Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well I got 2 2.5 pound catfish and put them in my freshly cycled FT. The tank had about 75 shiners who have been doing great for the past 4 weeks or so. Well appearantly my catfish were not happy with there new environment and they both comitted suicide over the past 3 days. I found one friday morning laying on the ground in front of the tank and found the other thismorning behind the tank. After finding the first one, I made a lid for the front of the tank out of pvc and hardware cloth. It would not open easlily so I figured I was good to go. Well this morning the lid was still in place so the other fish got out a different way. I have theGB on top of the FT which covers most of the tank. What does everyone else do about this? I wil post pics tomorrow, Im working tonighour helpt saving the citizens of Baton Rouge from themselves overnight. Thanks for yo!ur help

How big is your tank? 2.5 lb is decent size for many tanks. I have bullheads and haven't had that problem.

It's an ibc the ft is about 250 gallons

I'm gonna guess its just too small for those cats. The reality is that those fish are essentially penned in a 40"x40" tank. Depth makes little difference to them as they stay near the bottom.

I don't know SB, catfish seem pretty happy in tight spaces but I'm not sure what the trouble is here. Did they have anyplace to get out of the light? Catfish are pretty good escape artists.

I'm thinking of getting a tarp to cover the top of the tank. Just worried about the summer heat.

2.5 lbs is probably getting up there for a 250 gallon tank, but fish dont usually jump out of a tank just because it is too small.

Jumping is usually indicative of poor water quality (chlorine burning my skin!) or aggression.


would you say the shiners are small enough to fit in the catfish mouth? My money is that the catfish were hunting from the bottom, attacked a shiner near the surface and ended up outside the tank.