Channel Catfish Barbels

[jdean64]

I recently purchased a Gold (Albino) Catfish (5 "). I placed the catfish in with some of my Juvenile Cichlids (Green and Red Terrors, Jack Dempseys) and a breeding pair of convicts. I assume throughout the evening the catfish ventured into where the fry's were.

The next morning the catfish was missing the upper barbel with flesh areas showing in the area of the barbel. I relocated him to a more peaceful tank (though the will find them to be food).

I wondered, though the catfish have the ability to regrow the barbel (as I read in someo fo your posts), can the wound be too deep? There is just a little area where you can see the wound. The catfish is swimming and eating. Extremely active.

I currently have the catfish in a 55 gallon tank and want to get the catfish back up to the larger tank. What is the growth rate and at what size should I try to reintroduce the catfish (if at all)?

Thanks,
Jeff

[Richard B]

This isn't my specialist area but a channel cat with the cichlids you describe doesn't sound like a good mix for a number of reasons

- the cat is a temperature/coldwater species whereas the c*****ds are tropical.

- the c*****ds are all of a certain aggrssion level & the channel cat is not eqipped to look after himself in such company

The barbel should grow back in time as long as there is no infection or continued assault on the channel cat.Personally i'd avoid reintroducing the channel to the c*****d setup whatever size - the channel will (given space) grow big enough to predate on quite large fish.