I've spent a stupid hour searching for a thread on our Wallagoes but haven't found one. I can't believe I have never started one but it looks that way. They must have fallen through the cracks. Anyhow, I am starting one now. Better late than never.
Our first Wallagonia micropogon (in Naples; had one in Rochester, NY) came mail order from the now retired George Fear and his Shark Aquarium in Aug of 2015 at about 8" and $40. It's most probably a farm cull (I think they all are in our trade) as it misses one pelvic fin and is a slow or small (or both) grower, currently only at 2.5'-3' at about 5 years of age.
They are farmed for food in SE Asia and my belief is that any fish that's sold in our trade and is also farmed for food somewhere around the world (good catfish examples are TSN, RTC, channel, blue, walking catfish, Hemibagrus nemurus, IDS, black ear IDS, paroon shark, etc.) is 99.99% likely a farm cull, an underperformer, refuse, dink, and runt. No need to fish them out of the wild and offer them at a higher cost and price when there are millions available that go toward fertilizer and other industries and a tiny portion toward the ornamental fish trade.
This Wallagonia could be a leerii as I cannot tell them apart and I don't know the location it came from but as said it is most assuredly not from the wild so the location couldn't help anyway.
The fish has always preferred (maybe even taken exclusively) pellets, never taking a thawed fish for me, not that I can remember anyway... which is another pointer toward farmed albeit a mighty weak one at that because most fish adapt of course.
These photos are from March 2016 when it was still in a 240 gal, probably about 1.5'. The fish face-on closeups always remind me of the "Mack The Knife" hit song in Louis Armstrong's rendition "When the shark bites, in the ocean, dear..." for its toothy, extremely wide, truly "ear to ear" "smile". Imagine having all this equipment and only taking pellets... haha... it's like the Pre-Fall animal kingdom, sharks grazing on seaweed and plankton perhaps, lions and lambs grazing on grass and resting together...
Currently in (the RTC) 4500 gal. It has been there for the last 2-3 years. I honestly expected trouble as it could have been and still can be swallowed whole by the biggest RTCs etc. in that tank but no. It looks like only the pacu may commit an occasional attempt to feed on its fins. The guy itself is pretty mellow, if not timid I'd say, I have never seen it attack any tank mate or witness the consequences of such an attack (should be recognizable), which is also true for the smaller trio of the micropogon described below.
There are three more obtained more recently, mid-2018 or some such, from the Exotic Fish Shop (Steve) at $20 each (sale). These came in smaller, around 5" but now a year later are about 1.5'-2' and reside in the other 4500 gal. Have all fins and grow better (roughly 1.5x-2x faster than the first one) but in all fairness these take fish greedily as well as pellets (less greedily). I don't have good visuals on this trio. They can be seen on our YouTube channel in the videos of the other (non-RTC) 4500 gal... if one was a certifiable maniac and had an hour or two to kill to glean a few rather vague glimpses.
Our first Wallagonia micropogon (in Naples; had one in Rochester, NY) came mail order from the now retired George Fear and his Shark Aquarium in Aug of 2015 at about 8" and $40. It's most probably a farm cull (I think they all are in our trade) as it misses one pelvic fin and is a slow or small (or both) grower, currently only at 2.5'-3' at about 5 years of age.
They are farmed for food in SE Asia and my belief is that any fish that's sold in our trade and is also farmed for food somewhere around the world (good catfish examples are TSN, RTC, channel, blue, walking catfish, Hemibagrus nemurus, IDS, black ear IDS, paroon shark, etc.) is 99.99% likely a farm cull, an underperformer, refuse, dink, and runt. No need to fish them out of the wild and offer them at a higher cost and price when there are millions available that go toward fertilizer and other industries and a tiny portion toward the ornamental fish trade.
This Wallagonia could be a leerii as I cannot tell them apart and I don't know the location it came from but as said it is most assuredly not from the wild so the location couldn't help anyway.
The fish has always preferred (maybe even taken exclusively) pellets, never taking a thawed fish for me, not that I can remember anyway... which is another pointer toward farmed albeit a mighty weak one at that because most fish adapt of course.
These photos are from March 2016 when it was still in a 240 gal, probably about 1.5'. The fish face-on closeups always remind me of the "Mack The Knife" hit song in Louis Armstrong's rendition "When the shark bites, in the ocean, dear..." for its toothy, extremely wide, truly "ear to ear" "smile". Imagine having all this equipment and only taking pellets... haha... it's like the Pre-Fall animal kingdom, sharks grazing on seaweed and plankton perhaps, lions and lambs grazing on grass and resting together...
Currently in (the RTC) 4500 gal. It has been there for the last 2-3 years. I honestly expected trouble as it could have been and still can be swallowed whole by the biggest RTCs etc. in that tank but no. It looks like only the pacu may commit an occasional attempt to feed on its fins. The guy itself is pretty mellow, if not timid I'd say, I have never seen it attack any tank mate or witness the consequences of such an attack (should be recognizable), which is also true for the smaller trio of the micropogon described below.
There are three more obtained more recently, mid-2018 or some such, from the Exotic Fish Shop (Steve) at $20 each (sale). These came in smaller, around 5" but now a year later are about 1.5'-2' and reside in the other 4500 gal. Have all fins and grow better (roughly 1.5x-2x faster than the first one) but in all fairness these take fish greedily as well as pellets (less greedily). I don't have good visuals on this trio. They can be seen on our YouTube channel in the videos of the other (non-RTC) 4500 gal... if one was a certifiable maniac and had an hour or two to kill to glean a few rather vague glimpses.
