Tig at local LFS

[necrocanis]

nice pickup. Absolutely beautiful markinds on him. The only thing I would be worried about is tank size. I understand that you are getting more tanks in like 3+ years, the problem is within the next year your fish will probably be somewhere around 30". When keeping large catfish a good rule of thumb is to have a tank depth that is greater than the adult size of the catfish 4-5', but realistically if you kept this fish for 10-30 years of it's life span, you'd probably be looking at a 3 1/2' to 4' catfish easily. The one you just bought is probably a year old or less. They have absolutely phenominal growth rates. They are a really skittish fish in most cases, and sometimes break their snouts on the sides of the tank, and if the glass thickness is too little they can actually bust threw the end, hince the legendary tank busters, such as this and the rtc. Rtc while a bigger monster that produces way more waste, is a better option for a home aquarium in my opinion than this fish, because the rtc is a much calmer less easily spooked fish. A pond would be ideal in the future, and much cheaper than and aquarium for you guy. In any instance keep us updated with pics of this gorgeous fish. Don't turn on his lights too quickly when it's dark.

 

[necrocanis]

oh yeah, check out the first page of my monster catfish sticky at the top of the catfish section. Lots of pics in their, and some info.

 

[Morledzep]

oh yeah, check out the first page of my monster catfish sticky at the top of the catfish section. Lots of pics in their, and some info.

I did, thanks so much for being supportive.

the thing about the lights we pretty much have covered, the lights don't come on until after noon, so there is light in the house long before the lights come on in the tank hes in and the lights in the other two aquariums come on before the big one. So it really shouldn't be a big shock to him when the lights come on.

other than not liking the food choices he's getting along pretty well in the big tank, the snooks don't even try to bother him.. lol.

 

[Morledzep]

Aw thats a nice looking TSN you got there. I was thinking of getting one but I got a B. Juruense insted for now.

is that the little guy in your avatar?

 

[HunterX]

Well I really wanted to get a TSN for my 260G 7' by 2' by 30" tank, but after following this thread I think maybe a lima would be better. But dammit your new TSN is so beautiful , I'm tempted anyway!

 

[Wolf3101]

If you look around you'll see that a VAST number of regulars keep fish, including TSN's and RTC's in a lot smaller tanks than they recomend on the board. Also,I might mention,in far greater numbers than ANY aquarium shop or published guide recomends. (recomended stocking levels in fact are a long standing joke here.) It seems to be a question of "Don't do what I do...do what I say."

With any fish this size you have to concider it's future housing and be prepaired to upgrade as necessary. It's almost commical to read whats said on this thread and others like it and then notice the cute little "Nice tank Bro..." posts when a photos posted of 6 or more large Arawanas in a tank bairly twice as long as they are.

 

[T1KARMANN]

If you look around you'll see that a VAST number of regulars keep fish, including TSN's and RTC's in a lot smaller tanks than they recomend on the board. Also,I might mention,in far greater numbers than ANY aquarium shop or published guide recomends. (recomended stocking levels in fact are a long standing joke here.) It seems to be a question of "Don't do what I do...do what I say."

With any fish this size you have to concider it's future housing and be prepaired to upgrade as necessary. It's almost commical to read whats said on this thread and others like it and then notice the cute little "Nice tank Bro..." posts when a photos posted of 6 or more large Arawanas in a tank bairly twice as long as they are.

well if you belive what you read in books the old rule used to be 1inch of fish per gallon if thats true then a TSN or RTC would be fine for life in a 100gal tank

once you have seen a adult TSN then you can see their is no way that it will fit in a 180gal

lets see this TSN in the same tank in 10 months

 

[cichlaguapote]

If you look around you'll see that a VAST number of regulars keep fish, including TSN's and RTC's in a lot smaller tanks than they recomend on the board. Also,I might mention,in far greater numbers than ANY aquarium shop or published guide recomends. (recomended stocking levels in fact are a long standing joke here.) It seems to be a question of "Don't do what I do...do what I say."

With any fish this size you have to concider it's future housing and be prepaired to upgrade as necessary. It's almost commical to read whats said on this thread and others like it and then notice the cute little "Nice tank Bro..." posts when a photos posted of 6 or more large Arawanas in a tank bairly twice as long as they are.

Just because someone else thinks they can do it doesn't mean it works. Experianced keepers keeping a pack of arowanas(which is a far less hard to sell fish when the time comes) is far different then some inexperianced fishkeeper(I say this because you bought without knowing what it is and think a 4ft fish is fine a in 8x2 tank). ok.

I'm amazed how many people with tsn/rtc's on here get so excited when someone tells them the fish won't be as big as everyone says. Like the rtc post where someone said they see nothing wrong with stunting a fish to make it more managable.

Furthermore I don't know if there is a less desirable fish to experianced hobbiest's than rtc/tsn's.. maybe pacu? You could not pay me to take one of those off your hands yet I see younger inexperianced people glad to get them for 10.00 not thinking of the 2,000.00 fish tank they need for it..

It's a good fish as long as you are prepared to deal with it's size. If not I IMO would return it now.

 

[X24]

Best advice for now: Move it to your largest tank, turn down the temperature a little and make sure not to feed him a whole lot. This should slow down growth, while not stunting him or doing anything too awfully bad.

Chances are This fish has already been stunted though, as it probably was a return and i'm guessing it is older then a year, which is horrible, but maybe this will help you a little since it may not reach its full size then.

Just try to keep it as best as you possibly can until you get your LARGE tank or pond.

Worst comes to worst, get yourself a large rubbermaid or stock tank, and he should be fine in it.

 

[Morledzep]

well, this is how it goes. I'm an old woman and i believe what i read in books about the proper way to care for my fish. And i believe that fish don't get as large in captivity as they do in the wild. And i've already explained my plans for the future of my fish..

and i will NOT be told by children with NO life experience, and who buy and sell animals like commodities how to keep my family members. NO fish that i bring into my home will be sold, not now, not when they are 3 or 4 times the size they are now. the time will NOT come when it's "time" to sell any of them. i made a commitment to care for these animals for the rest of their natural lives and that is exactly what i'm going to do. And any of these fish that outlive me will be cared for by my son and my grandsons.

I tried being nice, i tried to talk to decent people with common interests, but that is obviously not what this board is about unless you're one of the "followers". Please forgive my ignorance, i thought this would be a place that we would be accepted because we love our fish.