30 year old catfish, want to put him in a larger tank.

[mc77]

Im new here, years ago as a child with no internet, i read every and any book i could get my hands on about fish keeping. A new situation is giving me pause. I have had a catfish since i was 10 years old, im 40 now. So, do the math. I obviously take very good care of my pets! I have had him in the same 30 gallon aquarium since i got him. I honestly dont know what sort of cat it is, like i said, i got it when i was ten. I do know that it occasionally chirps, it was brown with black spots when it was young, now its just brown. Looked similar to
Featherfin Squeaker
Featherfin Catfish, Featherfin Synodontis.

I have had a 75 gallon, planted aquarium for the last two years. It only has a few small fish in it, a couple black neon tetras, one orange molly and an algae eater. Not very exciting! I recently moved and would like to take the cat from his 30 year home, and move him to the large tank. I already buried some tube caves for him, and its had a bunch of drift wood in it as well since i started this larger tank.

Im worried to move him from his 30 gallon to the 75 because of shock. The old "he has become institutionalized" argument. He is used to the same thing forever.

Any advice? Just go for it and do the usual water drip acclimation? I dont want to kill my buddy of 30 years.


No clue what happened to my font....

 

[AbbeysDad]

Congrats!!!...on such a long lived fish as the average life span for tropical fish is said to be 10-15 years.

Experts agree that drip acclimation is nearly pointless. It takes fish days or even weeks to acclimate to different water chemistry(ies). For shipped fish, drip acclimation can be lethal. Why? With shipped fish, the water becomes acidic so the ammonia converts to nearly harmless ammonium. With drip acclimation, the pH increases and the ammonium reverts back to lethal ammonia and can kill the fish.

So the best approach is to float to equalize temperatures, then net and transfer the fish.

However....
Assuming you do similar water changes in both tanks, the water should have pretty much the same chemistry. Also assuming both tanks are basically the same temperature, you should be able to net and transfer the fish directly between tanks.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[mc77]

Congrats!!!...on such a long lived fish as the average life span for tropical fish is said to be 10-15 years.

Experts agree that drip acclimation is nearly pointless. It takes fish days or even weeks to acclimate to different water chemistry(ies). For shipped fish, drip acclimation can be lethal. Why? With shipped fish, the water becomes acidic so the ammonia converts to nearly harmless ammonium. With drip acclimation, the pH increases and the ammonium reverts back to lethal ammonia and can kill the fish.

So the best approach is to float to equalize temperatures, then net and transfer the fish.

However....
Assuming you do similar water changes in both tanks, the water should have pretty much the same chemistry. Also assuming both tanks are basically the same temperature, you should be able to net and transfer the fish directly between tanks.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I had no clue! Thank you for the info on the drip acclimation. Id be so upset if i killed this guy. Im going to wait a few days since i just moved the large tank from my office to my home. I did move ALL the water. Ill most likely check the water chemistry in both tanks again to be sure. Ill try to post a photo or two once its been finished. Thanks for the advice.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I don't know how different the water chemistry is between your work and home? Since you transferred the water (not sure why?) you might want to wait until after a few weekly partial water changes before you xfer the catfish between tanks.

 

[mc77]

Thanks for the advice. Big Old Catfish is in the new big tank and doing great.

 

[**sarahp**]

Thanks for the advice. Big Old Catfish is in the new big tank and doing great.

Excellent!! Pictures are compulsory whenever advice is sought.