Mahseer, Tor, and Neolissochilus at Fish Story

[thebiggerthebetter]

A long overdue update on the two golden mahseer, which have been doing well in the 25K gal, now about 7 years old and 2 ft. One is one-eyed, courtesy of lima shovelnose tank mates for the first couple years, which lets me get close on its blind side when filming:

 

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Tor khudree update. This is the fish I got from Wesley Wong in Aug 2015 as a subadult / adult Tor malabaricus but it is most definitely not it, thanks to our peers helping with the ID, especially our Indian experts Balaji aka Shovelnose on Planet Catfish and Jibran aka headbanger on the MFK. It is an khudree. We got it from Wes already one-eyed.

One of the subadult / adult mahseer we got in 2015 from Wes was indeed khudree, a much bigger one, over 2 feet but we lost it not too long ago.

This khudree is considerably smaller and has not been growing in the last 4 years or so, so must be maxed out. Perhaps it is a male, hence smaller than our bigger khudree, perhaps a female, used to be.

 

[ILOVESHARKS]

Tor khudree update. This is the fish I got from Wesley Wong in Aug 2015 as a subadult / adult Tor malabaricus but it is most definitely not it, thanks to our peers helping with the ID, especially our Indian experts Balaji aka Shovelnose on Planet Catfish and Jibran aka headbanger on the MFK. It is an khudree. We got it from Wes already one-eyed.

One of the subadult / adult mahseer we got in 2015 from Wes was indeed khudree, a much bigger one, over 2 feet but we lost it not too long ago.

This khudree is considerably smaller and has not been growing in the last 4 years or so, so must be maxed out. Perhaps it is a male, hence smaller than our bigger khudree, perhaps a female, used to be.

Nice one, I saw my nearby fish shop have these 35 USD for one, but in Malaysia, most hobbyist keep local species like T.Tambra, T.Douronensis and the Empurau

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Tor progeneius update. Long overdue. This is the fish we got from Wesley Wong in Aug 2015 as a subadult / adult. The fish seems to have stopped growing lengthwise in the last 4 years or so, so may be maxed out. Pointy anal fin - perhaps it is a male.

The tail fin was ripped by a large-mesh size net when transferring from 4500 gal to the 25K gal 3 years ago, and for some reason didn't heal together properly in one spot to restore the beautiful shape. I have been thinking of cutting it along the "V' and slightly deeper so it has another chance to grow together. What do you think?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Three soldier catfish had been transferred to 1800 gal. Failure over 3 days. The opportunistic, predatory, smart mahseer prove successful at biting little bits off the soldier catfish fins, little by little but incessantly:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Mahseer, Tor vs Neolissochilus, Neo have hooked fins, shorter snout, more aggressive to tankmates. Smaller Neolissochilus attack redfin flagtail Prochilodus.

In 1800 gal:

2x Chinese mahseer Tor sinensis, normal and tall-bodied
2x Red mahseer Tor tambra
1x Tor khudree
1x Taiwan mahseer Tor (or Spinibarbus) holandii
1x Golden or Himalayan mahseer Tor putitora
4x Neolissochilus mahseer (nominally bought as 2x Tor tambroides, 1x Tor malabaricus, and 1x Tor douronensis)

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

A hypersensitive dorado catfish has gone into the 1800 gal, so the offending mahseer gang, although mostly or only the 4-pack of the smaller Neolissochilus has been implicated by direct observation, is out and into a 240 gal except the tall-bodied Chinese which was big enough to have gone to 25K:

 

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The 5 biggest growout mahseer 13-15in seemed uncomfortable and stressed in the new 240 gal for the first 1-2 weeks. I was sure they'd calm down over time but I pitied them and decided to take a risk and place them into the 25K gal - 2x red tambra, chinese, golden putitora, khudree - and hope they would be fast and smart enough to stay out of the wels and leerii mouths. Also from our experience, these could be expected to not bother koi, which cannot be said at all of the 4 Neolissochilus left behind in the 240 gal. Also left behind is the taiwanese hollandii mahseer because it is only 11-12in or so.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

In the beginning of Jun 2022, a few synos rasped quarter-size hole in 16" sun catfish, which tipped the scale and 5 synos, 3 eupterus and 2 hybrids, got kicked out and went to the jerk tank.

For 2 months the wound wouldn't heal and I didnt know why until I finally caught smaller Neolissochilus mahseer mouthing the wound. All mahseer left the 1800 gal and the large craterous wound skins over in 9 days!