Tig at local LFS

[Morledzep]

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.

he is currently in our largest tank and as soon as the 240 is up and running he'll be moved to that also. he's been eating 1 oz hunks of tuna and single market shrimp (61-70 per lb) about every other day. he doesn't seem interested in the krill that everyone else eats and i won't get my next shipment of turkey hearts till next week (40 lb box). I'll try giving him half turkey hearts then.

this is our largest and most stable tank, the only one that didn't get infected with ich when we brought the c. temensis home 2 weeks ago, so the temp is running between 75 and 80 degrees (old woman eyes, can't see the numbers very well.. lol).

for the rough start he got with us, i think he's doing remarkably well. And he's really fun to watch and talk to. i love him almost as much as i love my peacock bass..

 

[X24]

These guys aren't trying to yell at you, they are just trying to do what they feel is best for the fish.

It does seem like most of them told you this in a very very rude manner, but an 8x2 tank won't hold him forever. They weren't trying to make you get rid of the fish, but they want you to have it live to it's potential. These fish live in large areas of water, and need large areas of water to reach those mammoth preportions of healthy fish.

Don't get mad, just take what they tell you and try to follow it as best as you can, as 99% of the time these people know what they are talking about. Still having your tsn in an 8x2 is MUCH better then a 55 gallon tank as it probably woulda ended up in, so you probably saved this fish.

 

[kntrygrl4lyfe]

is that the little guy in your avatar?

Yes, the guy in my picture is him He is pretty cool. Yours is real nice looking still.... lol I looked at the pics again. Like they changed or something on me haha

 

[T1KARMANN]

he is currently in our largest tank and as soon as the 240 is up and running he'll be moved to that also. he's been eating 1 oz hunks of tuna and single market shrimp (61-70 per lb) about every other day. he doesn't seem interested in the krill that everyone else eats and i won't get my next shipment of turkey hearts till next week (40 lb box). I'll try giving him half turkey hearts then.

this is our largest and most stable tank, the only one that didn't get infected with ich when we brought the c. temensis home 2 weeks ago, so the temp is running between 75 and 80 degrees (old woman eyes, can't see the numbers very well.. lol).

for the rough start he got with us, i think he's doing remarkably well. And he's really fun to watch and talk to. i love him almost as much as i love my peacock bass..

for the last time a 240gl tank is not big enought for a TSN and as you say you are not moving for 3yrs do you know how hard that fish will be to sell at that size

my tank is 350g and i would even think about a TSN you have to know your limits with fishkeeping and keeping a TSN or RTC is way to big for 90% of fishkeepers the way you are talking about a 240g you think thats big well its not

the books you are reading were writern years ago this is the internet age
you will find people know alot more about fish since the introduction of the internet

 

[cichlaguapote]

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.

Do not judge people who are telling you that 8x2 won't hold him which you orignally had said and that the fish is gonna get huge. I don't know about the others but I know myself, T1 and others are not "kids with no life experiance". In fact I probably am more in touch with reality than you are. I don't care if you're 20 y/o, 40 y/o, or 90 y/o I would tell you the same thing. This fish gets huge and that's all anyone was saying. Age means nothing in a hobby like this. Nor does how long you've been in the hobby. I know 14 y/o kids who could run rings around some of the people who have claimed to be in this hobby for a long time. It's all about where you get your info. The 'net is a great resource, most books/written info tend to be wrong/outdated at some point unless you get lucky and get a good book.

Fact is you saying this:

he's currently in a tank that i've been told is either 150 or 200 gals.. after seeing the 8x2x2 ft 240 gal tank in my garage i'm leaning towards the 150 gal mark. And i see no reason why a sedentary animal like a catfish can't live happily in a tank that is more than twice as long as he's ever going to get.

Besides, the 240 isn't the last aquarium we'll ever get, it's just the largest at the moment. We won't actually build the big one till we move about 3 years from now.

This lets us know that you're not even experianced enough to research whether the tank you have is really 150g or 200g, which is a big difference in footprint. Not to mention you seriously think this animal can live in a 8x2 because the tank is as twice as long as he gets. News Flash! the fish needs to be able to turn around!

DO NOT TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU LOVE YOUR FISH WHEN YOU TRY TO TELL US HE SHOULD BE HAPPY IN A 8x2 TANK BECAUSE IT'S TWICE AS LONG AS HE'LL GET..

We all love our fish. This is the right board for that. But we also dislike people who mistreat or have this blindset attitude that book/written is always right, or that a fish doesn't need turn around room.

And some of the people who sell a fish or trade a fish probably give their fish to some pretty damn good homes. So you shouldn't judge them either. I would rather see a 4' fish euthenized than forced to live in a 2ft wide tank.

 

[kntrygrl4lyfe]

I have to put my 2 cents worth probably where its not going to matter, but oh well, I have an opinion to about this also. so here it goes.

when that fish cant turn around and she sees it for herself, she probably will find him a better home, or, if she likes him like she says, she will be the one to go out and buy a bigger tank, or get an indoor pond made, something, anything for this fish. I doubt that she will leave it in there when he is full grown. Ive seen worse, way worse, where someone kept an ID shark in a 55 his whole life and he got well over the 12" mark in there, think its was 18? and he stayed in there for years, untill he finally died.

Reality is, fish stores will sell monster fish when they are small. I think its halrious how Petsmart says a common pleco can have a tank of 20gallons or more. Also people buy on inpulse. And if we want to get nitty gritty about tank size, then I think no one should keep a monster fish. People took a fish that was ment to be in 1,000s upon 1000 gallon areas, and here we are, taking them and sticking them in a tank.... they have to look at the same thing their whole life...plant, rock, run into the same peice of glass. How boring. I'll get real down to it and even say that I think its wrong that people put a fish in a tank bare bottem, no decor, or anything for the fish. I think the fish should have plants and wood and rocks, caves and all that stuff that it has out in the wild. and if you cant provide that, plus all the room it needs for swimming. Then you shouldnt buy. Thats JMO.

Im done, I said my 2 cents worth, I stated my opinion. Take it how ever you please. I wasnt trying to start something, just because. i wanted to say something too, and hope no one takes it wrong.

 

[Wolf3101]

"lets see this TSN in the same tank in 10 months."

Strangely enough it's been stated SEVERAL times now that this fish won't be in this tank for 10 months. in fact it'll be closer to 2. It's also been stated that we have the resorces and space to provide what evers necessary in the future. We don't "power feed" to increase growth rates and we don't intend to keep ANY fish in a tank they can't turn around in.

"This lets us know that you're not even experianced enough to research whether the tank you have is really 150g or 200g, which is a big difference in footprint."

The tank your refuring to was built to our SIZE specifications by one of the best manufacturers in the world out of long beach. The question of how many gallons it was was never importiant. it's 156.43 if you really want to be anal about it.

"some of the people who sell a fish or trade a fish probably give their fish to some pretty damn good homes. So you shouldn't judge them either."

So...it's OK for you to judge without knowing the people involved or even the entire situation but not us?

"But we also dislike people who mistreat or have this blindset attitude that book/written is always right."

"the books you are reading were writern years ago this is the internet age
you will find people know alot more about fish since the introduction of the internet"

The only thing the internet has done is to turn a generation into instant experts on things very few of them are even qualified to talk about.
You can find support on line for ANY position on any topic.

We don't blindly accept anything thats been written nor are we about to start however your asking us to blindly accept nameless, faceless posts from people on the internet as gospel...

Heres a little fact from a professional writer... A large part of the publishing process is checking qualifications. If you don't belive that then feel free to write your own guide to fishkeeping and see how far you get with it. We don't blindly follow ANYTHING we read word for word and never have however I'll belive a professor with a doctorate in the relitive field long before I'll belive something posted on a forum in a beligerant manor.

"I know 14 y/o kids who could run rings around some of the people who have claimed to be in this hobby for a long time."

Now if they could just graduate...get a job and their own house rather than mom and dads...write the perfect guide to fishkeeping and get it published we could all fall prostrate at thier feet...

Facts...

The TSN in question is healthy, happy and well fed. It will remain so because unlike the 14year old internet "experts" we have the room and finantial resources to make sure it will happen. This might include a bigger tank before we planned or an indoor pond. The point is that it dosn't matter it's going to happen.

You can have a great deal of knowledge and expierance to pass on to the world but if you present yourself in a rude and beligerant manor no ones going to listen to you.

"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."

My wife may well be a beginer but with silghtly over 30 years of expierance the same can't be said for me. My oldest fish died at the age of 15...yours?
The debate is not and has never been how large the TSN could possibly get but rather how quickly thats going to happen. The problem with calling all published books and the original founders of our hobby wrong and the internet correct is one of credability. Anyone can post anything they like on the net. The same can't be said for published works.

The fact that the fish is comfortable and happy as is my RTC and will remain so for their entire lives seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.
Not a single one of us...you included can really provide an adiquate home for even the smallest of fish. It's all a trade off.

 

[AliceInChains]

should be ok

 

[cichlaguapote]

The problem with calling all published books and the original founders of our hobby wrong and the internet correct is one of credability. Anyone can post anything they like on the net. The same can't be said for published works.

Apparently you haven't read some of the info that is published and you can tell is wrong just from having any experiance reading it. Let's face it even aquarium dictionary's that'll run you $40.00 or more are lacking in info.

Maybe I should trust the guy at the LFS.. I'm sure he knows the right size tank for a full grown rtc/tsn and well should have tons of experiance. Oh and he has a face and in person so he'll be correct. Will he tell me that 20.00 catfish should have a minimum 12'x4' tank...

Trust your book. I go on true hobbiest knowledge along with printed research.

But you can't teach a old dog new tricks I guess. GL with your fish.

P.S. No one would have bounced on your wife nearly as hard if she wouldn't have said 8x2 tank is plenty big enough for a 4' fish because the tank is twice as long.

 

[pebble]

what the hell is a tsn lol