Malinah

Do you have any advice on ID shark, those catfish seem pretty crazy! I can't believe how they can be easily scared of everything. I even have to removed my big rocks from the fish tank, my black ID shark was scared of it!

Anything has not to be bigger tham him even other fish or he gets scared and try to commit suicide by slamming himself into glasses, top and everything on his path!!!

When he was in his first tank with really big red fish, he went crazy one day and he really hurts himself into the glass. I've found him in a plant upside down and all bloody! I have kept the shark in my hand in a bowl full of water for 2 hours because he was keeping turning upside down and wasn't taking his air. So I did it for 2 hours until he was looking normal. I removed the big fish, put the shark back in and everything was fine after. His bloody nose has cures.

You should have seen the drama when I've put him in his new fish tank! He refused to ate for a week! Now he looks okay and eat well!

I feed him every day with bloodworms and tiny shrimp. I aslo tried bigger shrimp like cocktail shrimp but he got scared once again!!!

A single knock on the glass and there he goes....WHAM!!! into the glasses and top! Hope he will chill out as he gets older, I don't want him to break my new 2000$ fish tank!!!

Any advice or anything will be appreciate to help to understand those crazy fish!

P.S. Sorry if I make any spelling or grammatical errors, the reason it's because I'm french.

TFA101

First off, these catfish will reach an average of 18 inches with the large tank you've provided him. In the wild these fish are capable of achieving lengths of up to 3 feet and 100 pounds. This fish, though commonly sold among the average petstores, are generally unsuitable fotr the life in a home aquarium. Many people have made the mistake of getting this fish and having them outgrow up to 3 tanks, and eventually end up digging them a pond for them to thrive in.

These catfish are rather nervous fish by their nature, and aside from keeping these fish in shoals (schools), there is really nothing you can do unless your provide him with shelter like large plastic plants and such, but keep an open area in the tank for swimming room. You will be able to temporarally keep these guys successfully, but they will later on need a tank about the size you'd see Shamu living in (public aquarium size, in other words). They should be avoided at all costs in the future.

Allie

ID sharks should be kept in aquariums NOT found in the average home.
I really wish lfs would stop getting fish who grow too big...more than a foot is too much for any home aquarium.

Malinah

Yeah no doubt! They should stop selling this kind of fish in pet store! My pet store has stopped! Its a good thing!

But now I have 2 ID shark....and for the advice, if they outgrow my fish tank I cannot dig a pond for them cause we have really bad winter out here and they won't survivre to this!

The guy at the pet store told me, it take up to a year and half to be 18 inches.....is it true

TFA101

it depends on the tank size you give them. some people I know have managed to stunt their growth in some cases

Allie

That's not a good thing.

TFA101

I know, it's not a recommended thing to do as stunting the growth of fish is unhealthy, and at times fatal

Jo3olous

stunting growth is fatal, just because they are not growing on the outside, does not mean their internal organs arent growing on the inside. If they die do to stunted growth, its because their internal organs caused internal bleeding due to lack of external growth. Now we all know human midgets don't experience this, but fish are not human.

And these ID sharks really need to stop being sold in stores. So many of the noobs that post on this site that own ID sharks are very ignorant about them. But every once in a while you have the more decent person who writes about housing these in a 100+G tank. Either way its still not enough.

Jessie

Ok. I'm trying to find some clarification on this. I've been searching the internet and half the sites I find say that the ID's get to be 12 inches, some say 18", and then others say 4 feet. Does anyone know a respectable source to find information on them?

Jessie

To answer to above question, I present this for everyones viewing.



We now have visual evidence that yes they get huge.

Allie

Eww they is one BIG ugly fish!!

Wilhelm Joshua Tan

Sutchi catfishes are creatures that like any animal don't want to get hurt. Maybe it needs a friend. And second thing maybe the shrimp is too big to be eaten.