I'm involved in a conversation on "another forum" that involves keeping channel catfish in an aquarium. The assertion is that channel catfish should not be kept in an aquarium of less than a couple hundred gallons for one fish, that a channel catfish that is well kept should attain a size of at least 3 or 4 feet and is thus too big for most koi ponds or yard ponds or most home aquariums.

As you might expect I disagree with this, i see no reason to expect a channel catfish to attain a size of more than 18" or so in an aquarium, maybe bigger maybe a little bit smaller but to say a channel catfish that does not attain close to maximum size is some how neglected is wrong.

Somewhere, I remember reading or being told that channel catfish offered to the hobby are the result of breeding the fish for smaller size and or are also hybrids of blue cats and channel cats.

I do know that hobby channel cats lack the spots usually seen on wild channel cats. I've caught small wild channel cats that were beautiful with dozens of not hundreds of black spots and very colorful skin. There is a real difference between wild and domesticated channels but is it more than just a lack of spots?

Actually this goes on to me feeling that fish in general do not have to attain some idealized maximum size to have been well kept as an aquarium fish.

I have kept both and both out grew my 125 gallon tank in just over a year. The store bought blue channel cats I bought at 3 inches I bought two. They grew to 16 and 18 inches in 14 months. The wild caught channel cats I have kept I caught at 3 to 5 inches.They grew to about 15 inches in the same amount of time. All my fished were released in my parents pond. The blue channels kept their grey color and grew about the same as the wild caught fish. I know because we tagged the fish. My dad found one of the blue channels dead once and it was 25 inches and wieghed almost 7 lbs.

I have kept both and both out grew my 125 gallon tank in just over a year. The store bought blue channel cats I bought at 3 inches I bought two. They grew to 16 and 18 inches in 14 months. The wild caught channel cats I have kept I caught at 3 to 5 inches.They grew to about 15 inches in the same amount of time. All my fished were released in my parents pond. The blue channels kept their grey color and grew about the same as the wild caught fish. I know because we tagged the fish. My dad found one of the blue channels dead once and it was 25 inches and wieghed almost 7 lbs.

i have had the same or very close store with my catfish.
by year 3 most channel or there hybrids are to big for most indoor tanks.and they are eating machines.

When I used to manage a petshop, the channel cats we ordered, were just that. Nothing special but something different then goldfish. Spotting varied. In all cases they grew big & quick.

I also love catfishing. My personal best was 38". I didnt have a scale to weigh it, but it was a hawg.

Edited by exasperatus2002, 05 June 2010 - 02:54 PM.

Well i guess I'll have to go back and eat crow, what type of sauce should I use on that? I guess all the channel cats I've had were stunted at some point. I see nothing wrong with a fish being stunted but I was assuming channel cats in the trade were significantly different than wild ones.

I recommend ketchup. All of it.

I recommend ketchup. All of it.

Would that be ketchup, or CATsup?

Are you confusing them with Blue catfish(Ictalurus furcatus) maybe? Channels don't get that big, they max at maybe 1 Meter, but only in extreme cases, in the wild. Citations are issued in VA for one 30" inches or more. As a matter of fact, they are sold in per shops as fry quite commonly. A friend of mine kept one about 10CM in a 75 gallon with a bunch of other fish with no problem.