Help this poor guy? (Mighigan/Ohio big pond people?)

[VirgoWolf]

I hope this is the right place to put this, it really didn't seem to fit anywhere, but here goes....

I rescued a channel catfish from someone who had him in a 20gal tank, he is about 12-14" and he was nearly touching both sides of this aquarium, he had a bent spine from the restricted movement and he was incredibly weak from not being able to exercize. (Did I mention he shared this tank for a year and 1/2 with an oscar?) He was scarred up and in pretty sad shape.

These people had never imagined he would have gotten this big, but no stores would take him back and noone wanted him, so they told my sis-in-law they were either going to try to flush him or toss him in a local lake... of course my sis called me and I took the catfish and oscar. They have both been treated for their wounds and I gave them some room to stretch out, the oscar now has fins and no missing scales and the catfish has healed all scrapes, his spine is straightening out, and the way he darts around, you would never know that when he first came here, the filter flow had him pinned in the corner he was so weak! They had a little bout with some sort of parasite, but I cleared that up and they have been under observation since. The oscar will soon be joining my other 2 oscars (cross your fingers they accept him), and I was going to put the catfish in our pond, but we have some small fish that he would make quick work of, so I was hoping to find someone who would care enough to give this guy a second chance at life. He's had it rough and I just don't think it's fair for him to be cramped up in even the biggest of tanks that I have, he needs a big pond.

So, if you are within reasonable distance of Metro Detroit and have a pond that needs some population controll or has no small fish and you would like to help this poor guy finally know what it's like to have a place to stretch his fins, please respond to this thread, pm me, im me, email me, whatever, get ahold of me somehow. (Yahoo ID is Krystal19_85 email is the same + @Yahoo.com) I would prefer he go to a pond at least 4' deep and at least 1000-1200gals or so, but let me know what you have. He should be fine with fish 4"+, would make excelent population controll for a pond with frisky fish that's getting over populated.

Thanks in advance for any and all help. Please spread the word to your pond friends!

[Ky Kim]

Oh, poor guys.  Glad you rescued them, good luck placing him in a suitable home. 

Kim

[barb]

OH, you are so nice to rescue them!!  I hope you find someone near you who will take the poor catfish. Please keep us updated. 

[Mucky_Waters]

Hope you find someone nearby willing to take him,
But just in case things don't work out it's always good to have a  Plan B 

sorry couldn't resist 

[Kittyzee]

I live in Ohio, but my pond is definitely not large enough for a catfish.  You need to find someone with a farm pond and ask if you can put him in there.  Are there any lakes or large rivers around you.  Channel cats are native and will do fine in that environment.  Good luck and my hat's off to you for your good deed!

[VirgoWolf]

Thanks guys, it's nice to hear that some people understand why I had to save them, I got alot of slack from people telling me "he's just a common ugly catfish, just toss him in a lake and deal with it!" and things of that sort, and I had considered releasing him, but being in an aquarium for so long I worried about him not being used to having to catch his food live and passing anything off to our local critters.

Noone have a pond suitable for him? He's really starting to hate even the 4' tank he's in (you'd think he would be greatful after being in a 20" tank for so long, but noooo... LOL) and I want to get him somewhere nice. If I can't find him a home by the weekend, I am going to ask a friend to take him up to his natural pond (it's about 2 acres of pond) if he doesn't mind, I don't know if he will want him or not, but it's worth a shot. He'll probably end up dinner in a couple years there though, so I am still looking for a better alternative if anyone is willing.

[CT]

I wish I could take him but my ponds aren't big enough. It's wonderful that you cared enough to rescue him. I hope you find the right place for him. Even common critters deserve a good life.

[the Julles]

Catfish dont' eat other fish, do they?  Aren't they scavengers who suck up muck and such from the bottom of the pond?  That's why they taste so yucky on the dinner plate.

I'm thinking he would get along with your other fish. 

On our pond tour a coupla years ago, one guy had a HUGE pond, which included a walk-down area that featured a glass viewing wall into the side of the pond (like in a zoo, but on this private man's property).  He had all sorts of lake fish in there, including cat fish.  His koi, however, were in a seperate section of this same pond.

[Indiana Karen]

Yes, catfish do eat other fish.  A couple years ago I went out in the morning to check on the pond and our catfish, Hoover, was swimming around with the rear end of a large goldfish sticking out of its mouth :'(  I spent the entire morning chasing it with a net and throwing rocks at it trying to get it to let the goldfish loose.  Never saw what happened in the end but I imagine he finally swallowed it.  We netted Hoover the next day and he now lives (along with two albino cats, Kirby and Orick) in our farm pond.  Every now and then we see one of the albinos when we are out in the boat.  I imagine your catfish would adjust to a natural pond too.  I think they are pretty tough guys!
We enjoy having a "small" catfish in our watergarden, its a nice conversation piece.  We now have an albino named Dyson!

Karen

[tracey_shafer]

I would love to put him in the koi pond for control, have a 4000 gal pond that would work. Need to find him a ride here. I am in KS on the KS city border. Anyone heading this way in the near future?

[VirgoWolf]

Yeah, I imagine this guy would wolf down anything he could catch. Catfish are oppertunistic feeders, anything that can fit in their mouths and doesn't taste like a rock, is fair game. If I don't feed him like mad he tries to eat the 7" Oscar that I rescued with him, but since he's bigger than his mouth, he just ends up shreading his fins, hence the reason I need him out ASAP. Our problem with putting him in the pond is that we have a few small fish, including little commet goldie I rescued from a tiny little 7gal aquarium last year, he's only about 2" and we are kinda attached to him so I don't want to see him dissapear. Also, we will be adding fish to the pond this year and with limited room for quarentine, they have to be little guys.

Tracy, if you get any offers to transport him in the next couple days, he's yours. I would take him down myself to ensure him a good home, but we just can't afford it with gas prices and hubby's work schedual.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and well wishes. I'll update after the weekend.

[Marilyn C]

Personally, I wouldn't put him with goldfish or koi for any reason.   They can grow so big that not only do they eat whatever fits in their mouth, they will also possibly damage the fish you want to keep. 

I would put him in a pond or lake somewhere.   It might not sound like the best choice to you, but if he could pick, I am sure he would want that, and to be with other fish of his kind.   So he gets caught on a fish hook one day....life is uncertain for all of us.   At least he had a chance to be a really free fish and enjoy the mud and muck of a real pond, not the "sterile" conditions of an aquarium or backyard pond.

It was very kind of you to rescue him....I would have done it too...but I wouldn't hesitate to put him in a nice big lake some where and let him feel like he is a "real" fish!   Come on, he has been through so much...he deserves that!

(Just my opinion for what it's worth....nothing.)

[Kittyzee]

I agree with Marilyn    and I totally understand your feelings for this guy.  They do however, get HUGE!  And also by the way Julles...of course this is just according to taste...don't really taste yucky on the dinner plate.     But he'll just keep growing until he outgrows everything he's in unless it's a very large pond or lake.  Good luck with him!

[VirgoWolf]

Before I start, let me just say that I so see your point of views and I respect that and would probably be saying the same if I were you reading this thread... and now comes the but.....

I know all about these guys and yes, they can get big, but this guy is 2 years old and 12-14", he was raised in a 20" aquarium from the time he was 2". I guarentee he is permanently stunted to some extent, although he may grow a bit still, I highly doubt he has much growing left. This species only gets a max of 27-28" in the wild (yes I know some of them get 65"+, but I talked with a couple catfish experts and we concluded that he is Ictalurus punctatus, not Ictalurus furcatus or any other) and being so stunted, he is not going to get that large. He also has the disadvantage of having a bent spine, split "whiskers", a compromised immune system, and compressed organs (being in too small of an enviroment for sure a prolonged period has stopped his body from growing, but the organs still continue to grow), so while he may do fine in a lake or river somewhere, I would much rather have him spend his days in a slightly more controlled environment.

I agree that in the majority of cases it would be perfectly fine to release a channel cat into the local lake or stream, given proper quarentine first to avoid contaminating our local wildlife, but I just feel he woulden't last very long among the competition out there and I just don't think that is fair after all he has been thorough.

[Kittyzee]

I hear ya Virgo, what a shame he had to live in such a small environment in his formative years.  I hope you find the perfect home for him