PlanetCatfish.com

Ah yes, thanks, I didn't think about the heat. Makes sense, thanks Viktor.

Jools

Sorry, Viktor. How long are they supposed to live?

Best,
Eric

Thank you Eric. Their lifespan data are a bit scattered... 6.5 to 50 years haha:

6.5 years in the wild
http://media.eol.org/pages/223395/articles
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Os ... cirrhosum/
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/fis ... cy-arowana

16 years in the wild "Stained growth mark counts resulted in a longevity estimate of at least 16 years for the silver arowana in the Peruvian Amazon."
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... icirrhosum

10-15 years in captivity
https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/silver ... 15%20years
and https://www.aquariumsource.com/silver-arowana/
and https://www.theaquariumguide.com/articl ... er-arowana

10-20 years in captivity
https://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/ ... rowana.php

20+ in captivity by another source
https://www.thatpetplace.com/articles/a ... care-guide

15-20 years, said up to 50 years (the very bottom of the first post in this thread)
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... is.329584/

Ours was around 10 years old.

Does this help?

That's a nasty looking wound, I was amazed how quickly and well it healed!

Did you add any medication at all or just lots of fresh water?

Keep up the good work!

Hi Marc, thank you. It seems to be the first thin skin layer. There is still a kind of depression and one can see the contours of where there the skin died off, that is where the new skin ends and the old thicker one begins. With time, it will thicken and fill out the depression. The front third of the dorsal fin is still missing of course too, I really hope it will grow back but it may not or not fully and it will take longer time.

No meds I used. Just transferred the Sperata to another tank system, which was running normally.

Someone on YouTube noted how the new skin started forming, as if coming through, right from the muscle tissue and the wound didn't get closed by the skin spreading laterally from the healthy skin on the borders. (This I observed for many other catfish species who suffered similar skin die-offs due to attacks). They asked if this was normal for other animals. IDK. I don't even know how it happens with humans who lose large swaths of skin. Does anyone know?

Viktor Jarikov wrote: ↑11 Dec 2020, 14:10Someone on YouTube noted how the new skin started forming, as if coming through, right from the muscle tissue and the wound didn't get closed by the skin spreading laterally from the healthy skin on the borders. (This I observed for many other catfish species who suffered similar skin die-offs due to attacks). They asked if this was normal for other animals. IDK. I don't even know how it happens with humans who lose large swaths of skin. Does anyone know?

Hi Viktor,

I've had some skin cancers removed where relatively large areas of skin are removed (2" or more) such that the skin cannot be closed with sutures and must heal as an open wound. It is my impression that both processes occur. First in the wounded area missing epidermis, the underlying connective tissue forms a thin "healed" epidermis. Then slowly, from the margins of the wound there is invasion. If you look at the sites on my skin where the healing has occurred, I'm not prepared to say that the side invasion is complete, as there is a permanent scar in the area. It is the shape of the original surgical skin removal but it's smaller, being partially filled in from the sides.

Good luck with the fish's recovery,
Eric

Thank you so much for this, Eric. So something similar does occur with humans.

* * * * *

Back to it:

Something a bit different:

Hi Viktor,

Do you think they could have matured and spawned in the sump? Are they too small to have spawned in there?

Cheers, Eric

I cannot prove it didn't happen but I don't think it was possible. There was only one resident in the sump of about 4", the rest were far smaller and 75% very thin with a caved in tummy. There hasn't been much food escaping the two 240 gal tanks and washing down into the sump. Of course, I never fed the cichlids in the sump. Impossible to spawn in this condition.