Tig catfish, Brachyplatystoma tigrinum, ~15", in 4500 gal

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update. Still have the 9 tigs but the biggest, 2-footer, which is separate from the other tigs in a 240 gal, has been on a hunger strike for many months, feels like 4-5 months now. It worries me a lot. It had been feeding enviably before for a couple of years, inhaling fish and pellets alike like there was no tomorrow. Then with no warning started to not show any interest in feed right after I rehomed some of its tank mates, in particular 4 pbass, from its tank.

I wonder if it's just the tank's too small for it, which stresses it or tells it there is no point in the feeding and growing anymore. The tig is awaiting an upgrade to a new tank. This is the big guy:

The following video features the same 240 gal tank with 8 tigs as in the above post. The feeding behavior is poor, especially on the tigs part, because the fish are not used to having the tank lights on, not to mention that tigs in general hate light; also placing a camera in the tank made the fish uneasy.

I got them to move a bit at the video's end but they bolted instead of just calmly breaking up their catpile, which was located behind the camera.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update.

I had transferred the biggest tig to this 240 gal to have them all together. I was hoping the competition with another 8 tigs would make it start feeding. It hasn't been working though for the last several months. Only today I saw the big tig take a few bites of fish and pellets. I was so happy (praise the Lord!!) and afraid to hope that this will continue and improve. It has been about 7-8 months (!) since that tig had anything substantial to eat, not that I noted anyway.

Their overall behavior and feeding improved substantially... yet, I can tell that some of them, 1 or 2 or 3, are less comfortable than the rest.

One of them kicked the bucket without a warning. It was one of the more skittish ones if not the most flaky one, as evidenced by its bent upper jaw. Final measure 18". It was one of the smallest.

So now we are back at eight 18"-24" tigs in the same 240 tank. I have started earnestly gluing together their future 2000 gal tank.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update on the tigs. Still the same octet in the same 240 gal. The biggest and the oldest tig has started feeding well, which made me very happy. You gotta win some and lately we have been mostly losing.

I stated before that this is an experiment and at first I thought it failed, then things got better, then much better, now a bit worse. I am judging by how the tigs behave and how much they swim around and how relaxed they are. About 3-4 of them prefer to pile up most of the time behind the drain screen, which I interpret as a negative sign. Their appetite has been very good over this experiment.

 

[kingthedog]

beautiful fish man

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

beautiful fish man

Thank you bro. I am quite grateful and I know you are new here ... just thought I'd mention that I dislike trivial posts in my threads. Just for the future. There is a like button and a PM for trivial things. Pretty please. Hope you'd understand. MFK gives some rights to the thread starters. Thank you.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The things have been going well with the 8 tigs, actually quite well. They have all been feeding aggressively. Only one or two have been on the timid side but they came out too for the feedings. They like their pellets and thawed glass minnows or herring.

I have finally finished their new home, an 1800 gal tank:

And in it they have gone recently. They have been there for a week and a half and maybe only now starting to show signs of interest in food. Can't keep close track of all of them but eventually I will. I hope they will have transitioned nicely in the end. Right now it is too early to tell. They don't have to keep so close to each other anymore as it had been for years in that 240 gal, so they spread out. I don't see any evidence of fighting but they will be settling in for a while, finding their places in the tank.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The 8 tigs have been doing well in the 1800 gal. They have started feeding well after the rehoming and found their own territories. There are sometimes some skirmishes and split fins when someone ventures into another's territory but for the most part it is rather peaceful. They have been in the new tank for only around 5-6 weeks yet.

 

[vincentwugwg]

The things have been going well with the 8 tigs, actually quite well. They have all been feeding aggressively. Only one or two have been on the timid side but they came out too for the feedings. They like their pellets and thawed glass minnows or herring.

I have finally finished their new home, an 1800 gal tank:

And in it they have gone recently. They have been there for a week and a half and maybe only now starting to show signs of interest in food. Can't keep close track of all of them but eventually I will. I hope they will have transitioned nicely in the end. Right now it is too early to tell. They don't have to keep so close to each other anymore as it had been for years in that 240 gal, so they spread out. I don't see any evidence of fighting but they will be settling in for a while, finding their places in the tank.

This is an amazing build Viktor!! I really enjoyed the video as well. Keep up the awesome work.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The 8 tigs can be seen here and there throughout the video:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

This video is specifically about our tig experience so far: