Hey all, finally I'm asking a question instead of answering one.
Actually this is more a quest for information than a question. I've had my two sun cats for quite some time now. The dominate one is a beautiful rich, molten gold color, the one-eyed submissive one (the $2 special I conned the pet shop into selling it to me for) is darkened grey, but still quite healthy.
The think is, I can't find much about them. Even the mightly PlanetCatfish.com has scanty information.
Has anyone ever seen a fully grown 18" sun cat before?
My two are roughly 2" each already (I'd say three but I know the glass and water magnify their size). They seem to have the ability to grow rapidly the way a channel cat might, but they are restricted by a 30 gallon tank size. If I move them into larger digs, will they get larger, or have I already done perminate stunting?
They both are in pretty good flesh from what I could judge, but they always seem to be hunting for food. They eat the goldfish pellets the goldfish don't catch, they eat the carnivor sinking tabs I put in for them. But they are constantly now swimming around probing the gravel for more and more.
They've also become increasingly bolder. Usually they have always hidden during the day, but now they are more active. At night I can hear them sometimes searching around on the surface. Granted my tank has always been somewhat dimly lit, but even when the full sun hits it for the few minutes a day it does, they are still out and about. And it is not just restricted to the bottom, they will use all tank levels. The only time they get shy is when I futz around in front of the tank.
Could they be responsible for shredding my goldfishs' fins? I don't notice that they harass the goldfish much, but I've been having issues with cronic fin shredding on my four smallest fish. These fish have no hope of ever fitting into the catfishs' mouths, but my two super-sized goldfish appear not to be affected by the shredding.
They seem to fight alot, where one fish will try to knock the other one silly with its pectoral fins, or grab a pect fin in its mouth. I don't want to clutter up the tank, but would more caves and rock refuge settle down the bickering, or do they simply need more space?
These cats are the utter best fish in the world, truely individual personalliteis. But I fear they may be outgrowing my ability to provide for them, namely a larger tank. I don't want to bring them back to any petshop, but I don't have other options. Anybody have a suggstion or two? I was thinking nice catfish fry, but I don't have the space to grow them out large enough to make a sandwich out of.
~~Colesea
Actually this is more a quest for information than a question. I've had my two sun cats for quite some time now. The dominate one is a beautiful rich, molten gold color, the one-eyed submissive one (the $2 special I conned the pet shop into selling it to me for) is darkened grey, but still quite healthy.
The think is, I can't find much about them. Even the mightly PlanetCatfish.com has scanty information.
Has anyone ever seen a fully grown 18" sun cat before?
My two are roughly 2" each already (I'd say three but I know the glass and water magnify their size). They seem to have the ability to grow rapidly the way a channel cat might, but they are restricted by a 30 gallon tank size. If I move them into larger digs, will they get larger, or have I already done perminate stunting?
They both are in pretty good flesh from what I could judge, but they always seem to be hunting for food. They eat the goldfish pellets the goldfish don't catch, they eat the carnivor sinking tabs I put in for them. But they are constantly now swimming around probing the gravel for more and more.
They've also become increasingly bolder. Usually they have always hidden during the day, but now they are more active. At night I can hear them sometimes searching around on the surface. Granted my tank has always been somewhat dimly lit, but even when the full sun hits it for the few minutes a day it does, they are still out and about. And it is not just restricted to the bottom, they will use all tank levels. The only time they get shy is when I futz around in front of the tank.
Could they be responsible for shredding my goldfishs' fins? I don't notice that they harass the goldfish much, but I've been having issues with cronic fin shredding on my four smallest fish. These fish have no hope of ever fitting into the catfishs' mouths, but my two super-sized goldfish appear not to be affected by the shredding.
They seem to fight alot, where one fish will try to knock the other one silly with its pectoral fins, or grab a pect fin in its mouth. I don't want to clutter up the tank, but would more caves and rock refuge settle down the bickering, or do they simply need more space?
These cats are the utter best fish in the world, truely individual personalliteis. But I fear they may be outgrowing my ability to provide for them, namely a larger tank. I don't want to bring them back to any petshop, but I don't have other options. Anybody have a suggstion or two? I was thinking nice catfish fry, but I don't have the space to grow them out large enough to make a sandwich out of.
~~Colesea
