I have been able to keep bullhead catfish year around indoors in an unheated aquarium. They are anything but demanding. Ours were introduced to the Columbia River System in the Pacific Northwest USA incidental to 1890's introduction of Channel Catfish and Small Mouth Bass. Flathead Catfish were ...

The fish you suggest tend to grow very large. The size of tank that requires probably outstrip the entire schools budget, unless you DO plan on eating the fish when it reaches an unsuitable size for the tank.

I'd recommend that you look at for example Bullhead catfish of the genus Ameiurus ...

I'm a grade 5 teacher, and my class and I are wanting a classroom pet; we'd like to find out more about keeping a catfish aquarium. Several of my students are avid fishermen and they'd like to know if we could set up a tank with local species (blues, channels, flatheads).
Before you get the wrong ...