Iredescent Sharks

[sofia]

Anyone here have an iredescent shark? (Pangassius catfish ). If you do, please describe it's behaviour. (night time & day). Thanks.

 

[lil'nemo]

Can't tell you much about the daytime (because I'm not home very much during day light hours to observe much). But I do have 2 Iridescent sharks. Overall for the most part when I'm watching my tank they swim back and forth along the length of the tank following each other. They're pretty peaceful. During feeding time (if they don't get spooked) they're appetite is very healthy. However if one of the two get scared then both just freeze up for a while. (Meaning they find some spot where they think they're hidden and just lie on their sides for a lenghty amount of time, either that or they dart back and forth a couple of rounds then settle and play dead. I've read that this is fairly common them being very nervous fish. I've noticed that when the tank lights are off they are more at ease. I worry about them alot, especially when I clean my tank...and they just freak out. I also worry because they are so prone to ich and are just sensitive. They've survived the worst case when I bought them. I bought them sick with ich (knowing that they probably wouldn't survive much longer)...I was determined to save them! Few nights in the hospital tank, half dosed meds, and some uncrowded conditions proved two of the three that I purchased well. There's a whole lot of money that will be invested in getting them a bigger home....just as I was determined to get them well again...I was untimately determined to raise them in proper conditions. Right now however, they only favor one side of the tank (I don't know why this is). My aquarium has half sand substrate on one side, and pebbles on the other...they like the sand side. It shall be done eventually though.

 

[Guest]

My Irridescent Sharks (Pangasius Catfish) act in the same manner. They like to frequent the length of the tank, most of the times hugging the glass walls. Mine don't ever hide, and it's like they're Bala Sharks, darting to and fro if you ever happen to scare them. I have never seen them at night, because it's lights out.

 

[sofia]

That's very intresting because my iredescent shark, well when i first bought him and put him into a new tank which then had no gravel or decorations or any fish and put him in. He played dead during the day but still ate and I saw him swim normally during the night. Then when I was reconstructing my bare tank I took him out & put him into a bucket and he turned COMPLETELY white...totally like an albino shark so I got really scared and dumped him into one of my over crowded tanks and he turned back to black and started swiming normally during the day (this tank has dark blue gravel) I was relieved.

Then after about a week I decided to transfer him to a less crowded tank with a lighter gravel & now he's again just laying on his side ALL DAY but still eats and only comes out to swim when the lights are off. The water quality is normal & it has nothing to do with light because once I turned on the lights in the night & he kept swiming normally. This is really confusing me. Could it be because of the lighter gravel? or something? No other fish ever bother him.

 

[sofia]

Check this out:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/pangasii/pangasiu/172_9.php

I just HAD to share that photo with you guys

 

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, folks really have no idea how big they really get! I can't believe how many places they are for sale for 10g tanks. I've seen them that big at the Shedd Aquarium.

 

[smilla4]

Check this out:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/pangasii/pangasiu/172_9.php

I just HAD to share that photo with you guys

Good god! Why do people sell such large fish for household aquariums!!!

---

I've seen a thread or two discussing fish preference for darker gravel... re your shark.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Just like pacus, clown knives, mbu puffers, etc, except this fish is offered everywhere, for cheap.

 

[aridiar]

geez, that things gotta be atleast two feet!

 

[sofia]

The asian guy at the lfs told me that these sharks were completely fine to live in a 10 gallon all their lives...after seeing that photo I just want to go back there and slap him lol.

I figured there would absolutely be no point in taking the shark back to the lfs considering he will sell it to someone else with a 10 gallon or even a 5 gallon, so I figured since I am geting a 100 gallon in 2 months, he can wait 2 months in a small aquarium. Also these sharks rarely get that big as the photo in tanks. They usually grow 6-12" in most tanks.

 

[grimlock3000]

Right, most of the fish barely reach a foot because the cramped aquariums they live in are not healthy for them

 

[sofia]

I saw these sharks kept in huge aquariums also & they still weren't as big as they get in the wild.

 

[Guest]

I have a species tank of these guys right now, and they are nowhere near one foot yet. Anyway, I checked them out at night, and it doesn't look like they go to sleep, neither do my Bala Sharks. They just keep swimming around like nothing. I don't have a night vision camera, and I go to sleep early, so I don't know what they are doing at night.

 

[sofia]

what gallon tank and how many sharks do you keep in there? I am thinking the problem with my shark is that the light colored tank had less decorations...he probably felt more secure with more decors.

 

[lil'nemo]

It really does seem as if they never sleep...they're always on the go when the lights are dimmed. I've lingered around and stared at my tank for hours during the night, being most of my fish are nocturnal this is the best time for me to observe and enjoy them...and it's always the same, the iridescents never hover in the same place for more than a second or two.
Sofia...I just thought of something, maybe he came all funny colored because of the movement or change in environment, from placing him into a bucket then to another tank. Maybe the temperature, or could be any number of things, gravel color like you mentioned? Maybe the other fish in the tank you placed him in after the bucket made him feel more comfortable. I do hear that they like company, preferebly of their own kind but you'll never know. Just some suggestions. I've never tried moving my sharks to anywhere...but I'll bet anything that they'd probably have some sort of reaction to it like yours did.

 

[sofia]

I don't know...I moved him back to the dark gravel tank and he acts the same, he ONLY swims during the night and plays dead during the day. I really don't know why....it started bothering me more now.