Help Id some bagrid

GiantFishKeeper101

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Came in as Burmese Shovelnose Catfish. Is it really Sperata? About 4$. Or is it some mystus or hemibagrus.

image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

kno4te

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Don’t keep these type of cats. They get big and are aggressive. Growth rates were questioned in the past as believed to be slow. Surprising for a fish to reach over 4ft.

Maybe viktor knows a bit more. thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter
 

thebiggerthebetter

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Ron's got it. AFAIK, no other Bagridae but Sperata has a spot like that on their adipose fin.

IDK how to tell aor from acicularis at this age. It may be possible. It appears Fishman Dave Fishman Dave may offer some insight as he recently was talking about it in some other thread.

AFAIK, seenghala is not in the trade ever. So this is between aor and acicularis.

I have three, allegedly aor, from Raymond Chan of Amazing Fish, LA, Calif., USA. I've not dug into their species ID yet to become sure. Had them for 1.5-2 years. They have grown from 3"-4" to 1.5'-2' currently. IDK why but they entirely have been preferring pellets to thawed fish.

Aggressive to each other in earnest and to other catfish. Alpha "aor" chases 3' piraiba away from its territory in the middle of 4500 gal.
 

GiantFishKeeper101

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Oh come on! Just ordered the last 3, shop owner give me the offer if I take it all. Usually bad news comes after the purchase lol...

I've read that their aggression comes after reaching 12" or so. So probably by then I could sell the other 2. Loves this fish, the high dorsal & bulky body.
 

thebiggerthebetter

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I too find them beautifully built with lovely, balanced, and graceful yet powerful proportions.

More or less my experience confirms the cited aggression onset but they were enforcing a pecking order in 240 gal ever since I got them and it was getting progressively worse over time, especially notable after 6"-7" and quite notable at 1.5' and over.

IIRC they went from 240 gal to 4500 gal at around 10"-12" size.
 

thebiggerthebetter

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We have two 4500 gal tanks. You are thinking of the other housing RTC, Jau, pima, baramundi, TSN, etc. They went into the "less aggressive" 4500 gal, where main predators are not as mouthy - silver arowana, pbass, piraiba, VATF, dorado, bowfin, etc.
 
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