Where to buy Paroon Shark?

[Gourami Swami]

So much misinformation in this post on a paroon shark thread

Sorry about that you are correct I was mistaken on the photo, and thinking of iridescent sharks at Petco. Have seen paroons at LFSs not at Petco. Quarantine has me in a bit of fog I think

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

... even 3' fish still a big fish and needs a huge tank, just my opinion!

Especially an active, non-stop swimmer like all Pangasiidae are.

3' IDS seems just barely ok in our 4500 gal 13x13x4.5'. A 3' sedentary fish, such as Cephalosilurus apurensis, can be adequate in a 10x smaller tank, 450 gal.

 

[ILOVESHARKS]

We get paroons from aquaculture year round it seems. I am dubious there is a "season". These fish are widely raised for food in Asia. What we get are culls, the genetic refuse, I have always assumed, if you know different, please correct me, anyone. Still they manage to grow to over 4' in 5-10 years. I can't imagine raising a paroon with good genes. It'd probably be over 5'-6' in the same timeframe.


You are using a scare tactic, bro? Haha... Where you learned it? Haha... the pic is of P. gigas aka Mekong Giant Catfish, while you are speaking of P. hypophthalmus aka iridescent shark catfish.

In the wild IDS grows to about 4', versus MGC's 9'-10'. Moreover, we definitely get farm culls and genetic junk IDS in our ornamental fish trade. These, the best of them grow to 3', most never exceed 2' or 2.5', even in 15-20 years of keeping, mostly improper keeping though, I'd agree with you there, so on top of inferior genes they are stunted by our peers.

Paroon grows in between, much bigger than IDS, 6'-7', but much smaller than MGC, or such is my impression, althoug there are claims thrown around that paroon can be as big as MGC, I am yet to see it. I have seen 6' or so, but this is a far, far cry from the 9' MGC in the pic you posted. Thank you for it, BTW.

welp paroons are long lived in malaysia as they have no enemies here, I had seen some shortbody individuals caught in rivers weighting 2-3 KG the largest one is 9 KG, I also seen some monster individuals that weight 30 KG +, I seen a post from GiantFishKeeper101 in Facebook very long tome ago that a 30++ KG feral Paroon shark caught in the Perak river

 

[Keepers]

I want to buy it too, I only have a black ear paroon now

 

[ILOVESHARKS]

I want to buy it too, I only have a black ear paroon now

No paroons at your nearby fish shops ?

 

[Keepers]

No paroons at your nearby fish shops ?

No, I am in El Monte, California

 

[ILOVESHARKS]

No, I am in El Monte, California

I‘m from Malaysia and Paroons are heavily cultivated as a food there, most fingerlings are exported from Thailand because Malaysia don't have Paroons now you can see Paroons very common in fishing resorts, fish shops, public aquariums, zoos and restaurants, Paroons fetch up to 150-180 MYR (38-40 USD) in Genting Highlands casino, they aren't looked as a serious threat like the Arapaima, Alligator gar, Asian red tail catfish, Peackok bass, Amazon red tail catfish and plecos, now all main rivers of Malaysia had feral populations of paroon sharks

Paroon sharks in fishing resorts are monsters and will put up a strong fight


steamed paroon shark, most restarants will serve this species along with Tor tambroides, Tor tambra, Leptobarbus hoevenii and rubripinna, Wallagonia lerrii, Hemibagrus nemurus, Wyckii and Wyckioides, Oxyeleotris marmorata, Puntioplites bulu, Pangasianodon hypopthalmus, Pangasius nasutus, Pangasius conchophilus, Datnioides microlepis, Hysibarbus sp and Belodonicthys dinema

 

[ILOVESHARKS]

Nope mekong giant catfish


Well i didnt know that paroon sharks are farmed for meat i thought it was only IDS and some species of snakeheads

View attachment 1414294
This is most probably the max size of a paroon shark would get in the home aquaria or in a captive setting

Yes, the fingerlings are exported from Thailand to Malaysia, I tried one before paroons have a very firm texture, most individuals are kept 1-2 years old and sold to restaurants live or frozen the price is around 80-180 myr (about 18-40 USD), now malaysia already had feral populations of paroon sharks in many main rivers of Malaysia due to farmed individuals escape, populations of Perak river is 21-33 KG. A fishing resort called Natural exotic fish fishing pond had 10-30 KG individuals

Paroon from Natural exotic fish fishing pond

Steamed paroon shark