ok here is some data i've recorded for my old channel cat, dizzy. poor fellow got parasites and died right after i had gotten my 1400 gallon pond setup and running.
size at purchase: 3" (01-31-12)
Diet: while small, 3"-8" i fed him three times a day. he was fed a staple of hikari carnivore pellets, hikari floating cichlid gold pellets and New Life Spectrum Mega Fish formula. other foods fed were cut tilapia, cut shrimp, live crawfish, earthworms, bloodworms, brine shrimp, ghost shrimp and beef heart. i tried to include this in a weekly feeding routine. when he hit 9" i cut feeding to once a day but increased serving size. when he got to 12" i fed once every 2-3 days but increase amount of tilapia served. this continued to when he died. here are pics of progressional growth.
tank temp was kept at 83-84 degrees to get him to grow faster and then down to 74-76 when he was in my 75.
He was grown out in 26 gallon bow front till he was 5" long and then moved to a 75 gallon tank.
he also was accompanied by several tank mates. there was rarely any aggression but he was bothersome to the other fish when he swam around do to his clumsy and large(for my tank) size.
died: when he died he measured around 14.3" (08-10-12). thats roughly 7 months which is around 2" per month of growth.
Dizzy, i hope your in a better place. sadly this is all i can contribute to this thread. I'm no big cat keeper because my biggest heating tank is 75 gallons. and the only catfish i have are two rapheal catfish, 1 four line pim and five synodontis petricolas. they're great cats but not exactly monster. maybe one day.
no offense. Your cats rock btw!
