Phalacronotus apogon?

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
15,689
14,057
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
An almost never kept or perhaps more correctly never reported-on catfish here.

They are pretty toothy is all I know.

Never had them. Some members I recall keep them in large outdoor ponds in the Philippines and other SE Asian countries. For some reason these members almost never post about their Phalacronotus, let it be apogon or bleekeri.

I may also be mis-remembering posts about other similar Siluridae, such as Belodontichthys or Kryptopterus. https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/family.php?family_id=7
 

GiantFishKeeper101

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2017
585
983
390
From my care, they aren't toothy, yet. Schooling fish though. Having trouble feeding them, don't know what they eat. Once I saw they ate something, a bulge on their belly. That time I drop live feeder & cut fish in the tank, IDK which one they take. Since then I haven't saw if they ate anything, probably. I can't maxed out their growth if they won't eat. I can't record any precision growth rate in this condition. Asks my supplier, he said they eat shrimp. IDK whether they meant shrimp or prawns, gotta try tomorrow. Was hoping if there's an active members who had these guys before, would be a great help.
 

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
15,689
14,057
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
It's not that much but most usually Siluridae appear to be rather easy to start feeding on prepared feed - IME - Silurus, Wallago and Wallagonia, and Ompok.

What do their profiles say they prefer in the wild?
 

GiantFishKeeper101

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2017
585
983
390
Siluridae you mentioned are easy to feed from my experience but the ones like Phalacronotus, Belodondichthys & certain sheatfish, are still a mystery. Planet catfish doesn't said much except for the obvious food a person would give in an aquarium. But the fishing method for these fish used artificial fishing lure, certainly that indicates that these sheatfish eat other fishes in the wild & possibly a predator.
 

Deadliestviper7

The Necromancer
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2016
7,421
4,175
178
30
A predatory catfish, feed live at first then switch to dead,start by hand or tong feeding
 

GiantFishKeeper101

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2017
585
983
390
Yup, they ate again, either live feeder or ghost shrimp. Success. They only eat when I turn the blue light on, they feed when it's dark.

I would say 3.5'-4'. There's really big one being fished but no idea whether it's apogon or bleekeri. Fishbase said bleekeri only endemic to mekong river while apogon in southeast peninsular. These guys I ordered in Thailand, probably more towards bleekeri than apogon. Also some source say that apogon are shinier than bleekeri.

A predatory catfish, feed live at first then switch to dead,start by hand or tong feeding
I've seen the video, someone fed these guys with tongs. But the video are poor quality so I have no idea what they fed em. Mine are still 9-10", if I ever fed em using my hand, they would run away. Quite shy of a fish.
 

Deadliestviper7

The Necromancer
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2016
7,421
4,175
178
30
Yup, they ate again, either live feeder or ghost shrimp. Success. They only eat when I turn the blue light on, they feed when it's dark.

I would say 3.5'-4'. There's really big one being fished but no idea whether it's apogon or bleekeri. Fishbase said bleekeri only endemic to mekong river while apogon in southeast peninsular. These guys I ordered in Thailand, probably more towards bleekeri than apogon. Also some source say that apogon are shinier than bleekeri.



I've seen the video, someone fed these guys with tongs. But the video are poor quality so I have no idea what they fed em. Mine are still 9-10", if I ever fed em using my hand, they would run away. Quite shy of a fish.
Didn't realize there was a video
 

GiantFishKeeper101

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2017
585
983
390
Update on Phalacronotus sp


Had an expert input on the species, apparently P. apogon are silver color, P. bleekeri are in blue. Supposedly what I have are bleekeri, largest in the genus.

Video's during the day, the pics are at night (portion of it at least)

image.jpeg

Example of P. apogon from the 'expert's' shop.

image.png

They starting to eat frozen food & rasboras, I can finally stop their diet of live goldfish. Not aggressive & active fish, imagine 2-2.5' fish in a tank, that would be impressive.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store