i want ot get either a red-tail catfish or a shovelnose catfish. i was wondering which one grows the slowest, because my lfs says they will buy it back from me whenever it outgrows my 90 gallon tank. which catfish would be best, and how long could i keep it? i really like the shovelnose
Monster Catfish
- Thread starter ofish14
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Welcome to MFK!!!
Neither is a species to be recommended for a 90. A TSN will definitely grow more slowly. Why not look for a lima or spotted? Google; Sorubim lima and Hemisorubim platyrhynchus.
BTW, when the time comes to trade in a large cat, don't be surprised if the offer is retracted or forgotten. Happens all the time.
Neither is a species to be recommended for a 90. A TSN will definitely grow more slowly. Why not look for a lima or spotted? Google; Sorubim lima and Hemisorubim platyrhynchus.
BTW, when the time comes to trade in a large cat, don't be surprised if the offer is retracted or forgotten. Happens all the time.
I've found at my lfs, "buy back" means well take it back for nothing when you want to get rid of it
Agreed. Even two balas that were too SMALL for my tank they wouldn't "buy" back.brummer72;1901261; said:
brummer72;1901261; said:
Then you go back in there a few days later and they are asking a ridiculous price. Mine do it all the time. Here is some stuff on the Lima Shovelnose. You can also, like Oddball said, Google Sorubim lima
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=98
I have one. They are pretty neat and easy to get a hold of.
lima, I brought back a 8-9" dovii they gave me $5 credit which is really like a $1.50 to them. I go back a few days later and they were asking $90 for it.
I've never understood why someone would want to keep and raise a fish with the intention of taking it back to the store 
I have heard of people who take fish back only to hear that they are too big and won't be accepted, even for free. Bigger fish take up more space, eat more food, and are harder to sell. They might agree now that they would accept it, but if they are later tight on tank space I guarantee that they won't. What would you do with it then???
I just went to one LFS tonight and there are several tanks there that you KNOW are fish that people have returned. There's an entire tank of huge plecos piled on top of one another. The employees there encourage people to buy plecos (because everyone needs one, honey), and they accept them as returns (for free, or will trade for a tiny common pleco) when they get too big.
Even if you're not the type to get "attached" to a fish, you would be putting in a lot of care just to grow out a fish for someone else.
I have heard of people who take fish back only to hear that they are too big and won't be accepted, even for free. Bigger fish take up more space, eat more food, and are harder to sell. They might agree now that they would accept it, but if they are later tight on tank space I guarantee that they won't. What would you do with it then???
I just went to one LFS tonight and there are several tanks there that you KNOW are fish that people have returned. There's an entire tank of huge plecos piled on top of one another. The employees there encourage people to buy plecos (because everyone needs one, honey), and they accept them as returns (for free, or will trade for a tiny common pleco) when they get too big.
Even if you're not the type to get "attached" to a fish, you would be putting in a lot of care just to grow out a fish for someone else.
My fastest tsn grew to 22" in it's first year, and my rtc grew to 24" in it's first year. Hope this helps.
ofish14;1900987; said:
I'm wondering if your LFS is just saying that so you would buy them? I mean, they already made money selling it to you and then you would actually have to raise it until it's too big for your tank. Also, like others have said, they will give you close to nothing for it and sell it for a profit. The odds are against you that you will actually raise it to a too large for your tank size and also get a reasonable amount of money when they "buy it back." I think the best thing is to just get fish that you can raise in whatever size tank you have. The Doctor.