shovelnose adoption

flyinmike · Post by **flyinmike** » 27 Dec 2003, 15:51

Let me start off by saying I'm not here for a lecture or preaching to. I did not go out and buy this fish!
The story goes like this: a friend at work tells me " I got this cool looking catfish in my 20g tank. He was just under 2" and now he's just under 4" and I've only had him about 5 weeks. Can you come look at him and tell me what he is?" So I go over and he has what I believe to be an almost 4" TL tiger shovelnose. I tell him that by 1yr it will be at least 12", by 2 probably 18-20", and full grown 3.5-4'. Well he proceeds to net it, bag it, and hand it to me so now it is in my 110(48x19x30). I know he won't be able to stay there long. I've already started an outdoor pond project that was going to be 2' deep at 1200g. I've decided to go now with 3' and 2400g. My only real question is what would be the minimum temp. that the pond would need to be maintained at.

Post by **Shane** » 27 Dec 2003, 15:55

I am not sure that you could do an outdoor year-round pond in Texas. Last time I was in the Amazon, I swam down as deep as I could in the main channel. Guess what? The water was cold! Since this is where the big cats live, I am sure they could handle temperatures down into the low 70s without problems. That said, can you keep an outdoor pond in Texas from falling below the low 70s?
-Shane

flyinmike · Post by **flyinmike** » 27 Dec 2003, 16:22

Shane wrote: That said, can you keep an outdoor pond in Texas from falling below the low 70s?
-Shane

It was nearly 70*F here on Xmas day. It does get cold here occasionally (30* or so) and only rarely gets really cold (20's or lower). I think at 3' the temp at the bottom could be maintained at least.

I read on another post (juv.TSN) that eating tank raised fish is a no-no. Any thoughts on that?

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 27 Dec 2003, 16:40

I would point out that they are likely to come out of the depths at night at least? Also, as Shane will tell you, there's quite a current down the bottom...

Jools

BTW - Did you preach to your friend about inappropriate buying?

flyinmike · Post by **flyinmike** » 27 Dec 2003, 17:16

Jools wrote:I would point out that they are likely to come out of the depths at night at least? Also, as Shane will tell you, there's quite a current down the bottom...

Come to think of it I have several friends who have heated swimming pools much larger than 2400g and they are able to keep temps at what would be a comfortable range so there should be no problem there.

Jools wrote:BTW - Did you preach to your friend about inappropriate buying?

I have been and I think he might be starting to listen

Kenneth Wong · Post by **Kenneth Wong** » 30 Dec 2003, 15:05

If you have a pond outside in the ground and not above ground in Ft Worth the temperature in the worst winters will get down into the forties and possibly upper thirties if any extended cold period. What you can do is create a cover for it to insulate it and then heat it with various heaters. Heating a pond can be very costly if done incorrectly or using wrong method.