Wels catfish, albino, ~10"

[justarn]

A nice outdoor pond with a window and some huge breeding pike would be my plan, baby pike feeders and a monster in the depths!-)
Great job so far dude, one of the true monsters and it can live in the cold, why not?
You have pm dude.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Video update on the surviving wels.

Although it reached 28", it is still in a 2' wide 240 gal, which sucks, but I don't want to move it to 4500 gal, where someone killed my other wels a year ago out of the blue. I don't think it likes its tank anymore. It became a lot more sedentary and feeds less frequently than before. It kind of looks like it is sulking.

I need to find a bigger tank for it sooner than later.

 

[wednesday13]

I think u got a while yet before needing to move him... i wouldnt be worried to much. Mine has always been pretty moody about feeding in typical cat fashion or just moody in general. IME they do not like change. Ive moved lids or bumped the tank too many times in a day and hes refused food for up to 3 weeks after at his discretion. Most any cats ive kept go on hunger strikes throughout the year just the same tho as im sure u see also. This past years feeding report for my guy was just as sporadic as what ur saying for urs. Whats different is that i saw the biggest appetite during mid summer when temps rose to 76-78°..then again during fall when they dropped to 68°. He was eating double the norm during those times. Even at 50" my specimen normally only consumes 1.5-2 tilapia fillets every 2-3 days if he chooses too. Some weeks hes not even hungry and refuses. He was exclusively on pellets his entire life until around 40" when they just couldnt keep him full anymore. Have u worked with him to hand feed? Does he beg at all? My guy pretty much has 2 moods...lick the glass until i fill his gullet....or sit in the corner/sulking. really no in between. Hell wear his face down begging for food when hes having an "on" day, throw water and snap violently. Other days when its time to feed he wants no part of it...even to the point of me reaching in and trying to insert food into his mouth lol... Again, looks like hes still got quite a bit of space in the 240. FME they dont need much room compared to other cats i.e. tsn,rtc,achara etc. there very slender and agile enough to turn around in a small space and dont seem to move much anyway unless there hungry.

I keep tabs on another fish from ur batch thats here in ohio... i often recieve texts about it not eating and need to re assure the owner its more than likely just fine. 9 times outta 10 there just growing/digesting and need a break. They really arent the monsters there made out to be. Over seas theyve found no ill effects of them being invasive due to the fact they dont consume very much food or very often.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I think u got a while yet before needing to move him... i wouldnt be worried to much. Mine has always been pretty moody about feeding in typical cat fashion or just moody in general. IME they do not like change. Ive moved lids or bumped the tank too many times in a day and hes refused food for up to 3 weeks after at his discretion. Most any cats ive kept go on hunger strikes throughout the year just the same tho as im sure u see also. This past years feeding report for my guy was just as sporadic as what ur saying for urs. Whats different is that i saw the biggest appetite during mid summer when temps rose to 76-78°..then again during fall when they dropped to 68°. He was eating double the norm during those times. Even at 50" my specimen normally only consumes 1.5-2 tilapia fillets every 2-3 days if he chooses too. Some weeks hes not even hungry and refuses. He was exclusively on pellets his entire life until around 40" when they just couldnt keep him full anymore. Have u worked with him to hand feed? Does he beg at all? My guy pretty much has 2 moods...lick the glass until i fill his gullet....or sit in the corner/sulking. really no in between. Hell wear his face down begging for food when hes having an "on" day, throw water and snap violently. Other days when its time to feed he wants no part of it...even to the point of me reaching in and trying to insert food into his mouth lol... Again, looks like hes still got quite a bit of space in the 240. FME they dont need much room compared to other cats i.e. tsn,rtc,achara etc. there very slender and agile enough to turn around in a small space and dont seem to move much anyway unless there hungry.

I keep tabs on another fish from ur batch thats here in ohio... i often recieve texts about it not eating and need to re assure the owner its more than likely just fine. 9 times outta 10 there just growing/digesting and need a break. They really arent the monsters there made out to be. Over seas theyve found no ill effects of them being invasive due to the fact they dont consume very much food or very often.

Hey Russ, buddy, thank you for that. It's a bit of a relief.

No I've not tried to train mine to hand feed. He spooks every now and then and darts, so I don't want to take chances.

I don't think either one of mine was ever a beggar.

Still... do any of them Ohioans keep their wels in large tanks? I mean tanks that far exceed the minimum requirements. I think the nature of wels that you described may be more or less like that but it could more like that in smaller tanks and less like that in big tanks.

I remember when my wels got transferred into 4500 gal, it struck me how much more active it was and how it was vacuuming the feed with great gusto. It looked like a very happy fish to me for the month or how ever long it spent in there.

 

[wednesday13]

Hey Russ, buddy, thank you for that. It's a bit of a relief.

No I've not tried to train mine to hand feed. He spooks every now and then and darts, so I don't want to take chances.

I don't think either one of mine was ever a beggar.

Still... do any of them Ohioans keep their wels in large tanks? I mean tanks that far exceed the minimum requirements. I think the nature of wels that you described may be more or less like that but it could more like that in smaller tanks and less like that in big tanks.

I remember when my wels got transferred into 4500 gal, it struck me how much more active it was and how it was vacuuming the feed with great gusto. It looked like a very happy fish to me for the month or how ever long it spent in there.

Valid point Vik, more space is always better of course and id agree temperment would be different. Nothing up here yet that exceeds the bare minimum lol... They do seem to get on just fine in smaller quarters tho. Ive had smaller cats that spooked more or i felt needed more room in the same tank.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Valid point Vik, more space is always better of course and id agree temperment would be different. Nothing up here yet that exceeds the bare minimum lol... They do seem to get on just fine in smaller quarters tho. Ive had smaller cats that spooked more or i felt needed more room in the same tank.

It's in my name

I guess we will keep our observations and sooner or later arrive at more and better clues.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Fifteen month update. Same tank, same wels but 3 feet now.

I placed a black ear shark catfish, three bala sharks, and three tinfoils in its tank a year ago or so and all of a sudden the wels became a greedy feeder and even now that only the black ear remains (the cyprinids moved on to the carp exhibit), the wels continues to feed very well, actually now liking and taking thawed fish eagerly, something the wels disregarded as feed for 2.5 years. Amazing!

The video starts off with a floating turd as an extra, haha... The wels hates the tank light, becomes restless, no point to even throw in the feed. He knocks the pipe extension off the pump output.

Before I get scolded bad, yes, the 8'x2'x2' tank's too small for the 3' wels and his new tank has been in the works. It's coming. I did place his brother in a 4500 gal a couple of years ago and it was killed in there, I don't know by who. So I really don't want to try it again. The wels has to ride it out until its new tank is ready. He's not doing too bad. His extreme flexibility helps. He doesn't freak out. Chills all day. Comes up to hand feed, feeds exceptionally well, so all in all not too stressed but I do hate to see him like that. I bought the acrylic and the weldon #40 glue for his new tank. Need to glue it together now.

The wels dislikes the poor one-eyed wolf fish, as evidenced by the tattered fins and abrased scales. The wolf has been since rehomed to a safe tank.

 

[fatboy8]

Awesome fish look forward to hearing more.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update on the wels below. I am still working slowly on its new tank, 6000 gal.

One thing to note (in addition to the video narration) is that wels and black ear shark love affair has been over for a while now. Wels bumps into the shark and lightly bites it, its fins, but leaves no damage while the shark bites the wels with a purpose and often leaves caudal and anal fins tattered. They usually keep to the opposite ends of the tank.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The wels is around 3.5' now, still in the same tank. In some months, God willing, I will finish our new 10,000 gal and then I will be able to transfer the wels into it or into a freed up 4500 gal.

His tank mate black ear shark catfish had gone to another tank (1800 gal) and the wels stopped feeding since. Been 2 weeks. Not too surprising.

17:15-17:35 min: