Does anyone know where I can purchase this blue shark catfish? Any help would be great! We live in New York.
Cetopsis coecutiens - Blue shark catfish
- Thread starter cindave1115
- Start date
I think they are hard to come by. Neat looking buggers, though! Maybe try asking at www.planetcatfish.com. They're the real catfish experts.
Out of curiosity, what will you house it in? They get big and are not great with every other fish. What size, what kind of filtration, what other inhabitants? How long has it been set up? What are you planning on feeding it?
I'm sorry to be nosy, I just want to make sure it will be well cared-for, as they are special and rare fish. Well, not rare where they come from (Peru), but rare in home tanks.
edit: read this thread http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10500
Apparently they are REALLY not recommended for aquarium settings. They are parasitic, and will bite holes out of fish much larger than themselves and swallow anything else small enough to fit in their mouth.
also, they swim constantly and will consequently hit their noses on the side of the tank. They get to about 10 inches max size, so would require a VERY LARGE tank. It would also probalby have to be housed by itself, as it doesn't seem to get along with nearly anything else.
Out of curiosity, what will you house it in? They get big and are not great with every other fish. What size, what kind of filtration, what other inhabitants? How long has it been set up? What are you planning on feeding it?
I'm sorry to be nosy, I just want to make sure it will be well cared-for, as they are special and rare fish. Well, not rare where they come from (Peru), but rare in home tanks.
edit: read this thread http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10500
Apparently they are REALLY not recommended for aquarium settings. They are parasitic, and will bite holes out of fish much larger than themselves and swallow anything else small enough to fit in their mouth.
also, they swim constantly and will consequently hit their noses on the side of the tank. They get to about 10 inches max size, so would require a VERY LARGE tank. It would also probalby have to be housed by itself, as it doesn't seem to get along with nearly anything else.
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Peruvian Blue Shark Catfish
I purchased a 4 inch Blue Shark Catfish about a month or so ago, from a LFS store called Aquaworld Pittsburgh... cost $40. They had about 12 of them for sale. Let me know if you want a phone number... they may MAIL ORDER.
I think there needs to be alittle more information, regarding keeping them in a home tank... I heard they are aggressive and was looking for a relatively small, mean cat for a solitary tank... this fish from MY experience is not everything that is listed at PLANET CATFISH. Mine is VERY active... swims constantly. I actually have 2 Tetras, 2 smaller platy fry, and a 4" Gourami in a 30gal with him... he has yet to harm anything. Like I had stated... I was hoping for an aggressive fish... he is still a VERY cool fish to watch, very unique... but I think sometimes, when it comes to the UNPOPULAR home aquaria breeds, you can't completely judge the behavior based on the LIMITED info available on the net. I'm still not confident to put him in my main community tank, tho. But time will tell.
Another good example of this situation is the Asian Upside-Down Catfish (Mystus leucophasis)... I bought one after I was misinformed on what it was.
They are stated to be EXTREMELY predatory in home aquariums... Mine is about 7" and a complete baby... in a tank with a Gold Sevrum, 2 Geophagus, 2 Rainbowfish, a Pictus, Brown African Knife, Albino Frog, and a Pleco... the ONLY thing that he will quarrel with is the Pleco, when the Pleco decides to steal his favorite chill spot...
My point is, the Peruvian Blue Shark/Whale Catfish is a VERY COMMON fish in it's homeland.... not endangered or anything... so if you want one and will give your best attempt to care for it, I'd say give it a try, if you can obtain one. And don't trust EVERYTHING you read... all depends on the actual fish, I suppose. Following this is a few pics of mine...
This is my MEAN Asian Upside-Down Cat... a VERY gorgeous cat, in my opinion... obviously joking about the MEAN part! Much lager now, pic is kinda old....
I purchased a 4 inch Blue Shark Catfish about a month or so ago, from a LFS store called Aquaworld Pittsburgh... cost $40. They had about 12 of them for sale. Let me know if you want a phone number... they may MAIL ORDER.
I think there needs to be alittle more information, regarding keeping them in a home tank... I heard they are aggressive and was looking for a relatively small, mean cat for a solitary tank... this fish from MY experience is not everything that is listed at PLANET CATFISH. Mine is VERY active... swims constantly. I actually have 2 Tetras, 2 smaller platy fry, and a 4" Gourami in a 30gal with him... he has yet to harm anything. Like I had stated... I was hoping for an aggressive fish... he is still a VERY cool fish to watch, very unique... but I think sometimes, when it comes to the UNPOPULAR home aquaria breeds, you can't completely judge the behavior based on the LIMITED info available on the net. I'm still not confident to put him in my main community tank, tho. But time will tell.
Another good example of this situation is the Asian Upside-Down Catfish (Mystus leucophasis)... I bought one after I was misinformed on what it was.
They are stated to be EXTREMELY predatory in home aquariums... Mine is about 7" and a complete baby... in a tank with a Gold Sevrum, 2 Geophagus, 2 Rainbowfish, a Pictus, Brown African Knife, Albino Frog, and a Pleco... the ONLY thing that he will quarrel with is the Pleco, when the Pleco decides to steal his favorite chill spot...
My point is, the Peruvian Blue Shark/Whale Catfish is a VERY COMMON fish in it's homeland.... not endangered or anything... so if you want one and will give your best attempt to care for it, I'd say give it a try, if you can obtain one. And don't trust EVERYTHING you read... all depends on the actual fish, I suppose. Following this is a few pics of mine...
This is my MEAN Asian Upside-Down Cat... a VERY gorgeous cat, in my opinion... obviously joking about the MEAN part! Much lager now, pic is kinda old....
The cetopsis coecutiens grows to about 10". I was looking at one tod. and decided to do reading before picking it up. It might be a god mate for my Leporinus.
I haven't found any for sale myself. I know they will get huge...guess that's why they are called monsters. Very nice looking cat though. Very neat to watch move about. You can check over at the site ]v[onsterFishkeepers.com. I know there are a couple of people there that have them.
I have to recend my comments earlier after reading rico's post. That 10" statement threw me off as I thought I read that the get large and are very aggressive (should be keep completely by themselves).
My apologies. I must be referring to a different species of cat.
My apologies. I must be referring to a different species of cat.
James,
What I read is they get 10" in auarium, and maybe larger inthe wild. They are extremely aggressive, and will bite chunks off other much larger fish! As much as I put my hands in my aquariums, this is'nt cool. Here's the link, I hope this helps.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Cetopsis&species=coecutiens&id=929
I was planing on buying one at my LFS, and I'm glad I did'nt becuase I would have been taking it back. It pretty expensive also, $40.00.