All posts regarding the care and breeding of catfishes from other parts of the world (North America, Europe and Australia). If you don't know where your catfish is from, post a query in the identification category.
Very interesting thing happened today. I went fishing at a place called Teeter that I often fish and camp at. Most of the fish there are brown bullhead but there are other species as well...golden shiners, pumkinseed and largemouth bass also live here. Anyway....went fishing there with my gf and her brother and caught a few bullhead. One of the ones her brother caught was hooked in the gills and was bleeding a little bit. We tried to get the hook out but alas...the fish seemed dead. I placed into the water with no gill movement or anything, it was really pale and just lay there...lifeless. We did get the hook out but only after it appeared dead. So I decided that we would take it home and cook it. I would eat some (first meat food in 9 years) and also give some to the oscars after it was cooked of course. So we fished some more and grabbed the fish outta the water when it came time to leave. I carried it on top of my tackbox and it was a pretty long walk back. It even fell off twice. We put it in the car and drove off. It was outta water the whole time. We stopped and my gf's grandparents on the way home to grab some stuff and ended up staying for an hour or so. We decided to leave because the bullhead was still sitting in the car. We got it back, I got out my fish cooking/filleting book (never did up a bullhead before) and tossed it on to the chopping block. I grabbed the fillet knife and was just about to cut it when my gf's brother saw its gills move. "No Way!!!!" that fish CANNOT be alive, I know bullhead are stong but seriously...I thought it must be nerves but he seemed to me really trying to breath at this point. I put him in a 3 gallon bucket and ran some water in it. I put declor, some stress coat (slime coat REALLY damaged) and an airstone in the water. The fish has now been in there for over two hours. He was only breathing at first and floating on his side...still very pale. He now has almost all his color back, is moving some more and has started opening his mouth. Incredible!!!!
Here is a very recent picture of the fish, he still may not make it but if he does I will post an updated picture in the morning. When he starts moving more I will place him in a 30g 2 foot wide storage container.
Keep in mind...over two hours without water. I am very unhappy that this happened to the fish but shocked and amazed that he is making it through.
My bet is that he will make it through. These are an extremley tough fish and are capable of extensive periods in low O2. My worry would be a massive infection from the damaged mucous covering and also too great a blood loss,(you say he was hooked in the gills). In clean water and darkness he may well make it. Good Luck. (When I was a child I kept a chubb I caught in the river near my home in a 30g for three years).
While trout fishing a friend of mine caught a rainbow trout of around 2.5kg (6lb) on the last day of a week long trip. we decided to keep it 'for the pan' and smacked it hard on the head with a suitable sized rock. We then took a few pictures and made a small rock pool by the river side to keep it cool while we continued fishing. We fished for about an hour and the sun came out so we went back to the pool to get some better photos, picked up the fish, took the picks and dropped it back in the pool. About 90 mins later we got back to the area to eat some lunch and both watched in total amazement as the fish was now flapping around in the pool(which was no more than 1" deep) I rushed over to grab it but it gave a leap slipped out of the pool and plowed off into the river. No idea if it survived but it had been lying in 1" of water for at close on 3 hours and musta had one hell of a headache at the very least. It was winter and spawning season so I guess the urge to head upriver overwhelmed the neccessity to die.
Now that is a suprise...trout are normally a lot more delicate then many other fish. I have found trour at the hatchery laying in the snow though after being moved maybe a half hour or more before and they were still alive.
As for the bullhead, he is doing much better now...swimming around in the 30g container. I imagine I damaged his slime coat a lot by careing him around an messing with him. I need a filter for him though...a cycled filter. I already knew bullhead were capable of extended periods without water but I havd never actually seen it till now.
He died, like a few minutes ago and I don't think he is coming back. Damn...I was really excited about keeping this fish. I am not suprised it the least however, he went through a hard time.
When I was a child, I kept a bullhead fry in a jar. This was before I knew about dechlorinating water or water changes. It lived for a long time, several months.
I've recently been thinking a tank with sunfish and madtoms would be really cool.
A long time ago I caught a small bullhead and put it in with a few goldfish. Each morning, the goldfish would have a small amount of fin missing. Being the genius that I am, I concluded that there was a "nighttime only" bacteria eating their fins. I left the light on for a few days and the fish were fine. Then, thinking that the bacteria would have been dead, I turned the light out. Sure enough, next morning the "bacteria" had eaten more fins.
It took a good week for me to realize that the nocturnal bullhead was chewing on the goldfish. He was a perfect gentleman during the daytime, but not so at night. The "evil" bullhead was safely returned to the neighborhood pond after that.
Thankfully, I know a little more about fish and "bacteria" these days.
