Identify this catfish?

[dieanna]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and to aquariums. I've been working on my first aquarium. I bought this catfish at Walmart. They guy told me that a batch of these catfish were special ordered by another employee so he could get a couple of them. The were selling a couple that were left over. He couldn't tell me what kind of cat it was. Can anyone help? I can't get a decent picture of him because he sticks to his den. He's black with long white whiskers. He has a round belly, and his underside is white. Right now he's about 3 inchs long. He is also the fish in my avitar. Thanks

 

[mr86mister]

its very hard to tell by the picture but i know he will get big....here are some sites that can help

http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/taxa/families_w_thumbs.html

http://www.planetcatfish.com/

 

[rubysoho]

:| most catfish sold in walmart get huge and should never have been introduced to the hobby of fish keeping. An example is the poor Asian Sun Cats who I now see everywhere and I want to stangle the idiot who ordered them. Thos grow to over something like 22 inches! arg... but hopefully this isn't the case.

It does look similar to a redtailed catfish though... but I haven't seen a good picture of a young one so I could definatly be wrong.

 

[bussardnr]

i dont think its a redtail. but it does look like something that gets huge

 

[Toirtis]

Could be an Asian redtail (a giant, super-murderous cat), or possibly one of the Bagridae.....a full-body photo or two will help greatly. I do agree that he looks like he is probably one of the 'matures at above 14" long' species.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Nope not a redtail. It is probably going to go over 15 inches though, most fish sold at Walmart will get very big.

 

[FawnN]

I know it's not, but it looks like the channel catfish I caught last week in the lake.

Walmart is notorious for selling fish that get extremely huge for any normal size aquarium.

 

[Toirtis]

Nope not a redtail. .

Not a South American redtail, but possibly an Asian redtail...two very different fish.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Not a South American redtail, but possibly an Asian redtail...two very different fish.

Maybe, but the barbels don't really look like an Asian redtail. It would really help if you could get a picture of the whole catfish.

 

[dieanna]

catfish - full body photos

Here are the best images I could get in the dark. Thanks again.

 

[mr86mister]

wow, he's an awesome good looking catfish and thanks for the pics that will help mucho

 

[dieanna]

Thank you. Yeah, I picked him because I thought he was adorable. He's definitely the coolest fish in the tank.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Right now your tank is way overstocked. Do you plan on upgrading to a larger tank?

Blue gourami-5"
mollies-4.75"
red-eye tetra (not sure what they are, but probably-2"
cory (should really be in groups of 4 or more)-2.5"
pleco I'm assuming a common-18"

Thats 44" of fish in a 10 gal when you should be having at most 10" of fish.

HTH

 

[dieanna]

Yes, I plan on splitting them all up into several tanks. They are all still very small so I'm figuring I have a little bit of time.

 

[Toirtis]

Looks suspiciously like a fairly melanistic Ictalurus furcatus...I would have been tempted to suggest Hemibargrus wyckii, but those are uncommon, and I cannot see Wal-Mart carrying one. Congrats, you have a potentially 5' long 100lb catfish that will kill and eat anything in its path.

 

[dieanna]

lol, great. Any suggestions of what to do with it when it gets bigger?

 

[Toirtis]

Do you or a friend have a large pond that needs a catfish?


And get bigger he will....he will likely be topping 10" by mid-September.

 

[Toirtis]

I suggest swapping him out ASAP....it will probably be a matter of perhaps days or a week or two before your tetras disappear...then the mollies...then the Cory...it will be a good month or so before he makes a move on the gouramis...but once he has finished them, that pleco (who will likely be a good 5"-6" by then, on his way to 28"+) will start looking good.

 

[Toirtis]

red-eye tetra (not sure what they are, but probably-2"

Likely Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae...they can reach almost 3".

 

[dieanna]

Good old walmart. I'll figure something out with him. I'm sure I can find someone to take him. I think he's a channel cat. I was looking at the different Ictalurus species and Ictalurus punctatus looks the closest to my cat. And now it makes sense. I had 2 small glass shrimp, then one morning they weren't there. Even though he's a killer, I'm going to miss him
Thanks for all the help!