Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Can you buy live fresh water catfish in WA? if so where?

I want something that is a bottom feeder to clean up any uneaten food on the FT floor.

Are these ones okay?
http://www.gosnellsaquariums.com.au/catfish.html

I think they might just be the ornamental varieties though, and not the edible type.

Justin

Thanks Justin,

I was thinking more of a larger edible catfish, I think WA has some native fresh water cobbler but I don't know where to find or possibly buy them or if they go well with AP.

I have had catfish last year, and I didn't think the stinky river catfish I had did a geat job of bottom cleaning up,,, my goldfish cross kio are the best tank cleaners I have, and they are super hardy and hard to kill

( how come I can't put a picture in ?? )

Thanks Jessy,

I might be getting some gold fish. Do they clean up the food on the bottom of the tank?

Not sure about those guys, mine are cross bred goldies/ koi

I thought that might be the case. I am still building my system - but haven't got any fish in there yet!

I presume you are looking for Tandanus Catfish?

Let us know if you find a supplier!

Justin

Several pet stores around Perth stock Tandanus tandanus but you'll pay pet prices for them rather than bulk livestock prices. Example, Midland Aquariums currently have Sleepy Cod available, 3 inches long - but they are $20 each !

I've never seen anybody stocking Cobbler Tandanus bostockii.

There was a forum member who made a brief appearance (I think the name was Trevi) who said they were keeping Cobbler, but had caught them by hand.

I had the Lesser Salmon Catfish ( AKA ) Arius Graeffie caught out of the Ashburton River.

Trevi had a link on freshwater cobbler

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6320&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

If you know where your going ( like the Blackwood River ) you could make a day of it and catch them for free

Tandanus tandanus

Nice fish ...

I think it has a nasty sting .. But apparently handleable if you know what you are doing ..

I think WA has a catfish like this .. could maybe even be this species..

I think that they call it a freshwater cobbler?

Any info?

Silver Cobbler. Had some at Lake Argyle and absolutely beautiful to eat.

Tandanus bostocki - check that link above. Not the same as the silver cobbler (supposedly!).

Arius Midgelei (Sooty Grunter, Shovel nosed Catfish) Big as!! Up to 1.5m and weigh up to 40kg. Imagine that in your system!!!

No good in non saline water guys...they need a dip in salty water regularly.

I'm not sure if this is true about all catfish but it seems to me that most of the catfish similar to our USA Channel catfish might be bottom dwellers but not really bottom feeders as in they are not good for cleaning up uneaten food so much.

To keep your tank clean, It is far more effective to have a good sized air stone with appropriately sized air pump going in your tanks. That tends to keep the water stirred up well so the solids can make their way out of the tank.

However, I'm still curious about your Ausy catfish types and wonder how they compare to ours here in the USA.