On owning an Electric catfish

[me_wee_todded]

Alright lets get some info clear.
The largest recorded size was 39 inches and weighed 27 kilos.
In aquaria, the rarley get over 24 inches 13-18 is more common.
In terms of volts, larger specimens are capable of a shock of around 350-400 volts.Thats not usually considered enough to kill someone, but it is enough to make you rethink hand feeding.

I think you should abstain from getting the fish unless you have an atleast 46 gallon aquarium that will be devoted to this fish. It should be noted that they are very personable fish and do learn to recognize their owners.

 

[Wolf3101]

The voltage has very little to do with how dangerious the shock is...but rather the amperage...

 

[necrocanis]

I already explained the size, people just tent to ignore me Just kidding. Never heard a report of one over 50 lbs. like I said, and definitely no reports of anyone dying. I'd say a 40 gal would be pushing it, unless you have massive filtration. They don't need a huge tank as they are probably the laziest cats in the world. I'd say more like at least a 90-125 gal though for my purposes. Good luck

 

[amazonfishman]

<<--- is that someone who kept E cats with synodontis catfish long term with zero problems. My E cat was and is still my favorite fish that I've kept. I think the post by Mistix about them getting six feet in the public aquarium was a confusion between E cats and E Eels...big difference.

An E cat shock I sincerely doubt could ever kill you, even at adult size. At small sizes you would feel the shock but it wouldn't really hurt (think gag gift buzzers and such) I've read from several sources that 18"+ has the ability to knock a adult man to the ground and possibly unconscious. E Cats can control the amount of shock they want to discharge so if you ever got hit by the shock and thought that wasn't so bad...it might have just juiced you enough to get the hint and not hit you with the full voltage. E Cats discharge mildly hurts the fish temporarily weakening it so usually E cats don't shock unless they need to. Mine got used to me working in the tank moving driftwood and rocks around and although very curious wouldn't shock me. It would come swim about 1" away from my hand and not come any closer most of the time. I have also had my E cat rub against my hand without shocking me, this is I believe because it didn't feel threatened by me in any way and after a while came to recognize me as the person who feeds me. I hand fed my E cat nightcrawlers on many occasions.

Bogwoodbruce: If they had the max size as 10" on one it was probably the dwarf variety or a gross misrepresentation of size. I've never heard or/seen dwarfs available stateside and only seen one quality specimen online amiidae on arofanatics had a nice adult one.

In answer to an earlier question Malapterurus electricus is the scientific name for the normal E cat and I don't remember the scientific name for the dwarf at the moment.

Mine was kept with syno multipunctatus and syno flavitaeniatus 3 and 2 of each respectively. I'd say Necro's tank size is about right 90+ gallons to be comfortable. I've never seen pics of a E cat in captivity over 14". There is plenty of E cat information on here I've got several E cat threads as well as a couple others who have had sizeable experience with E cats in the past. Hope that helps ~Trent

BTW:Gomez why are you selling yours? I've been looking at it for a week or so and keep contemplating purchasing it...does it have its left pectoral fin? sizing?

 

[amazonfishman]

Oh yeah forgot to post these in the last post. A few pictures of my E cat and his synodontis buddies. The 3rd to last pic is a picture of the Dwarf E Cat that I was talking about from the other site ~Trent

 

[pirarucu319]

Alright lets get some info clear.
The largest recorded size was 39 inches and weighed 27 kilos.
In aquaria, the rarley get over 24 inches 13-18 is more common.
In terms of volts, larger specimens are capable of a shock of around 350-400 volts.Thats not usually considered enough to kill someone, but it is enough to make you rethink hand feeding.

I think you should abstain from getting the fish unless you have an atleast 46 gallon aquarium that will be devoted to this fish. It should be noted that they are very personable fish and do learn to recognize their owners.

350-400 volts are not small amount lol.it can supply voltage to up to 30 car to start up.this monster are "living battery"..

 

[pirarucu319]

oowwhh..did these E catfish kill tankmates??anyone?

 

[Sturgeon]

Wouldn't a ti grounding probe negate the problem, since the probe is at a lower potential than you are? I know water plays havoc with the way the skin effect works, but I'd think even your internal resistance is higher than a ground probe?

a Person is made up mostly of water, but we have a higher resistance than the water in our fish tank. electricity ALWAYS seeks the easiest, most efficient way to the ground, and therefor would most likely not travel through a person but rather a ground probe(least resistance when in contact with water) With no ground probe, you have just become the ground for your fishtank, and electricity will flow through you. take my word, i broke a heater while doin a WC and i became the ground. it didnt feel good

350-400 volts are not small amount lol.it can supply voltage to up to 30 car to start up.this monster are "living battery"..

while 350 and 400 volts are alot to come out of your pet!!!, It could not start a car for the reason of- car batteries can be discharged at up to 1,000 amps, at 12 volts over a period of a few seconds. I doubt the E-cat can match this. 12 V@ 1,000 amps is enough to easily kill a person.

 

[amazonfishman]

I lost a longear sunfish to mine in hopes that it would coexist. The sunfish like the same spot as the E cat did to hide in the tank...Ecat 1, Sunfish 0.

 

[pirarucu319]

I lost a longear sunfish to mine in hopes that it would coexist. The sunfish like the same spot as the E cat did to hide in the tank...Ecat 1, Sunfish 0.

soo the E cat really electrify tankmates!..huu..