Wanted-rare predatory catfish and other predatory fish

[mjj4307, posts: 12]

Hi, im looking for rare predatory catfish/predatory fish to go in my 10ft tank or 8x6x3 indoor pond.

Without looking up the latin names the types im interested in are:_
1- gulper catfish
2- Goonch Catfish
3-Tigrinus Catfish
4-Wells catfish
5-Hemibagrus wyckii (Crystal-eyed Catfish)
6-Vulture catfish
7- Any other predatory cats
8-Also after Arapima gigas, and other predatory fish

Size- Ideally between 5" to 24" but any size considered

I live in west yorkshire England but will travel for right fish
phone/text me with details
07714578645

Thanks max

[Richard B, posts: 6307]

Pier in wigan had Goonch & Gulper's recently and have vultures in from time to time. Wykii crop up lots of places.

How wide is the 10 Foot tank? as the pond is a bit on the small side for some of these.

You need a licence for Wels (Silurus Glanis) & most other coldwater catfish from that genus and from Ictaluridae.

[sidguppy, posts: 3827]

you got a 10 foot tank and want to add a 10 foot fish.

Arapaima gigas....
this is also a Red Listed species, threatened by overfishing; if hobbyists attempt to keep it, it should be kept in a responsible manner.

but it simply gets too large for any hobbyist to keep.
there are perhaps 2 or 3 private tanks in the whole of Europe that are suitable. I know of 1 German aquarium that's large enough

Amsterdam Zoo Artis has 3 Arapaima's; they are kept with 3 Red Tails (all fully grown) a few Pacu's and some Oxydoras.

they are in a 100,000L tank (count the zero's!), that is 21996.9 Imperial Gallons or 26417.2 US Gallons....

I've seen them last august, been "backstage" as well so I could view them from above and check the filtration (over twice the volume of that tank!) and that tank is just abnout adequate for those fish.

none of the Arapaima's is fully grown, they measure about 2.0-2.3 meter (8 feet) and so can add an extra 3 feet.....

and you want to cram this monster in a 10 foot tank or 8 foot pond?



the Wells, even if you didn't need paperwork for it, is a cold water fish and cannot be kept with any of the others.

it can get even bigger than the Arapaima, or at least heavier and wider.

the Hemibagrus wyckii is extremely agressive and because of this it's also unsuitable to combine with other fishes.
this particular species has a reputation of taking apart tankmates.
even experienced "monster fish keepers" sooner or later have to separate it from the rest of their fish.

the Goonch Bagarius spp is also too large for either tank or pond, because it can reach over 5 feet in length.
this is a rheophile fish; it needs quite a bit of current and a lot of oxygen.
compare this with fish like the Arapaima or the Wells that live in slow or stagnant water (the Arapaima does breathe atmospheric air to cope with lack of oxygen); they are from very different biotopes.

Vulture cats are pretty and well suited for captivity, but a bit of homework would have tought you that they are not to be trusted with bigger (!) fish, especially slower ones.
they have that name for a reason.
with similar sized fish or smaller (not too small,. mind) fish, they are fine.
but they tend to see large slow fish as an extra food source.


the Gulper Cat is a LOT smaller than any of the others.
with an adult length of 8" or a bit more it would end up as very expensive food for almost all of the other fish
it IS suitable for a 10 foot tank (it can be kept in a 5 footer with ease), but if you put it in with larger faster fish that also tackle live prey it might starve to death



I think it's realistic to say that it's back to the drawing board with this plan

[racoll, posts: 4473]

Arapaima gigas....
this is also a Red Listed species, threatened by overfishing; if hobbyists attempt to keep it, it should be kept in a responsible manner.

Not to mention CITES Appendix II listed.

[mjj4307, posts: 12]

Thanks for your advice

The fish that im after would take a long time to reach there max size- and surely when housed in a home aquarium they are never going to reach there full size that they grow to in there natural environment.

Yes i agree that a few of the species i have listed should not be housed in a home aquarium of any size- but if you consider the natural environment of most predatory fish- then even a 20,000 gallon home aquarium is tiny in comparison to the Amazon river?. So all home fish keeping should be considered cruel?

Many Fish keepers do keep these monster fish, and in my opinion if you can house them in a large as possible tank and provide them with perfect water conditions and regular balanced diet then you are giving them nearly as good a life as they had in the wild.

My plans was to get these fish as small as possible, grow them on and i plan to build a 15000 gallon tank in the foreseeable future.

Thanks Max

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2279]

Welcome, Max! Good to see your ambitions. You and I share in the passion but there is only a handful of active members here who keep large fish (it is hard and expensive for a serious hobbyist). Nevertheless, IMO this site is still the best fish site to belong to. SidGuppy brings up very good, educational points, being one of the experts, but read more here and there on Planet Catfish and make up your own opinion. Good luck with your grand plans. You will need it

You might consider networking with this guy viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31406&hilit=+rescue

[Bas Pels, posts: 1920]

Thanks for your advice

The fish that im after would take a long time to reach there max size- and surely when housed in a home aquarium they are never going to reach there full size that they grow to in there natural environment.

most fish grow larger than in nature - assuming you take good care of them. Why do that do that? Because nature means a lot of starvation, and than they get eaten. You will feed your fish regularly (large fish perhaps once a week, but still more than they would get in nature)

Only if you don't take good care of the (I mean keep them in polluted water for instance) they will remain small

Yes i agree that a few of the species i have listed should not be housed in a home aquarium of any size- but if you consider the natural environment of most predatory fish- then even a 20,000 gallon home aquarium is tiny in comparison to the Amazon river?. So all home fish keeping should be considered cruel?

This is odd. You agree the fish should not be kept in a tank - anmd still you want to do precisely that

Many Fish keepers do keep these monster fish, and in my opinion if you can house them in a large as possible tank and provide them with perfect water conditions and regular balanced diet then you are giving them nearly as good a life as they had in the wild.

My plans was to get these fish as small as possible, grow them on and i plan to build a 15000 gallon tank in the foreseeable future.

Thanks Max

The problem is still, you write als large as possible. That is, the needs of the fish are not met, because the fishes need much more than your wallet can afford. Nothing to be ashamed of, a RTC of a meter (over 3 feet) might cost you around 100.000 US $ a year due to water changes, heating and filtration if you provide it with sufficient room. The food might cost 1000 US $, the water is the problem.

You intend to build a 15.000 gallon tank, even though you wrote they might need a 20.000 gallon tank, or more. And than, what happens before the tank is build? Are you certain the tank will be build? People get divorced, they die, they loose jobs - all perfect reasons not to build that tank, but the fishes will pay the prize.

I'd say, first get the tank, than the fishes.

But still, 15.000 us gallon is less than 60.000 liter of water - say the tank could be 10 * 6 * 1 meter - or 6 * 5 * 2 meter. That is, 33 * 20 * 3 feet 4 inches or 20 * 16 * 6 feet 8 inches in your measures.

I do hope you agree a 20 * 16 feet tank is too small to house an Arapaima gigas growing to 10 feet

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2279]

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