My first big amazon catfish: leiarius Marmoratus

[ColeFishing]

Good thinking, Koltsix, on the barbell span. Congrats BTW on the promotion

Hey Cole, I thought we had had several conversation on the barbell span and its effects and came to an agreement. Are his barbells still not able to touch both the front and the back glass at the same time or have you merely forgotten about it? Because that explains perfectly what you are describing.

i remember those conversations very well, I learned a lot from those. His barbels are shorter than his body and do not spend most of the time in contact with the glass so he still has some time on that(although it is getting quite close). What I will add to that is the observation that most of the achara's I see are not in 'ideal' tanks suitable for width and honestly the ones i've scene in person never seem to act different or skittish. usually the ones that do act unusually skittish are ones kept in tanks that are as wide and the fish is long or are just un-properly cared for(i.e. dirty water, poor diet/tank mates, etc). I am aware of the fact that my actions in caring for this fish are entirely hypocritical on the tank size portion but i think it can work if I can get some structure within the aquarium to make the catfish feel secure. I am prepared to re-home the fish if it comes down to it but i will not be able to upgrade tanks for another year and a half. I think that they can be housed comfortably but we will have to wait and see. Right now I will try and do my best to make him feel comfortable.

On the PVC housing concept, the biggest problem i face is the other fish trying to bunk it with the cat at the same time. I have a 10" Clown knife and a few smaller cichlids that would enjoy a PVC pipe too and I don't want to fill my tank with a suburbia of PVC housing. I think the PVC is a good place to start so hopefully this week I can get some. I'll keep you all updated with any progress.

 

[ColeFishing]

Can you flip or stack the logs in a different way so he can fit under them? Black pvc will work but the downside is you won't get to see him very often if he decides to use it. I would also try feeding with the lights off. My achara will only eat pellets that fall in front of his mouth when the lights are on, but as soon as the lights go out he zooms all over the tank swiping everything the other fish miss

I can move the logs but the achara will always repositions them.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

... His barbels are shorter than his body and do not spend most of the time in contact with the glass so he still has some time on that(although it is getting quite close) ....

So the full barbell span is shorter than the tank's width, right? It does not have to be most of the time. Every now and then, once in a while is enough to tell the fish it is trapped = stress.

... usually the ones that do act unusually skittish are ones kept in tanks that are as wide and the fish is long ....

Yeah. IMHO, that's a "hell" of a tank for an achara and I mean it literally. Just MO.

 

[ColeFishing]

So the full barbell span is shorter than the tank's width, right? It does not have to be most of the time. Every now and then, once in a while is enough to tell the fish it is trapped = stress.



Yeah. IMHO, that's a "hell" of a tank for an achara and I mean it literally. Just MO.

yes the full barbel span is slightly shorter than than the width of the tank. But I would say that is a hell tank for any catfish. One of my coworkers had an achara in a 125 gallon tank(6'x1.5'x2'). According to him, He kept it in there for 6 years and the fish was 20". I never got to see it in person but he always said it never showed signs of stress but i'm skeptical. I've scene a few good sized achara's(18"-22") in person that are kept in tanks similar to mine without being stressed out. But I think it could go either way, like as if the fish just learns to except it or doesn't. I'm just going to have to see how it plays off but even If i do decide to rehome the fish I can't imagine there would be anyone near me with a 5'+ width tank.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Not saying that you have to do something. It's your call. But you are in Ohio where appears to be an abnormally (!) high population of seasoned and equipped MFK'ers, like BigRich, Wednesday13, and Co. Also, even a simple 10' intex pool will do.

 

[ColeFishing]

Not saying that you have to do something. It's your call. But you are in Ohio where appears to be an abnormally (!) high population of seasoned and equipped MFK'ers, like BigRich, Wednesday13, and Co. Also, even a simple 10' intex pool will do.

if it was my choice i'd have a massive index pool. it's not critical yet so i'll see if there is something i can do to help make the catfish happier. i went and bought a new advanced LED lighting system which features modes like cloudy which simulates clouds passing overhead by dimming and changing the dimness. he is already more active when i have this light setting on and this is when he sort of looks around for food. i'm not actually sure what he's doing but he is diffidently more active. anyways i think part of it was do to the lighting.


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[thebiggerthebetter]

Excellent!

... Also, even a simple 10' intex pool will do.

I didn't mean only for you but commenting on your hypothetical having to find someone with a 5' wide tank, is all.

 

[ColeFishing]

Excellent!



I didn't mean only for you but commenting on your hypothetical having to find someone with a 5' wide tank, is all.

i'm going to try and rehome him asap but it will be a real challenge finding someone with an ideal tank that is willing to take him. not many people have 5' wide enclosures and the ones that do usually only want fish that get really big(i.e. rtc, tsn, arowana etc). but in the mean time he is much happier. here is a pic of him feeding out in the open swimming around for food. he hasn't done this in a while. i also put in a PVC pipe for him but he still insist on using the drift wood. i guess it's just a natural instinct for him to hide against something he blends into.


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[thebiggerthebetter]

What about that lighting that makes it better for him? Is it a blue light, which is hardly visible for him so he thinks it's night time? Or is it just that cloudy regime, which would be quite unusual to me but interesting.

Again, I didn't mean by anything I said above that you should even think about re-homing, Cole. It's your call. But if you are heading down south to FL for a Christmas break, spring break or what not, swing by with or without your fish He'd swim in a 50,000 gal until his exhibit is up...

Just joking. I am more than sure you can easily find him a nice new home in Ohio, if you choose to do so.

 

[ColeFishing]

What about that lighting that makes it better for him? Is it a blue light, which is hardly visible for him so he thinks it's night time? Or is it just that cloudy regime, which would be quite unusual to me but interesting.

Again, I didn't mean by anything I said above that you should even think about re-homing, Cole. It's your call. But if you are heading down south to FL for a Christmas break, spring break or what not, swing by with or without your fish He'd swim in a 50,000 gal until his exhibit is up...

Just joking. I am more than sure you can easily find him a nice new home in Ohio, if you choose to do so.

the light claims to simulate cloudy weather. it isn't the blue LED thing but more of a dimmer that changes the brightness as if there were clouds between the water and the light. it even slightly varies the dimness over time to simulate clouds passing by. the difference has been night and day so far. the second i turn cloud mode on my achara comes out and looks for food. once he realizes there is none he goes back but the light diffidently sparks something. it could make since because ever since i was real young my grandfather always told me catfish bite best at night and when the clouds are out so maybe it could have a correlation.


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