bouche at now?
 

thebiggerthebetter

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What size is your bouche at now?
They grow so slow that it seems it's been years and they are the same size around 1.5', both. Yellowcat Yellowcat 's bouche reached 18" in his hands, 24" with the next owner, then 28" with the third owner, if memory serves. So far our experiences don't match, which is not surprising in our hobby because we know the aksiom "Every tank differs". Plus, ours are roughly 4, at most 5 years old. Again, if I recall correctly, the sizes of the Kirk's specimen I quoted were reached at older ages.
 

RemainVayne

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They grow so slow that it seems it's been years and they are the same size around 1.5', both. Yellowcat Yellowcat 's bouche reached 18" in his hands, 24" with the next owner, then 28" with the third owner, if memory serves. So far our experiences don't match, which is not surprising in our hobby because we know the aksiom "Every tank differs". Plus, ours are roughly 4, at most 5 years old. Again, if I recall correctly, the sizes of the Kirk's specimen I quoted were reached at older ages.
So interesting. My bouche has grown at least half an inch, maybe a full inch, since I received him a month ago. Though he's maybe at the 5" mark now, so growth could be attributed to younger in age.

The 2 congos I received at the same time have also grown an inch to about 3.5" during the same time period. I desperately want to put them in my big tank so they receive optimum water qualities, but am afraid of a bichir bothering them. The bouche is definitely big enough to do well, but I want to move all 3 in at the same time.
 
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thebiggerthebetter

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Happy with his kin. Two wittei named Congo and Happy, about 2', and two bouche, which seem to haven't grown at all in the last 2 years, still at 1.5'.

 
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Yellowcat

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Hey Viktor, enjoy your video's as always! Re: Giraffe cats, I noticed that Wet Spot seems to have auchenoglanis biscutatus on hand on their stock list. As you might guess I would snatch a few up if I had the tank to grow 'em out in but sadly, don't. It would be so cool if you could get one or two and be the only one on here to claim to own 4 giraffe cat species and detail their growth rate and final adult sizes, perhaps a. biscutatus might possibly be a species that remains smaller, hopefully, eh?
 

thebiggerthebetter

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Hey Viktor, enjoy your video's as always! Re: Giraffe cats, I noticed that Wet Spot seems to have auchenoglanis biscutatus on hand on their stock list. As you might guess I would snatch a few up if I had the tank to grow 'em out in but sadly, don't. It would be so cool if you could get one or two and be the only one on here to claim to own 4 giraffe cat species and detail their growth rate and final adult sizes, perhaps a. biscutatus might possibly be a species that remains smaller, hopefully, eh?
Thank you, Kirk. Always glad to hear from yah. You've been tunnelling lately... or usually?

Ha. You are pretty sly and laying it on thick, gently caressing and massaging my pride bone, the cause of my eventual downfall... :)

The WetSpot has no photo online for this fish. I will write to them and request some pics. I wonder if the ID is correct or if it can be made sure of to be correct at a small size, albeit they state extra large size of 3"-5".

The wife (the breadwinner) has put a cork into the fish buying celebration of life until we open for business, unless it is a monetary present that I can spend. So I will have to wait for that one. $45 and their shipping is around $40 too, if memory serves. Not cheap overall.
 
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thebiggerthebetter

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Both Voltas got to go into the new 1800 gal. Will film them side by side later. It's cute that they try to stay together, rather the small one from 240 gal tries to stay by the big one from 4500 gal. In the 5 years with us they have never crossed paths. It is also clear to me that they are the same species, despite one having reached 18"-20" and the other having been stuck at 12" for years under the same diet and care.

The small one going into the 1800 gal, 30:45 minutes:


 

thebiggerthebetter

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The bigger supposed "Volta", ~1.5', lived 5 years in a 4500 gal and now is in the new 1800 gal (for the fear of aggressive tank mates in the 4500 gal). We haven't seen its photos at all yet when it grew up. Bad photos but I think Kirk the Yellowcat will still enjoy them :)


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