blue whale catfish questions

[krichardson]

these fish grow to 10 inches in the wild, my co worker keeps 3 of these guys in a 55 gallon, he's probaly had them for close to 4 years and they all seem to have maxed out around the 8 inch mark, they seem to really thrive on current, he keeps an aquaclear 50 running at all times with the air attachment, they are voracious, the fish were purchased at 3 inches and where kept with a few different types of south american cichlids, around 5 inches the fish seemed to grow into there reputation and managed to kill a basketmouth cichlid and an orange pike cichlid in a matter of a few days, and the few other fish were then removed before meeting there fate, unfortuneatly, my friend will not sell me these fish and the lfs that stocked went out of business a few years ago, any recommendations on where I may be able to find a few of these guys would definatly be appreciated, as I have not seen them online or in any lfs in my area

I assume it is the cetopsis that we are all talking about,we get them around here from time to time but thety are not very popular so they are not brought in much.Try Liveaquaria.com,I have seen them listed there before.

 

[Griff1327]

snookn21 had some a while back. find his posts in the classifieds and check. they get to 10" and def. thrive on the current. they'll pick a spot in the tank and just swim in place. drop the food directly in front of him (works for me). also if you dim the lights he'll start swimming around a lot more!

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

pics plz

 

[Griff1327]

best I could get atm

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

beatiful!!!!!
ALMOST makes me wanna give up gars...
might set up another tank for a couple though

 

[Griff1327]

he is absolutely my favorite fish. The growth rate on them is ridiculously slow. I got him in April and can't tell any different in size. I would love to set up a tank and get him some buddies and just run low wattage bulbs and more powerheads

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

how much do they cost and what do they eat?

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

bump

 

[braaandooon]

the ones I see are usually fed canadian night crawlers and larger feeders, they seem attracted to movement , so when prepared food is given, its probaly best to shake the food around in the water until they notice it, and normally from what I see they notice live or prepared right away and eagerly tear into it, thankfully a few people in this post have been very informative and hopefully I should have a few of these guys in the coming weeks, after pursuing these fish actively in my area over the last few years

 

[Griff1327]

paid $30 for mine. but I live in the sticks. He was priced $60 but they have 2 for Tuesdays where you get two for the same price so thats the only time to go.

He will eat anything! Feeders guppies (don't suggest), pellets, flakes, bloodworms, krill. It seems that he eat more of the stuff that floats on the top then stuff that sinks.