Help me get started in this awesome hobby.

[Beast020]

Smart man. I'd love to make recommendations but I'm mostly into koi amd GF...hardly monsters. I get alot of "rescue" fish tho from people who no longer want them. I can tell you (because I have had two individuals) that bull heads are highly predatory. Especially as they get larger. I had one 12 yrs ago and recently rehabilitated a wild one. The one I had 12 yrs ago killed everything I tried to house it with. If the other fish was too big to swallow out right then he would rip all the fins off the other fish and harass it until I removed it or it died. I had that one in 400 gallons with plenty of hiding spaces and he was always fed well.

The bullhead i recently rehabilitated was never allowed access to other fish but i had to be careful in cleaning the tank because he would attack me if I didn't stay on guard. He bloodied the back of my hand durring a waterchange. i am not trying to dissuade you from keeping one. Just be aware and respectful of the fact they can be a nasty piece of work.

I haven't heard that before it's good to know that is a possibility. Do you know what type of bullheads they were?

 

[Go_redfish]

I haven't heard that before it's good to know that is a possibility. Do you know what type of bullheads they were?

The one from 12 yrs ago was a brown bullhead surrended to me by a petowner

 

[Beast020]

The one from 12 yrs ago was a brown bullhead surrended to me by a petowner

Ok thank you. I have been rethinking the bull head a little but we will see. I have quite a bit of time before I will actually be buying fish.

BTW love your name we named my daughter Olivia

 

[Go_redfish]

Ok thank you. I have been rethinking the bull head a little but we will see. I have quite a bit of time before I will actually be buying fish.

BTW love your name we named my daughter Olivia

Thank you it is a very popular name. My internet service was acting up and I didnt complete that last post.

...pet owner who couldn't handle it anymore .

The most recent was a black bullhead my daughter caught. Someone had foul hooked it and it was tangled in fishing line. I am a licensed wildlife rehabber. So dont try this at home plz. There are special requirements for placeing a captive held fish in a wild environment.

 

[Go_redfish]

 

[Beast020]

Thank you it is a very popular name. My internet service was acting up and I didnt complete that last post.

...pet owner who couldn't handle it anymore .

The most recent was a black bullhead my daughter caught. Someone had foul hooked it and it was tangled in fishing line. I am a licensed wildlife rehabber. So dont try this at home plz. There are special requirements for placeing a captive held fish in a wild environment.

Yeah we didn't realize just how common it was till we had her.

That is cool, definitely nothing I will try. That's one reason I made this post I don't want to end up with something like a redtail cat only to find out it grows to be almost the size of my tank. I really like the way the bull heads look. I know they are plane (least that is what my wife says) but I like them.

 

[Go_redfish]

Yeah we didn't realize just how common it was till we had her.

That is cool, definitely nothing I will try. That's one reason I made this post I don't want to end up with something like a redtail cat only to find out it grows to be almost the size of my tank. I really like the way the bull heads look. I know they are plane (least that is what my wife says) but I like them.

I think they are an awesome fish but they're so dag-on mean lol. I don't have a grudge against them tho. It's just an animal doing what it was made to do.

Red tails are a beautiful catfish. My daughter's favorite species but they belong in the river.

 

[Beast020]

I think the Redtail is in a beautiful fish and would love to have one but i wouldn't be comfortable keeping one without having like a 24' circle pool turned into a pond or of similar size.

 

[Beast020]

So my wife wants some pictus catfish how would I go about making sure I get ones that would get over 5"(I know there are 2 species one gets 4"-5" the other up to 10") I don't want to get one that a bull head or eclipse would just end up eating or is a 5" fish big enough that they wouldn't eat them?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Smart man. I'd love to make recommendations but I'm mostly into koi amd GF...hardly monsters. I get alot of "rescue" fish tho from people who no longer want them. I can tell you (because I have had two individuals) that bull heads are highly predatory. Especially as they get larger. I had one 12 yrs ago and recently rehabilitated a wild one. The one I had 12 yrs ago killed everything I tried to house it with. If the other fish was too big to swallow out right then he would rip all the fins off the other fish and harass it until I removed it or it died. I had that one in 400 gallons with plenty of hiding spaces and he was always fed well.

The bullhead i recently rehabilitated was never allowed access to other fish but i had to be careful in cleaning the tank because he would attack me if I didn't stay on guard. He bloodied the back of my hand durring a waterchange. i am not trying to dissuade you from keeping one. Just be aware and respectful of the fact they can be a nasty piece of work.

That's why I recommended yellow bullheads, more peaceful and smaller than blacks.
B Beast020 I think your wife would like a longear sunfish