awesome! please keep us updated. very cute red tail and O. niger! your very fortunate to house such cool fish. also i'd love to see some current pics of your big marmoratus if you have any. one question though is that bio media in the bottom of the tank?
My first big amazon catfish: leiarius Marmoratus
- Thread starter ColeFishing
- Start date
awesome! please keep us updated. very cute red tail and O. niger! your very fortunate to house such cool fish. also i'd love to see some current pics of your big marmoratus if you have any. one question though is that bio media in the bottom of the tank?
I became marmoratus-less upon my move to FL, so this guy is a first here. Yeah, these are the porous ceramic rings, etc. It's a temporary tank and solution, and I am using a bunch of bubblers and an empty filter to move the water. A cheap way out. Hopefully they will get their new big, right homes when we open for business.
Correct. That was in our former house in Rochester, NY, which we left 2 years ago. Right now, I have several semi-outdoor ponds and indoor tanks set up temporarily and holding fish until I finish building their exhibits.
this guy is over a foot now. also I think my ck might have nipped off a but of his whisker(?)
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another pic. he is pushing 14" but not putting on the weight yet. he went on like a month eating strike but he is eating again. he eat two and half bluegill yesterday.
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gonna type a full update later as i've made some interesting observations about their scavenger vs predatory feeding habits. however, in the meantime here are a few pics. he is coming up on 14" and starting to put on more weight. he also has an odd lounging spot.
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gonna do my full update because i've been bed bound by sickness. So to start off I want to talk about their diet.
Predator VS Scavenger:[note: this is just my experience so still stay true to never trusting a catfish] So the notion that achara's are more of a scavenger catfish than a predator catfish has been proven true in my experience. back when i had my ropefish he was 14" long. the same length as the achara. The achara never once threatened or tried to eat the rope. One day we had a storm and the heater blew frying and killing my beloved ropefish. The achara was interested in the body of the rope. After I measured the rope I threw it back into the tank and watched the achara destroy and eat the entire ropefish without problem. He clearly could have been capable of eating him for awhile but didn't helping to push their scavenger feeding habits. He is also housed with a 4" jaguar cichlid with no problems yet but I keep him fell fed.
Growth: He has not shown any visible change in growth in the last two months. He is around the 14" mark and is just starting to put on the weight and girth instead of length. He still eats like a catfish being fed lots of krill, pellets, and other fish pieces. He gets pellets twice a day and some form of meaty food every other day.
Shy: This achara, even given it's size, is more shy than my pair of 3" rapheal catfish. At least the rapheal's will eat when i put food in the tank. The achara never moves. If i catch him out from underneath his log he will dart back. If I put food in the tank I have to walk away to get him to come out and eat it. This is really bumming me out because i've always read that these fish have great personality and this guy doesn't d anything ever. My theory is that he is still to young and insecure. If this doesn't stop I will honestly consider just giving him to someone with a bigger tank because this is ridiculously frustrating. Even my 10" clown knife recognizes me as a friend, he always greets me at the lid, follows me around, and is not bothered by me at all and frm what i've read ck's are supposed to be super demure. Any idea's to improve this or theory's would be much appreciated from you guys.
Hiding: I notice he loves to use his driftwood like a hammock and he just lays there and sleeps like the all day. probs the most comfy catfish ever.
Additions to the tank: I know these guys come from rivers so i put in a 48" bubble pipe and my FX5 output right along the water so I have very high dissolved oxygen content and moving water. I'm not sure if he likes it but I would assume he does because that is what their natural habitat is like.
Overview: I can't think of any more big topics to write about so just ask about anything else and i'll write it up. He is a great fish, one that i've looked at for a long time, and quite pretty but he needs to be more outgoing. I should also state that there was a period for about a week where he didn't eat anything at all but then starting eating again. I'm not sure what that means so maybe some of you catfish experts can chime in on that too.
Pictures: This is probably what most people want to see because reading all that would annoy the heck out of me.
Predator VS Scavenger:[note: this is just my experience so still stay true to never trusting a catfish] So the notion that achara's are more of a scavenger catfish than a predator catfish has been proven true in my experience. back when i had my ropefish he was 14" long. the same length as the achara. The achara never once threatened or tried to eat the rope. One day we had a storm and the heater blew frying and killing my beloved ropefish. The achara was interested in the body of the rope. After I measured the rope I threw it back into the tank and watched the achara destroy and eat the entire ropefish without problem. He clearly could have been capable of eating him for awhile but didn't helping to push their scavenger feeding habits. He is also housed with a 4" jaguar cichlid with no problems yet but I keep him fell fed.
Growth: He has not shown any visible change in growth in the last two months. He is around the 14" mark and is just starting to put on the weight and girth instead of length. He still eats like a catfish being fed lots of krill, pellets, and other fish pieces. He gets pellets twice a day and some form of meaty food every other day.
Shy: This achara, even given it's size, is more shy than my pair of 3" rapheal catfish. At least the rapheal's will eat when i put food in the tank. The achara never moves. If i catch him out from underneath his log he will dart back. If I put food in the tank I have to walk away to get him to come out and eat it. This is really bumming me out because i've always read that these fish have great personality and this guy doesn't d anything ever. My theory is that he is still to young and insecure. If this doesn't stop I will honestly consider just giving him to someone with a bigger tank because this is ridiculously frustrating. Even my 10" clown knife recognizes me as a friend, he always greets me at the lid, follows me around, and is not bothered by me at all and frm what i've read ck's are supposed to be super demure. Any idea's to improve this or theory's would be much appreciated from you guys.
Hiding: I notice he loves to use his driftwood like a hammock and he just lays there and sleeps like the all day. probs the most comfy catfish ever.
Additions to the tank: I know these guys come from rivers so i put in a 48" bubble pipe and my FX5 output right along the water so I have very high dissolved oxygen content and moving water. I'm not sure if he likes it but I would assume he does because that is what their natural habitat is like.
Overview: I can't think of any more big topics to write about so just ask about anything else and i'll write it up. He is a great fish, one that i've looked at for a long time, and quite pretty but he needs to be more outgoing. I should also state that there was a period for about a week where he didn't eat anything at all but then starting eating again. I'm not sure what that means so maybe some of you catfish experts can chime in on that too.
Pictures: This is probably what most people want to see because reading all that would annoy the heck out of me.
gonna just use my phone to upload pics because it's a lot easier to get more recent shots.
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