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#1
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Koi and Catfish
I have a pond full of koi (12) and one black catfish. Will this black
catfish eat the Koi babies? Is this black catfish harmful to the koi? |
#2
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Koi and Catfish
"MIstatee" wrote in message m... I have a pond full of koi (12) and one black catfish. Will this black catfish eat the Koi babies? Is this black catfish harmful to the koi? in general catfish are bottom feeders and spawn are surface dwellers.. so the catfish is unlikely to do any harm.. however if you are not feeding it with proper sinking cat fish food it might get hungry enough to eat anything... what sort of catfish is it? some are purely vegetation eaters (algae cleaners).. cannot really answer your questions without knowing the type of fish though! HTH Lost |
#3
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Koi and Catfish
"MIstatee" wrote in message m... I have a pond full of koi (12) and one black catfish. Will this black catfish eat the Koi babies? Is this black catfish harmful to the koi? I have an albino channel cat (about 2 feet long). I have 8 goldfish and 4 koi. I also have about 8 baby goldfish (about 1 1/2 inches long). The catfish hasn't eaten any of them. But then, I keep him well fed, and the babies have lots of hiding places ( I have lots of rocks in the pond set up as part of the waterfall, and for shelter) http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/pond.htm That is not to say that yours won't eat the babies. Remember, in the wild they are top predators. But if you keep it well fed, and provide shelter for the fry/babies, at least some of them will survive. Remember, when they are very small, even the adult koi will eat them. |
#4
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Koi and Catfish
We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact
when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#5
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Koi and Catfish
"Pinkpggy" wrote in message ... We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan That will change if he gets as big as mine. Yours is still a baby. Mine weighs about 6 lbs. He doesn't try to eat them, since he grew up with them, but when it is dinner time he let's them know who is first in line. He will chase them all away from the feeding area. I usually feed the catfish at one end, while feeding the rest at the other. And they get different foods. Here is my catfish: http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/pond.htm Of course, these pics were taken a few months ago. I have since made major changes to the waterfall area. "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#6
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Koi and Catfish
Here is my catfish:
Wow!! thats quite a catfish. I know when our catfish comes too close to the koi while eating, they kind of jump out of the way. I have watched to see if he is biting them, and haven't seen him do that. My hubby thought maybe he is stinging them with his whiskers. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#7
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Koi and Catfish
"Pinkpggy" wrote in message ... Here is my catfish: Wow!! thats quite a catfish. I know when our catfish comes too close to the koi while eating, they kind of jump out of the way. I have watched to see if he is biting them, and haven't seen him do that. My hubby thought maybe he is stinging them with his whiskers. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html No, the stinging part really is a myth. They have no venom. I know that the scientific name for channel catfish means "stinging fish", but it comes from the fact that if you handle one with your bare hands, you risk getting impaled on it's rigid barbels, or the fins, which are quite strong and sharp. If you look closely at the lateral fins, you will note that the front edge of them are barbed. Those barbs are really the ones to watch out for when handling these fish, as the best place to handle them (if you dare to do so) is behind the lateral fins, yet they tend to thrash back and forth to get loose, and you can easily get impaled on those barbs. This is why I don't handle them with my hands. I do a lot of fishing, and I know from experience that if one of those barbs gets you, it is very painful. And if you don't disinfect the wound right away, it can become infected. This is likely why they were named "stinging fish". As for him going after your fish, if you raise them up together from fingerlings or even juveniles, or with a fairly large school, and the other fish aren't really little, he will likely not intentionally try to eat them. I bought a dozen feeder goldfish for him to eat when I first bought him, and he only ate four. The rest are unfortunately now part of the community. When he gets older, and a lot larger - well, I guess we shall see. These large catfish are extemely territorial, and will chase others away, especially when eating, and snip at them, but will usually not eat the other fish in the pond, or do great damage if he is kept well fed. If not, he will eat anything he can get in his mouth. And you did notice the size of the mouth relative to the body, didn't you? I feed him twice a day (at sunrise, and at sunset). In the spring and fall, I try to feed him late at night instead of in the morning, because that is when they normally feed in the wild. In the summer, he'll eat whenever you present him with food. During the winter, like all pond fish, he mostly stops eating when it gets below a certain temperature. For this fish, this last winter, that temperature was around 50 F. I hope this helps you with yours. I've always wanted to raise one of these beauties, but never had the space before now to do one justice. I really enjoy this one. He's probably the most magnificant fish I've ever raised, and I've been raising fish for about 35 years. FYI. If you are interested in seeing a really large catfish, you won't find a bigger one that the European Wel: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...urus/338_2.php http://www.aquariacentral.com/specie...view_records=1 |
#8
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Koi and Catfish
Thanks George for all the information.
Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#9
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Koi and Catfish
"Pinkpggy" wrote in message ... Thanks George for all the information. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html Glad to help. |
#10
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Koi and Catfish
In article , Pinkpggy
wrote: We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan I'd get him out next spring, they are Koi killers later in life. I think they are illegal here in California, as they become HUGE and people put them in lakes and streams and the begin to hunt indigenous species with great success. jay Fri Jul 16, 2004 "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#11
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Koi and Catfish
We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact
when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#12
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Koi and Catfish
"Pinkpggy" wrote in message ... We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan That will change if he gets as big as mine. Yours is still a baby. Mine weighs about 6 lbs. He doesn't try to eat them, since he grew up with them, but when it is dinner time he let's them know who is first in line. He will chase them all away from the feeding area. I usually feed the catfish at one end, while feeding the rest at the other. And they get different foods. Here is my catfish: http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/pond.htm Of course, these pics were taken a few months ago. I have since made major changes to the waterfall area. "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#13
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Koi and Catfish
Here is my catfish:
Wow!! thats quite a catfish. I know when our catfish comes too close to the koi while eating, they kind of jump out of the way. I have watched to see if he is biting them, and haven't seen him do that. My hubby thought maybe he is stinging them with his whiskers. Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#14
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Koi and Catfish
Thanks George for all the information.
Jan "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
#15
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Koi and Catfish
In article , Pinkpggy
wrote: We have a small Channel catfish, and so far he doesn't bother the koi, in fact when the koi eat,he comes right up with them, doesn't want to miss out. Jan I'd get him out next spring, they are Koi killers later in life. I think they are illegal here in California, as they become HUGE and people put them in lakes and streams and the begin to hunt indigenous species with great success. jay Fri Jul 16, 2004 "Our Pond" Page http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html |
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