Sperata sp. grow out thread.

[Chub_by]

Necro when we gonna see a Piraiba grow out thread? I know were you can get them and they are awesome too

Haha give the guy some time!
Piraiba are quite expensive so he'll probably be focusing on getting his large tank built before he gets on of those. I know he had one a few years ago.
Oh and Necro, I hope you're aware of the fact that a pleco has a similar bioload to a different fish that's double the size

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[thebiggerthebetter]

Nice to see such a progress. Man! It sounds like he is an eating and hunting machine. No wonder he has put on an inch or so. Mine could never eat his tankmates, having been one of the smallest in the tank. Even if we are talking about the same species, I am glad yours is growing so much better. It may be one of those cases where it is good to be "wrong"...

...I know were you can get them...

Me too. SA. Joking

 

[necrocanis]

Necro when we gonna see a Piraiba grow out thread? I know were you can get them and they are awesome too

lol, well I have found them from several people and they had me hold off because they were supposed to get more and then got burned on it. So now I have someone I can trust looking for me. hopefully they will get some.

Haha give the guy some time!
Piraiba are quite expensive so he'll probably be focusing on getting his large tank built before he gets on of those. I know he had one a few years ago.
Oh and Necro, I hope you're aware of the fact that a pleco has a similar bioload to a different fish that's double the size

Sent from my Toaster

I would get a piraiba right now if I could find someone who is good on their word lol. They grow so incredibly slow from my expirience that I am not too worried about accomodations at this point but would definitely start it out in it's own 40 gal breeder til about 12" then it would go in the pond. From my expirience this would probably take a while anyway. I do have other fish in mind right now though! hehe

Nice to see such a progress. Man! It sounds like he is an eating and hunting machine. No wonder he has put on an inch or so. Mine could never eat his tankmates, having been one of the smallest in the tank. Even if we are talking about the same species, I am glad yours is growing so much better. It may be one of those cases where it is good to be "wrong"...


Me too. SA. Joking

This fish is growing incredibly fast!!! Seems to actually be incressing on it's growth rate. Wait til you see the pics!!! I need to get it into the 100 fast and see how well it gets along with the wels. If not I will see if the wels can go into the pond along with the vulture. lol.

 

[necrocanis]

Ok so just over a month to go from this first pic to this one I just took lol. That growth doesn't seem slow at all!!!! Gonna have to get him moved by next weekend probably. This fish is not too skittish at all. Like I've said before it seems to be on the upper end of intelligence for catfish and eats absolutely anything and everything I put in lol. So far will eat, floating pellets, sinking pellets, whole shrimp, salad shrimp, blood worms, convicts lol, plecos, and silversides. It is like a vacuum. Tremendous growth rate. I'd hate to say it but seems comparible to RTC growth. Just ridiculous. Seems to be in the 9"ish range right now from the new pic.

 

[necrocanis]

So seems like a little over about 3" or so this first month. Maybe not exactly rtc growth but pretty darn close!!! lol, to go from 6" to over 9" and the growth seems to be accelerating rather than slowing down for now. A note is that I have been cleaning this tank 2x weekly at about 30% water changes, and feeding this fish at least 2x daily. My surviving banjo seems fine but looks a little beat up if I don't feed the sperata 2x or more daily. His belly goes flat in about 4-8 hours depending on what I feed.

 

[necrocanis]

One of him swimming. Was a little far away so not the greatest pic, but if I am up close with the cam he won't leave the croc skull lol.

 

[houie925]

that's an amazing metabolism.


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[thebiggerthebetter]

Great job and reporting as usual, Cliff!

... I would get a piraiba right now if I could find someone who is good on their word lol. They grow so incredibly slow from my expirience that I am not too worried about accomodations at this point but would definitely start it out in it's own 40 gal breeder til about 12" then it would go in the pond. From my expirience this would probably take a while anyway...

So, I take it you don't trust Wes Wong and j666 and others who say true piraiba grows even faster than RTC, reaching 2' in 6 months and it is the capapretum that grows slowly - http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?520869-Piraiba-pictures. On what grounds - would it not say that your fish was a capapretum? Or is this just an inertia of thinking ?

 

[necrocanis]

There may be evidence of that growth in the wild but I have yet to see it documented in aquariums. I would think to get that kind of in aquarium you would need to mimmick the first year of life they have in the wild as well. Seeing as how their birth migration gets interrupted by being caught and then imported I would think this would be extremely difficult to do. I wouldn't try to ID the species until it is at least subadult and then you would need to examine the tooth patches, as well as the external morphological characteristics.

I really hope I don't end up with another fight to the death when I add this one to the 100. lol. I've heard these to be really aggressive, but I haven't seen it yet as it still lives with a 2.5" banjo catfish that it rarely bothers unless I don't feed him often enough. The growth I have expirienced seems rather excessive compared to others though. I was thinking I would have a few more months before it got to this size lol.

Great job and reporting as usual, Cliff!



So, I take it you don't trust Wes Wong and j666 and others who say true piraiba grows even faster than RTC, reaching 2' in 6 months and it is the capapretum that grows slowly - http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?520869-Piraiba-pictures. On what grounds - would it not say that your fish was a capapretum? Or is this just an inertia of thinking ?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

There may be evidence of that growth in the wild but I have yet to see it documented in aquariums. I would think to get that kind of in aquarium you would need to mimmick the first year of life they have in the wild as well. Seeing as how their birth migration gets interrupted by being caught and then imported I would think this would be extremely difficult to do. I wouldn't try to ID the species until it is at least subadult and then you would need to examine the tooth patches, as well as the external morphological characteristics.

For clarity, we continue a small diversion on piraiba. Cliff, sorry to keep draggin' you off topic but that thread IMHO would benefit from your pointed questions/issues, if you chose to post them, although atm I am wary of your interruption/mimic hypothesis - too many cons we know, where the growth is not affected or not significantly affected by proper captive upbringing vs. wild. My impression was that the guys spoke from experience of raising a piraiba themselves. This thread plus your communique from Lunberg are the most informative things I've ever read on fila vs capa.

NNTR (no need to respond).