PlanetCatfish.com

I am debating on trying to find and pick up a Piraiba. I know people have them, but I want to get some research done before I jump the gun. So if those who have them could shed some light on their growth rates, eating habits, size ponds they are kept in? Any kind of really husbandry information would be much appreciated....also he would be sharing a home with a red tailed cat, and a RTCxTSN hybrid.


Thanks all,
Kevin

Do you have a scientific name, as I can't find anything matching "Piraiba" in my search. Scientific names are defined to be globally unique - common names vary from one place to another, as well as some of them covering a whole group of fishes.

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Mats

is the scientific name of this fish.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Mod edit: Make clog-tag for easier reference --Mats]

Hi Kevin / all.

Unfortunately due to the incredible final size of these fish I doubt you'll get a great deal of feedback just purely because very few people have them.
Certainly not here in the UK anyway, I've never spoken to anyone that's kept one let alone seen one in the flesh Im afraid.

I would assume that they are very similar in requirements to most of the other Brachyplatystoma Species in that they require excellent water conditions & MASSIVE aquaria or Ponds certainly in the case of Filamentosum.
Probabley quite spooky / jumpy too.
I would suggest that RTC are probabley too Active a tank mate for such a fish & boy would you need some final size Pond to fit them both in

Given that they grow to 9 feet and a bit, I expect you'll need something in the order of 9000 cubic feet (250 cubic meter, or 66000 gallons) to keep it when it's fully grown. Given that you also have some other monsters, I expect you've already planned for something huge to keep these fish...

--
Mats

Yep, such a majestic royal fish will need a majestic pond-temple - will it have a glass wall for viewing is up to you, I' d say. Unless you are real handy at building public-aquaria-size ponds and/or rich, you will view it mostly from the top, e.g., like a koi is meant to be

I too am still waiting to see one live and if you go for it, I'd be real excited for you.

I imagine at its final size of a small boat, it can eat or at least kill a half-grown RTC of 3'-4' and a well-grown RTCxTSN hybrid of the same proportions. 3' TSN are even more slender - an easier kill/prey for such a King of Cats.

Thanks everyone for the quck and speedy replies. I seem to be out of my league with this fish...maybe somewheres down the road when I live in a warmer climate...but not right now. I would not want to risk my other fish becoming dinner. I have however talked to a man from another site who does nded have one, very slow growers so I am told, it took him a year to raise the one he has from 2"-14". Very slow for big cars in my opinion. Viktor I realized you live in Rochester, I live just north of Binghamton, Ny if you know where that is, about 4 hours East of you.

B. rousseauxii, a close relative, does not have as large of an adult size, but in the wild, first year fish have been found to be about 16" long, and by a year and a half can reach 24". Another study found that B. filamentosum grows almost twice as fast as B. rousseauxii; however, their estimate for growth rates of B. rousseauxii and B. filamentosum were incredibly low.

Nice piece of info, Milton! It's a privilege to have the likes of you on board and be learning from you.

Kevin, you are practically my neighbor on the scale of this earth-sized site! I have picked up fish from private owners and bought from LFS's in both Siracuse (2 h) and Albany (4 h) areas. I know Binghampton - I have a couple of friends living there and going to the University - my priest's daughter who tutors math and chemistry and her husband who is working on his Ph. D. in math there.

One day, we should hook up and chat. Are you ever in Rochester or Buffalo or Niagara Falls? Every year, my better half and I visit Corning and Watkins Glen one or two times, which is about 1-2 h from you.

Happy to have an enthusiast like you (and from the first experiences your tastes mirror mine) so close.

Viktor

I am not generally going that direction, however I am always willing a trip to meet a fellow enthusiast.

Well, unless you visit Rochester first, one day I would like to explore LFSs in your area, i.e., Corning, Ithaca, Elmyra, and Binghampton to see if there is anything big (or would-be-big or rare) they might have. I'd be happy to see you then (or have you as a guide if you have time and interest ).

(h) 585-621-2392
[email protected]

Viktor

And I would like to do the same in your area, around here there are not many good fish stores, I do have a LFS that does get in some rarer species sometimes, like right now they have a L25 plec, and some Scomb Aramatus. They also have a few RTCxTSN and TSNs right now, been thinking of picking up the other 2x RTCxTSNs but who knows.

all right, let me know well in advance though when you wanna come for a tour - I'll be glad to show you around. Good LFSs are rare everywhere. I'll have to take you to Lockport and Buffalo as the best ones are there.

Sounds like a plan to me.