Pangasianodon Gigas/Giant Mekong Catfish

[thebiggerthebetter]

But you really got to wonder where those MGCs come from in exotic fishing lakes. It's certainly not from a wild caught ones.

If its a farm bred, still it can reach tremendous sizes. Wanna get my hands on those.

Perhaps you are right but you too really got to wonder why none of those big Pangasidae (that you think are MGC) exceed 3'-4' or so it seems from the anglers' photos at places such as Fishing Adventures Thailand and the like.

I don't know much about this topic and I could easily be shown wrong merely with more info from google searches but from that little that I saw I thought that those fish at the fishing tourism lakes could be MGC or some hybrids... yet if they were MGC, they should have been ~7' or larger by now that they have spent a decade or two in those large lakes, where they are fed too.

 

[krichardson]

Here is my set up outside. Couldn't get a good shot of any fish, glare was bad. You can kinda see my albino wells.
Have some work to clean up my planted filter, wind and rain have been bad here it Texas.

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My goodness,if that thing bursts you'll have your own version of Harvey on your hands....impressive nonetheless though.
Curious as to why you opted to go "above ground" with the pond?

 

[Texasrockwell]

My goodness,if that thing bursts you'll have your own version of Harvey on your hands....impressive nonetheless though.
Curious as to why you opted to go "above ground" with the pond?

I dug out 2 ft underground as well, but I am in the city and I have utilities 3ft down. I also wanted to be able to put a viewing window in. Window is 36"x30"x 1" thick. Almost done with it. I still have insulation to put in and I will have 3 support beams where the straps are. That should be enough support. That would suck to have it burst though, your right. Joints are pretty strong though.

 

[Chub_by]

That's a good looking (and huge) pond mate. Have you already done one winter heated or will the upcoming be your first?

As for the question in the OP; I do not understand the need for MGC in the trade. Even if you have tons of space and want a large pangasius sp., you could just go for Paroon sharks. They cost maybe 50$ a pop, look much better and will reach 6' in captivity, albeit slower than a MGC.
I guess it's a rarity and exclusivity thing? Just my 0.02$

 

[Texasrockwell]

Fish are being shy except for red tail

That's a good looking (and huge) pond mate. Have you already done one winter heated or will the upcoming be your first?

As for the question in the OP; I do not understand the need for MGC in the trade. Even if you have tons of space and want a large pangasius sp., you could just go for Paroon sharks. They cost maybe 50$ a pop, look much better and will reach 6' in captivity, albeit slower than a MGC.
I guess it's a rarity and exclusivity thing? Just my 0.02$

Sorry for high jacking this thread, I just got carried away.
That is true, I have one paroon, he is about 7 inches long. I guess we will see how big he gets.
I love huge fish, I guess that is why I would love to have one. I would never want to take anything from the wild, but one from a farm I would love. I will keep dreaming. I have some lovely large fish already, I I can't complain too much.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

That's ok. It felt good when someone comments on my thread. It's more lively.

Back to the topic, I never wanted a wild caught one because I know the price would probably sky rocket. What I really wanted is a farm raised clone ones. It may not be 7', but if the dna is pure/even for a hybrid, yeah it can probably reached 5-6'.

Like C Chub_by said, rarity. Wild ones, yes if I could get one but 'clone' are just fine for me. But if everyone's given a chance, they would probably chose the genuine wild caught.

I've seen so many fish keepers here have rarity and exclusively in their care. Why would MGC be any different? Its just my opinion, hobbyists and greed, they come together.

 

[moe214]

That's ok. It felt good when someone comments on my thread. It's more lively.

Back to the topic, I never wanted a wild caught one because I know the price would probably sky rocket. What I really wanted is a farm raised clone ones. It may not be 7', but if the dna is pure/even for a hybrid, yeah it can probably reached 5-6'.

Like C Chub_by said, rarity. Wild ones, yes if I could get one but 'clone' are just fine for me. But if everyone's given a chance, they would probably chose the genuine wild caught.

I've seen so many fish keepers here have rarity and exclusively in their care. Why would MGC be any different? Its just my opinion, hobbyists and greed, they come together.

Most of the fish we consider rare are due to exporting the fish is either hard, dangerous, or illegal. Mgc is genuinely rare even in the wild, being close to extinct AFAIK. That's what makes it different.

 

[ichthusfish]

I had 3 a few years back. They werent exactly legal though....
I think you can look for it in by looking for my old threads?
They are currently in a public aquarium and they look very nice. Now that theyre grown, they were clearly MGCs and i will try to ask the manager for some pics.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I had 3 a few years back. They werent exactly legal though....
I think you can look for it in by looking for my old threads?
They are currently in a public aquarium and they look very nice. Now that theyre grown, they were clearly MGCs and i will try to ask the manager for some pics.

It'd be awfully helpful and nice of you if you found and posted every photo you took of these alleged three MGC, along with their current photos.

 

[amazonfishman]

The last and only true Mekong Giant Catifsh I've seen in the US were confiscated by Parks and Wildlife and were in the possession of the Dallas World Aquarium in their quarantine tanks and that was probably 8-9 years ago. They had maybe 50 5-6" ones. I've seen lots of Paroons and several other Pangasius like the Striped Pangasius which is similarish looking to the MGC but never any true ones available in the US. Most places that would have them for sale online will only ship to SGP/JAP/etc in Asia and not across to us. Same sort of thing I've seen on Golden Price Carp where they have farm raised ones and no exportation of them. They still have MGC in the wild in some numbers but no monsters anymore hardly at all due to over fishing and there is a major state sponsored reintroduction program that has been underway for several years to attempt to help the local populations with some success. The Chao Phraya has them and the Mekong River as well obviously. The fishing parks have captive bred supply generally from somewhere and then it's just a matter of time for them to get big. I've fished a few of them in Bangkok/Krabi and catching a 100lb+ is fairly easy if you've got a few days and in some cases there are 200lb+ fish caught and they've been in the lakes for less than 15 years.