Thought so. They're quite rare aren't they? Don't they grow around 12" or so?
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Temperature/Humidity controlled detached garage converted into man-cave with tanks.
- Thread starter RequiemTCE
- Start date
Thought so. They're quite rare aren't they? Don't they grow around 12" or so?
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Yes, quite rare. This was another very lucky local find. About 3 years ago I walked into a LFS and saw that there was a catfish for $350 so I asked the proprietor why it was worth so much(I couldn't even see it at first, it was hiding and he had to remove a decoration). It was about 1" shorter than it is today, I'd say it's about 6" today. He explained it's origins and rarity, and I asked him how large they get, and he said this was the largest one he's ever seen. I know for a fact that this guy has been hardcore into fish for at least 3 decades.
Anyway, at that time there was much less information about them. Apparently now, some people have had success breeding them using hormone injections and so there is more information available about them, and many of the sites have been revised from 6"(from the limited information back then) to 9-12" depending on source now.
If this particular known wild specimen ever gets to be 9 or 12 inches, it'll be in over a decade. That's what I can tell you as an owner. I don't know about the ones people are breeding now.
I just run the air conditioner on the "low" fan setting so that it extracts as much humidity as it can from the air while maintaining 70 degrees in the garage. The results are great, it actually feels like you're getting hit with a wall of water when you walk outside on a really hot day, like back when I lived in Boston(during the summers). It's REALLY obvious that it's doing a great job of dehumidifying on days like that.
Also, even in the dead of the winter when it's 20 degrees outside(speaking from experience), this garage is so well insulated that the AC still runs it's compressor about 5-10% of the time, even when set for fresh air(not recirculate), just to keep up with all of my:
PCs
monitors
synths
tank lights
other lights
compressor on the fridge/freezer
compressor on the kegorator
volcano
the ~2100W of heaters in the sump and the tanks that can potentially ALL turn on if the tanks start getting below 76 degrees
by extension, the ~550 gallons of ~78 degree water heating the room
hammerhead pump(that whole thing gets really hot, no joke, and it's pretty big)
150W of UV
3 rena XP3's(something like 100W?)
etc...
So even during the winter, there was absolutely no humidity issues. Temp stayed constant at whatever the AC was set for(70 degrees, always), and believe it or not, it was still running the compressor enough to dehumidify the room(it was actually forming big 6 foot ice sickles that went all the way down to the ground outside, using the humidity it was extracting from the garage).
PCs
monitors
synths
tank lights
other lights
compressor on the fridge/freezer
compressor on the kegorator
volcano
the ~2100W of heaters in the sump and the tanks that can potentially ALL turn on if the tanks start getting below 76 degrees
by extension, the ~550 gallons of ~78 degree water heating the room
hammerhead pump(that whole thing gets really hot, no joke, and it's pretty big)
150W of UV
3 rena XP3's(something like 100W?)
etc...
So even during the winter, there was absolutely no humidity issues. Temp stayed constant at whatever the AC was set for(70 degrees, always), and believe it or not, it was still running the compressor enough to dehumidify the room(it was actually forming big 6 foot ice sickles that went all the way down to the ground outside, using the humidity it was extracting from the garage).
Some new arrivals from Rapps. Hoplarchus Psittacus, Geophagus Brasiliensis, bumblebee oscar. These pics are right after I put them in the tanks, so the bumblebee oscar in particular will definitely look better. I'll post a pic of at least him in a few days.
Here's a better pic of the now settled in bumblebee oscar and a couple different pics of the EE(which is now happily sifting sand all day 
), one showing how it usually looks now that it's used to my setup, and one where it's freaked out. The hoplarchus looks good most of the time, but I still haven't seen it look as amazing as it did while my pike was establishing dominance in the original pic I posted, so I haven't taken any new pics of it yet. I did move it out of the 150 with the pike and into the 180, it has grown about an inch and I'm no longer afraid that my 20" ornate bichir will eat it.
I really can't give enough props to Jeff Rapps, this makes 5 specimens I've received from him so far and all 5 have been outstanding.
http://www.tangledupincichlids.com if you don't already know...
), one showing how it usually looks now that it's used to my setup, and one where it's freaked out. The hoplarchus looks good most of the time, but I still haven't seen it look as amazing as it did while my pike was establishing dominance in the original pic I posted, so I haven't taken any new pics of it yet. I did move it out of the 150 with the pike and into the 180, it has grown about an inch and I'm no longer afraid that my 20" ornate bichir will eat it.I really can't give enough props to Jeff Rapps, this makes 5 specimens I've received from him so far and all 5 have been outstanding.
http://www.tangledupincichlids.com if you don't already know...
