# baby blue channel catfish



## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

Had him for about 2 weeks now.Hes cool,eats shrimp pellets,and bloodworms so far,and never hides! I just put him in my 10 gallon hospital tank with my baby oscar because he has these little white bumps growing off his body.Doesnt seem like too big of a deal cause it doesnt affect him in any way. Any body have any experience with them? I would love to know more about him. I know he gets big and will soon be moved into his own 38 gallon growout tank then my 90 gallon..By then i should have my 180 gallon i planned on gettin.


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

is it the oscar that has the white bumps? if so that is ick and he needs to be treated. 

also the channel cat might be a cold water fish I am not 100% sure.
Also if it has been in the tank with the oscar that has ick you will have to treat him 
too but you will have to use a lower dose of meds since the cat dent have scales and is more sensitive to the meds.


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## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

Its my catfish with bumps and the oscar has the ick but there in the same tank getring treated for parasited and ick.I was watching vids on youtube,and they do fine in warmer tropical water from what ive seen.I just wanted to know minimum size tank,what they eat,how fast they grow,and tankmates.I think he would be ok in a future 180 gallon for life, and i might be getting a 300+ gallon instead.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

I've been told it's best to keep them in a minimum of four hundred gallons. they get about four feet long at least.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

not 4' they are a minimum of 24" at adult age, they are very dirty and need a minimum of 400g per fish with daily water changes, game fish shouldnt be sold to anyone nor should they be kept by anyone who cannot house them or afford to feed them, These fish are massive and very aggressive, that oscar will be food along with anything else in that tank including your drift wood and plants, even the gravel will get eaten. 

I am very ashamed to be apart of the business that brings fish to people when my cohorts sell fish that no one should own that cant care for them. Its posts like this that make me want to close up shop and not be apart of a hobby that does this to the fish, I catch these guys daily in my local river and not once even with a 200g tank and a 3k gallon pond would I contemplate putting one of these native fish into a closed environment. 

Which store sold you this fish? id like to call them and chew their ears off for being stupid.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> not 4' they are a minimum of 24" at adult age, they are very dirty and need a minimum of 400g per fish with daily water changes, game fish shouldnt be sold to anyone nor should they be kept by anyone who cannot house them or afford to feed them, These fish are massive and very aggressive, that oscar will be food along with anything else in that tank including your drift wood and plants, even the gravel will get eaten.
> 
> I am very ashamed to be apart of the business that brings fish to people when my cohorts sell fish that no one should own that cant care for them. Its posts like this that make me want to close up shop and not be apart of a hobby that does this to the fish, I catch these guys daily in my local river and not once even with a 200g tank and a 3k gallon pond would I contemplate putting one of these native fish into a closed environment.
> 
> Which store sold you this fish? id like to call them and chew their ears off for being stupid.


My brother bought him from a now closed petshop (geee, wonder how that one happened XP) still want to beat his head in for getting such a large fish. Ah, that eases my mind somewhat, I'm trying to get the poor thing back to his native waters. he really doesn't enjoy the tank life.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

best bet is to call the DNR and see what they say, id claim it was in a bucket by the river or large pond near you. Play dumb it works well with state government offices lol


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Just as a note, I don't feel that releasing a captive fish into the wild is a great idea. Your fish might have diseases and parasites that are totally foreign to the native fish, and could infect them. The other way around, the native fish could have diseases and parasites that your fish has not resistance against either. It's a lose-lose situation for both of them. The most responsible thing might be to put him down, but it's up to you.


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## Aeten (Aug 4, 2012)

Kehy said:


> Just as a note, I don't feel that releasing a captive fish into the wild is a great idea. Your fish might have diseases and parasites that are totally foreign to the native fish, and could infect them. The other way around, the native fish could have diseases and parasites that your fish has not resistance against either. It's a lose-lose situation for both of them. The most responsible thing might be to put him down, but it's up to you.


Most big fish like that are caught from the wild; this one probably was too. It's not really a captive fish and there's really no reason not to release him back, especially if you talk to the DEP rep or someone first.


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## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

Its been a long time since i posted this and he ended up getting about 14 inches long in my 90 gallon with an oscar and pleco and they all did fine. He got moved to a friends outdoor pond and last time i seen he was almost 2 feet in length. Loved shrimp pellets,little fish,and slices of tilapia. And even if he was 24 inches he couldnt eat a full grown tiger oscar.


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## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

And i got him from walmart a little over a year ago haha ^^^


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## Sherry (Nov 22, 2011)

I watch "Hillbillie handfishing" all the time. Blue channel catfish is a popular catfish they hand catch all the time. They get absolutely HUGE... 5lbs - 40lbs+ is what I have see so far. Way to big to be in a aquarium. Glad he is back in a pond.
You got him from walmart. That answers a lot of my questions....


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> not 4' they are a minimum of 24" at adult age


I just read this posting. Minimum of 24" at adult age is huge understatement. These guys get giant! Fish for channels all the time. Some good eatin. 

Glad to hear he's in a pond. Hopefully a big one at that and well stocked.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

very nice fish.i love to have one but dont have the room for it.


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## plecosrawesome (Mar 1, 2011)

James0816 said:


> I just read this posting. Minimum of 24" at adult age is huge understatement. These guys get giant! Fish for channels all the time. Some good eatin.
> 
> Glad to hear he's in a pond. Hopefully a big one at that and well stocked.


But in an aquarium it is rare for them to get past 2 feet long unless they get put in a huge 300-600 gallon tank which most people dont have space for lol!


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## catfisherpro (Apr 5, 2013)

I had a blue channel cat before he got 3ft he was not aggressive he would come to the surface an let u pet him. He was in a 1400 gallon pond with koi for 3yrs never ate them he ate chicken


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## AquaticBob (Jun 5, 2013)

I, personally, love these catfish. I keep 100+ of them in a one acre pond that tapers from a depth of two feet to a depth of 12 feet. The suggested population is 150 per acre. I keep the pond stocked with Bluegill to serve as feeder fish for the catfish. I also feed them a mixture of floating catfish food, and feed corn three times per week. They are a great fish to keep if you have the space available, but very few aquariums meet the minimum needs of this catfish species. The only problem I have keeping these catfish alive in a Mississippi pond is the deadbeats trying to fish for them. In hindsight I probably should have built the pond in the backyard.

-Robert Lewis


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