Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi just curious has anyone tried or know were to get catfish in wa

I have Tandanus Tandanus that I got from a pet shop to see how they would go and so far they are growing like weeds being fed on skreeting pelets, I know there is a WA native variety of Tandanus that acording to some people I know are easy to find but ive not been lucky enough to catch any yet.

Gda Hezzy89
I've been looking into native catfish, the Tandanus Tandanus is the East coast catfish is extensively farmed in aquaculture, the fisheries do not allow importing of these into WA for the proposes of aquaculture/aquaponics. I was told this when applying for a translocation permit for them.
This is the reason why :

But like Brad86 said they can sometimes be purchased from pet shops.
The local species here in WA is Tandanus Bostocki. the are located in the SW of WA as far north as Moore river. As yet I've still yet to locate any {still looking} the native range is 3 hours south of where I live.
Good luck with finding them and please let me know if you do find any.

GTK

Ok thanks guys I'll keep my eye open for the wa version.
I think a couple in the bottom of my tank would be great to clean it up an make it home

I think some people may have tried freshwater cobbler on the forum. Maybe try a search for 'cobbler'


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These guys will probably ship them, but it'll probably depend on shipping costs:
http://www.narrabrifishfarm.com.au/

I ordered 200 Tandanus fingerlings from them in July , but received only 60 in August, so I don't think they have any left at the moment. If somebody wants any, they should contact them and get on the waiting list.

Thanks I've contacted a.few places an see if I can get them

I made a few enquiries too and other than Narrabri only http://aceaquaculture.com.au/index.php?main_page=index could supply them. But only in December to March and

Hi Hezzy, There are a couple of past threads on the forum

Try 'Swan River Cobbler' - there is quote a bit of information via Google on the species
WA Catfish - known as the WA freshwater cobbler - Tandanus bostocki.

Fishwrecked.com have them as being in Mandurah and Bunbury estuaries and feed rivers as as well - but not sure on fisheries status. http://fishwrecked.com/forum/swan-river-cobbler

They were a commercial sought fish and used a lot for eating including fish & chips etc.

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recent surveys have identified them through the Swan Estuary Canning River as far as Araluen and also up the Swan/Avon and the Brockman systems. I believe they are protected and cannot be taken from the wild until 2017 in a bid to increase stocks - definitely case for Swan River / Perth metro.

If anyone has tried to breed then for aquaculture then Fremantle TAFE would know - I think from some old 2009 posts in BYAP there was a breeding trial at one point for both natural release and aquaculture.

Woodvale Fish and Lily Farm have contacts for local indigenous fish like pygmy perch - you could try them.



re: non-WA species & fish breeders. It wont happen. There are very strict regulations on bringing any fish into WA now even for people doing it commercially and as noted I think the eastern states species are declared. Eel tail catfish are currently being eradicated in lakes around Perth (Google will point you to it). They have been found to have some disease.

here ..... viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6320&start=15

Troutman has a post in that thread too.

I have tried the local ones twice with the same result ,they seem to get white spot and slowly die.Several others have tied them and all came to the same conclusion and gave up.I tried them from different places with the same result.Fremantle Tafe told me that they are very slow to breed up as they only lay about 300 eggs.Compare that to a spangled perch which lays 130,000 and a redfin at 360,000.I think the barra lay many thousands as well

Yep I got in contact with a few but it's expensive to get them over here in wa,
So I'll try locally an see what turns up. I don't mind them growing slow, I just want them to clean up and look after the tank, maybe some sucker fish or something would be the go?

Most algae eaters etc are semi-tropical so you have to wait for your FT temperatures to get up higher,
and we cant get/have some of the other possibilities in WA.

I tried the common algae eater last year with goldfish (these are usually the Chinese Algae Eater).
Actually hung around for quite bit but found one belly up in May and never found the other .
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/c ... ealgae.php.
Various websites note that they actually get a taste for fish food as they get larger and dont eat so much algae - but the bonus is they eat it off the ground/floor. Had them get up to 100mm..... This site says 20degC but the are OK 15-20degC, particular if introduced warm and cool down.

Thanks Darren, my trout would find them yummy I bet lol,,
But I could put couple in an see what happens