Yangtze Albino

[wednesday13]

I don't know, Wels type catfish have been hyped for a while now and deservedly so they're pretty cool cats. I am really happy to hear these guys stay to a more manageable size but disappointed it'd have to be a solo fish. Can I ask what have you tried to house him with and was the issue aggression or predation?

I had a Ompok Pabo from Wes recently. Awesome fish but it wasn't in the cards for me. First one became a meal for my Trachycorystes. Weird too as the Trachy's leave some fish alone but predate others. The Ompok was 12" much larger and girthier than a Tachysurus ussuriensis which is maybe 10" and streamlined and lean very much more noshable but the Ompok was their munchie of choice. So, I bought another put it in with my 2 Pac-Mans who also seem to have their own predilections for prey who apparently also thought a Ompok would make for a nice snack. These fish which had only shown interest in eating my Metynnis Maculatus and Fasciatus until then but for some reason ignored my Ossubtus xinguense(again knock on wood) also decided the Ompok looked delicious. So, I've been considering an Albino Plotosus canius which if I get it will be kept far from Trachys and Pac Mans.

Forgive my rant, I run off at the mouth my train of thought which can be random.

All good, my man… this place can use some good old fashion talk about monster cats, albino, even better lol… Albino Plotosus canius has been on “my list” forever … My only worry was always the possible need for salt/brackish for them as they age. Viktor had a fairly large one yrs ago (reg color) that passed randomly around 3’.

Last time i tried the Yangtze with tank mates was 4 yrs ago in a 450g 8’x3’… moved over all the fish at the same time in hopes to “start fresh” and mitigate any agression from any party being in there first. Stock was 3 albino clown knives 16” range and 3 8” albino tinfoils. The cat was maaaybe 14” so no way he could have eaten anyone. After about 30 min he proceeded to grab the CK’s mid body and swim around with them thrashing … went after and attacked the tinfoils in the same fashion. I let it go on for about 40 min before putting him back alone in a 5x3 for another few yrs. “Napolean syndrome” at its finest. Rich/Josh at OFR keep 2 of them in community tanks and im not sure how as Vik just tried and had issues also attacking other cats and large tarpon.

 

[koltsixx]

All good, my man… this place can use some good old fashion talk about monster cats, albino, even better lol… Albino Plotosus canius has been on “my list” forever … My only worry was always the possible need for salt/brackish for them as they age. Viktor had a fairly large one yrs ago (reg color) that passed randomly around 3’.

Last time i tried the Yangtze with tank mates was 4 yrs ago in a 450g 8’x3’… moved over all the fish at the same time in hopes to “start fresh” and mitigate any agression from any party being in there first. Stock was 3 albino clown knives 16” range and 3 8” albino tinfoils. The cat was maaaybe 14” so no way he could have eaten anyone. After about 30 min he proceeded to grab the CK’s mid body and swim around with them thrashing … went after and attacked the tinfoils in the same fashion. I let it go on for about 40 min before putting him back alone in a 5x3 for another few yrs. “Napolean syndrome” at its finest. Rich/Josh at OFR keep 2 of them in community tanks and im not sure how as Vik just tried and had issues also attacking other cats and large tarpon.

Thank you, bro., I appreciate your patience of my . The Plotosus possible need of salt has me also hesitating to pull the trigger. I've always liked color morphs, started with ball pythons. Currently I've got an Albino Yarrelli, Platinum RTC/TSN? and a Pied Florida Gar? The RTC/TSN I think is exhibiting Amenalism which only affects a portion of melanins. While I think the Gar is exhibiting Piebaldism. I missed my opportunity at a Albino Chuatsi that I'm kicking myself for. I had I believe a eurythistic Ophiocara porocephala but to my surprise my Neosilurus mollespiculum was sucking the slime coat off him and I lost it.

Still might've been predatory. I've had my Trachy's try to consume fish that they should've known would have been possible and it was definitely a predatory reaction on their part. I've had them for 17 years and I know when they're being aggressive. It's generally toward other Auchenipteridae. But it sounds doubtful as I'd think the meridionalis would've eventually tried to turn him to try and consume him, so it probably was aggression. I thought predation because I think light coloration and the reflective scales might cause a predatory response. It's why I think my Pac Mans ignore the xinguense but snap at the fasciatus and maculatus. I had to save the Metynnis several times before I got it through my thick skull to move them. Luckily the alexandri are much easier to coax a release from than my Trachys.

 

[wednesday13]

Thank you, bro., I appreciate your patience of my . The Plotosus possible need of salt has me also hesitating to pull the trigger. I've always liked color morphs, started with ball pythons. Currently I've got an Albino Yarrelli, Platinum RTC/TSN? and a Pied Florida Gar? The RTC/TSN I think is exhibiting Amenalism which only affects a portion of melanins. While I think the Gar is exhibiting Piebaldism. I missed my opportunity at a Albino Chuatsi that I'm kicking myself for. I had I believe a eurythistic Ophiocara porocephala but to my surprise my Neosilurus mollespiculum was sucking the slime coat off him and I lost it.

Still might've been predatory. I've had my Trachy's try to consume fish that they should've known would have been possible and it was definitely a predatory reaction on their part. I've had them for 17 years and I know when they're being aggressive. It's generally toward other Auchenipteridae. But it sounds doubtful as I'd think the meridionalis would've eventually tried to turn him to try and consume him, so it probably was aggression. I thought predation because I think light coloration and the reflective scales might cause a predatory response. It's why I think my Pac Mans ignore the xinguense but snap at the fasciatus and maculatus. I had to save the Metynnis several times before I got it through my thick skull to move them. Luckily the alexandri are much easier to coax a release from than my Trachys.

Never knew Trachys were such “sleepers” like that despite their placid look…as always… never trust a catfish lol… Been an albino fan since the days when they were half the price of their normal colored counter parts in the lfs … Sadly its gettin hard to tell whats real these days. UV flashing, chemical injections and who knows what other methods are being used to make man made color morphs. Seems some last, some don’t…

 

[koltsixx]

Never knew Trachys were such “sleepers” like that despite their placid look…as always… never trust a catfish lol… Been an albino fan since the days when they were half the price of their normal colored counter parts in the lfs … Sadly its gettin hard to tell whats real these days. UV flashing, chemical injections and who knows what other methods are being used to make man made color morphs. Seems some last, some don’t…

Got that right. lol The Trachys are generally peaceful only croaking as they complain about their position in their hide but around breeding time specifically the female becomes highly predatory. It is pretty sad what fish are subjected to and that results may not even be permanent. That's why I try to get my fish from Wes as his color morphs as far as I know are generally wild caught.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you guys, great and useful conversation.

Yes, I believe our meridionalis has been nasty to its tank mates over the 8 months in the 1800 gal but especially lately, earning one way ticket to a timeout tank.

Yes, my hypothesis behind losing two (sub)adult Plotosus canius for no apparent reason had to do with their potential need of brackish or maybe even marine water.

 

[wednesday13]

Getting a bit more personable finally during feeding time… sitting around 26-27”. Still debating bumping him down into smaller quarters, but i do enjoy when hes out crusing like this.

 

[surfermike915]

He looks good but he looks small in that tank haha. I believe we see two species of so called Chinese wels. I’m led to believe this because of the fact that some have larger mouths than others and larger heads with a larger slope coming from the top of the head to the mouth.

 

[wednesday13]

He looks good but he looks small in that tank haha. I believe we see two species of so called Chinese wels. I’m led to believe this because of the fact that some have larger mouths than others and larger heads with a larger slope coming from the top of the head to the mouth.

Agreed… 26”-27” in a 9’x4’ is a fart in the wind … last wels i kept in this tank was 48”-50” at the same age lol… not a terrible thing tho also. No worry of this guy ever eating too much or growing large quickly. Theres a pretty drastic mouth/head shape difference among silurus glanis also. My old specimen was very different than Viktors current one. His has an extended lower jaw and more sloped head where mine did not. Bottom jaw of mine was more flush to the top and it also had a more rounded head. Im leaning a bit towards male/female traits but the possibility of 2 species is pretty valid also.

 

[wednesday13]

surfermike915 Def. Somethin goin on with the bottom jaws/heads. My glanis was one ugly sob compared to Viks . Swollen like a male channel cat during breeding season.

on our meridonalis, check out how thick mines bottom jaw/lip is compared to urs. Mine does not have any exposed teeth either. Hard to decipher as both ours look pretty similiar at different angles/views for the head. The bottom jaws are very different tho quite like the glanis’.

 

[wednesday13]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513422003726

surfermike915
I think i got it lol

From top to bottom:
Asotus
Meridionalis
Asotus
Soldatovi

By this study (its pretty recent also) id say u have the true S. Meridionalis and i have S. Asotus. The bottom exposed teeth are pretty much a dead give away i noted before even finding this article. Im a bit disappointed now …

The article basically talks about the 1st pic being a hybrid between asotus/meridonalis due to it being farmed so much in china. After dna tests the conclusion was it was infact still asotus but suspected to be bred with 1 asotus from northern china and another from southern china.