How to keep best ?

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Alchemist

Alchemist

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 2, 2014
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If it's possible to keep this kind of fish (columbian catfish) appropriate in a tank how to keep best ?
Is the biggest problem the water , since i've heard they need brackish water when they are adults ?


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So you made it here, bro :)

These are Ariidae = sea catfishes. These are born up rivers, in f/w, not too far from s/w. At size 3", they already benefit from brackish water in captivity because they enter estuaries at that age in the wild. The larger the size, the farther into the s/w they go, the more marine the water should be. Adults (12"+) never leave s/w except for spawning and then return immediately to s/w.

There many reports of people keeping them in f/w until 5" and more... with seemingly ok results. There are few reports (I've met 3-4) of 12"-16" being brought up and kept in f/w tanks. None of them ended well. Fish got sick and perished. Looks like some of them, actually looks like 1 in a million is able to handle f/w for a while. But who would call it keeping? I'd call it animal cruelty, ignorant or not. And it all ends invariably in fish's demise.

Furthermore, they are big, bulky fish that NEVER stop swimming and like to school a lot. So at a minimum, one needs to keep 6+ specimen which, at say 16", would require something like a 10'x5' footprint or a 10'-12' round pool.
 
Thanks for the info , you really can't find information like this a lot. I think that in the local stores people don't change the water into salt water , they just keep them with other fish in fresh water until they die. Maybe they don't even know what's the cause for death....
 
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