Wels catfish, albino, ~10"

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you. It has never eaten a tank mate yet in the 7 years with us. We watch closely and when/if it ate and attempted to eat a tank mate, the tank mates at risk would be moved to other tanks.

Yes, they swim by wels and its mouth so carelessly precisely because wels has not been bothering them, even though it very rarely but snaps at some of them when in a particularly bad mood, I suppose.

If you are implying I had provoked wels to bite me on purpose, that is to show it to the whole world, believe me, I'd be filming the attack, the most exciting thing of it all for the viewers! It was merely an honest lapse of judgment when I wasn't even filming but entertaining visitors and I had no malice or dreams of fake fame and monetary gain like in the jackass-type of shows and videos

No wels don't travel on land from pond to pond, they are not known for this. I am not sure of what you are trying to say by the rest... thinking about their prohibited status in the US and the ensuing obstacles to keeping them?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I keep hearing from people on YT who think our true wels S. glanis is the chinese wels S. meridionalis and with some of them size argument doesn't work

According to the key I found, to prove the species ID vomerine tooth patches must be looked at, which I am not doing with our Mr. Wels. Perhaps it might be easier to wait until it grows to 6-8 feet.

This is kind of old too, from 1988 but seems to be the most recent genus revision cited on FishBase.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I love the vulture cats!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

 

[Chub_by]

Awesome, Viktor. I assume its growth has slowed down significantly?
Also, have you seen any seasonal variation in growth given the tropical climate at your location?

 

[wednesday13]

I keep hearing from people on YT who think our true wels S. glanis is the chinese wels S. meridionalis and with some of them size argument doesn't work

According to the key I found, to prove the species ID vomerine tooth patches must be looked at, which I am not doing with our Mr. Wels. Perhaps it might be easier to wait until it grows to 6-8 feet.

This is kind of old too, from 1988 but seems to be the most recent genus revision cited on FishBase.

View attachment 1515529

The barbels are the easiest way to decipher aside from the head shape… i dont think any other silurus has 6 like s. glanis…. Merdionalis only has 4….

The chinese has been “hyped up” so much as the closest to its euro cousin that the majority believes it reaches large sizes … just not the case either. Rod n reel record is a mere 39”-40”. Find it hard to believe one would ever reach anywhere near that size in captivity. After 6 yrs my chinese is 21”-22”. Misinformation will always out weigh the facts these days sadly.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I love the vulture cats!

I am sure you do How are your vultures? Have you been updating your thread on them?

Awesome, Viktor. I assume its growth has slowed down significantly?
Also, have you seen any seasonal variation in growth given the tropical climate at your location?

Thank you. Yes, surely slowed down. We are not in tropics but in subtropics to be exact. The wels seems to be rather capricious when it comes to new feed types and any changes in its tank. When it feeds well, it grows better of course, when it doesn't or when it fasts, it doesn't grow it seems. It doesn't seem to enjoy water temps over 80F but once in a while it surprises me and still feeds well at 82F. Its so moody, that it makes it hard for me to draw more concrete conclusions without a journal dedicated to his feeding, which I don't have.

The barbels are the easiest way to decipher aside from the head shape… i dont think any other silurus has 6 like s. glanis…. Merdionalis only has 4….

The chinese has been “hyped up” so much as the closest to its euro cousin that the majority believes it reaches large sizes … just not the case either. Rod n reel record is a mere 39”-40”. Find it hard to believe one would ever reach anywhere near that size in captivity. After 6 yrs my chinese is 21”-22”. Misinformation will always out weigh the facts these days sadly.

Thank you much Russ, great info. Except IIRC only asotus has 4 barbels, all other Silurus have 6, including glanis and meridionalis, no? The hyped up chinese wels reputation might be related to sale pitch. But who cares about paper fish keepers opinions? Get a chinese wels, grow it out yourself and you will see how close it grows to the glanis. That would count for something. Just talking and throwing shade on others on paper cannot be taken seriously IMHumO.

 

[jjohnwm]

Thank you much Russ, great info. Except IIRC only asotus has 4 barbels, all other Silurus have 6, including glanis and meridionalis, no? The hyped up chinese wels reputation might be related to sale pitch. But who cares about paper fish keepers opinions? Get a chinese wels, grow it out yourself and you will see how close it grows to the glanis. That would count for something. Just talking and throwing shade on others on paper cannot be taken seriously IMHumO.

The fish shown in the meridionalis thread that is currently active seems to show only four barbels; I have no idea if it is misidentified, or...?

But, oh my..."paper fish keepers' opinions"? That is delicious!

 

[Caveden]

question: why did wednesday13 wels get confiscated but yours still allowed?