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irwini catfish questions

I'm not sure what size they max out. I read somewhere they max out at 22". Mines grow somewhat slow. Maybe like 1-2" per year. They are much less active than the niger cat. My friend has one that grows faster because his sits where the food is dropped(sinking pellets). They don't bother other fishes like the shovel nose or red tail cats. They are nocturnal but mines are trained to come up for floating pellets. I put the food where the filter return is at and it blows the pellets down. They eventually learned to come up for the pellets. They are one of my favorite cats. The niger cat is very active and friendly but gets too big.
 
 
Max growth of a fish is very subjective and is usually based on a survey of large adult fish. THey get the average of these and that is how the max size is determined. You will have fish that will never attain the max size and you will have some that far surpass it. So take max sizes lightly. If you see there are keepers on here with them over 24" then plan on that to be safe, and hopefully he will stay within the desired range or you may have to make other arrangements as they get older. Thing about fish is, they grow their entire lives, even if that growth is very slow and unnoticeable after a while. Their growth is ever slowing, but still there for their life span. Might only be millimeters or less per year once they reach adulthood. Planetcatfish and fishbase do vary a bit on sizes. PC is very conservative, and fishbase gives max sizes that may not have been officially documented. So it's really just a case of do your own research and make an informed decision.

:)
 
I swear mine doesn't grow...I've had it for a year and it may have grown 1/2 an inch...don't underestimate their growth rate if you plan on growing it out a little.
 
My 2' and 3' nigers did (in a 4000 gal pond). So did my 1.5' Lithodoras dorsalis. Shameless beggars. None were underfed or trained - they simply learned were their food comes from and wanted to be first in line. Irwinis should too.
 
mines around 26in total length, ive not heard of any larger in tanks but its still growing, the highest ive seen quoted is 30in so plan round that.
They are not very flexible so need a bit of turning space even though they dont move much.
They like to sit along side other bottom dwellers and wont be moved if the other party doesnt like it-this is where you can get problems as other fish can get injured by its body-dont put in with skittish tank mates with soft skin eg perruno.
As for hand feeding -i dont think you would be able to train them if they were in with other fish.
 
I imagine they would hand feed with time the two foot Niger that we have at our store always eats from me every morning. He swims right up to me and I rub him under his head and he will just sit there an let me do it. Then I just get a handful of food and he gobbles it all down. He's quite the hog!


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