# stupid channel catfish



## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

yesterday my friend gave me his 5 inch long channel catfish. reluctantly i agreed to take it and put it in my 20 gallon tank temporarily. Stupid me thought it would just sit at the bottom and eat all the sinking crap. it totally blew over my head that these catfish are predatory haha. so this morning i woke up to find one very fat and sassy catfish and 6 missing full grown and pregnant fancy guppies. I was so mad that i threw the freakin fish in our backyard creek. i really feel stupid about this. Moral of the story: research your fish before u put them in any tank.


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## Jeffww (May 25, 2010)

Have you gone fishing before? Lol I've had channel cats take bait the size of their head, let alone a tiny guppy.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

poor guppys...:S


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

yea i go fishing like 24/7 cuz i live about a half mile from a big lake. i just never go catfishing (i like catching bass and big sunfish more than anything). i was just amazed that this little 5 inch fish could practically eat its own body weight in like 12 hours hahaha. good thing my guppies are... or were prolific breeders and i have about 30 fry in my two gallon. well i guess this hobby is trial and error! i definitely learn from my mistakes lol


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

So... you just chucked the fish into a local water system? 

Although these fish are native to most of the US, it doesn't mean it is native to your creek/river and also doesn't mean it will survive. 

Citizens are taxed because the country is trying to eradicate non-native and otherwise invasive species that people get sick of and throw into our waterways or don't realize they are really hurting the environment as well as our fisheries. 

Even if these catfish are native to your creek, you may have just introduced a non-native disease into the system since the fish was kept, even for a short time, with tropical species. 

I'm just saying.


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

yea, that was not a smart move. Nice job contaminating your creek.


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

Pretty much how the snakehead was introduced into our water ways. Irresponsible people thinking oh, there's some water, let me just toss my unwanted fish in there. 
Now the snakeheads are destroying native fish/game fish ect. Nasty buggers. And Asian crap....oh dont get me started!!!!

BE RESPONSIBLE FISH/PLANT KEEPERS!


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

settle down guys haha we caught the catfish in the creek to begin with and we only had it in captivity for about 2 weeks where it was kept in good health. our creek is very healthy and has a good population of small catfish and green sunfish in it. trust me i know plenty about invasive species like snakeheads and Asian carp. i wouldn't have put the fish back in there if i wasn't positive that it was its natural habitat. Honestly i am much more worried about other people's drainage pipes going directly into the water way and introducing disease that way than myself accidentally contaminating the creek somehow. seeing fish in this small backyard creek tells me that its very healthy and is sustaining a good natural food source and doing well. i realize and appreciate your concern about invasive species and diseases, but i can assure you that its nothing to worry about.


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

> settle down guys haha we caught the catfish in the creek to begin with and we only had it in captivity for about 2 weeks where it was kept in good health. our creek is very healthy and has a good population of small catfish and green sunfish in it. trust me i know plenty about invasive species like snakeheads and Asian carp. i wouldn't have put the fish back in there if i wasn't positive that it was its natural habitat. Honestly i am much more worried about other people's drainage pipes going directly into the water way and introducing disease that way than myself accidentally contaminating the creek somehow. seeing fish in this small backyard creek tells me that its very healthy and is sustaining a good natural food source and doing well. i realize and appreciate your concern about invasive species and diseases, but i can assure you that its nothing to worry about.


Basically this statement is not true. There is no way one can know if a fish is OK to release into wild waterways. Seemingly healthy fish can harbor disease. Fish can carry disease that does not affect them, but the disease can affect other fish.

This is bad fishkeeping behavior. There are several states already proposing legal bans on non-native pets and this is why. This type of activity has the potential to kill our hobby and damage our local environment.

Please, please, please don't ever release a fish or plant you've kept in an aquarium, even if you took it from the local environment.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

On the plus side some of the newer hobbiests are now aware of the issues in re-releasing native critters, even into their original habitat, based on a real time and current incident in real life.

Interesting though that this is done on a massive scale in fisheries, turtle relocations et cetera...which I realize is a more controlled environment in the eyes of some, but the risks are no less real than in this incident. I guess the point is, Ryan, that next time you need a tax payer funded program to say it's okay to toss your fish out. 

BTW - I happen to be involved in some such programs to various degrees, so don't think I'm necessarily being cynical; just making a point.


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

It takes much less than 2 weeks for a fish to become infected. You may think your tank IS disease free, but i guarantee it has pathogens. Your inhabitants have an immunity built up and display no signs. now that channel cat has brought something foreign into your creek.

There should be a law that if you release a fish that spent anytime in an aquarium that you are banned from keeping aquariums for life.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Ouch!

Technically, Dielectric is exactly correct, and it is DEFINITELY a no-no to release an aquarium fish into the wild, even if was wild and tossed into the aquarium for only a short time. But I am going to have to vote that instead of a ban for a first time offense we try as a group to frind a way to further educate the newer folks to the hobby. 

By the way Dielectric, I don't think I've ever seen (read, whatever) you get this fired up. That's good, and I'm glad to see and hear that there are lots of folks who realize the dangers. What do you think about maybe creating something about this in a sticky and working it with the moderators? I'm sure they'd be okay with it, and I'm sure you'd have NO lack of help and responses. Just a thought...

For what it's worth Ryan, it's also just as risky to introduce a wild critter into the tank for the same reasons. A friend of mine once tossed a baby mud-cat into an aquarium and within a week every fish in there was sick, and within 2 weeks they had all died except the mud-cat, naturally immune to whatever it had.

What a great topic you introduced, all because of a "stupid channel catfish". +1 on that!!!


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

On the other hand, there's now a 5 inch long channel catfish in your local creek who just had the best vacation ever!

***** Five stars, warm beds, great food. would try again.


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

JERP said:


> On the other hand, there's now a 5 inch long channel catfish in your local creek who just had the best vacation ever!
> 
> ***** Five stars, warm beds, great food. would try again.


hahaha! way to stay optimistic.

guys i realize that my decision of releasing the catfish back to its home definitely wasn't the smartest and for that i am sorry, but come on we all make mistakes. I guess i was just fired up about the fish eating my guppies and didn't think about what i was doing (but i actually have a heart and didn't want to just kill the poor thing). I honestly did not know that doing something such as replacing a wild caught fish that was in captivity could pose such a big threat on our local ecosystem so thank you for informing me. Dielectric I'm especially sorry! i really didn't mean to get anyone all angry by posting my little story. (and i really really don't want to be banned from this awesome hobby!) I totally agree about making this a sticky. I mean if i didn't know how bad it can be to do something like this, then i am sure there are others out there that are oblivious as well. This post has really started a very informative conversation.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

We are all learning things in this hobby. It's up to each of us to be a good friend and teach good animal husbandry. We keep things in our tanks that have come from all over the world!

And it's not just fish. I can't tell you how many times I've read of outside gardens/ponds and people planting them with all varieties of plants. While the gardens/ponds are beautiful any of these plants can be spread to neighboring water ways by animals that visit, wind, seeds... We'd never intentionally do any of this... we just don't think. It's a good topic to discuss.


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

I didnt mean to come off as a jerk. But i think this in an important subject. all these people that don't know any better are ruining it for the rest of us responsible people & ruining our environment.

The same goes for plants, reptiles etc etc. If you have cared for it all, don't release it!


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

I think the OP has the point, no matter, dont release fish from aquariums into waters, even if that is where it came from.
We're really starting to :deadhorse

Same goes for plants.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Yup, we've all learned a valuable lesson, at one point or another, by the mistakes we've made. If we had too stict of punishments because we goofed on things, I'd be riding a bicycle to work, I wouldn't be allowed to go into town (still not sure I'm even welcome in one town in particular...stupid "hillbilly justice"... ) and I'd be living in a pile of ashes :flame: .

Ryan gets to keep fish and plants and aquariums, I get to drive a car and live under a roof, and we get the wonderful opportunity of teaching others through our mistakes. :tea:

-Dave


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

This sort of subject does need to be repeated as new members and new fish keepers join, and may not read the older posts. 
I would like to think that no one is attacking Ryan, but attacking the idea of releasing any animal into the wild, even if it came from there to begin with. 

Research the animal before you bring it home, no matter what it is. Find out how long it lives, and what are the optimum conditions for that animal. If you cannot provide those conditions, do not bring home that animal. If a change in circumstances means you must rehome an animal make sure it is going to an equally responsible person.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Well, I'm glad to see we will all get along just fine! WooHoooooooooooooo!!!

Now I'm going to go find one of the released sea turtles from the gulf and raise it in my 125...

Just kidding obviously. I think being away so long is getting to me :der:

Only 14 more days.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Great lesson to teach newcomers, and the sooner the better. At least the catfish got some nice dessert. Poor guppies


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## orisuechris (Aug 14, 2010)

Agreed in all honesty when I first read the story I didn't see anything really wrong beside the fact Ryan didn't think the catfish would eat his guppies. So I am one of those people who learned something through this .


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

What it boils down to is never put anything that has been in an aquarium into any natural body of water.

If you are unwilling to rehome anything to someone that you know is responsible or cannot bring yourself to kill it, or have someone do it, do not collect it. Also never flush anything.


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

orisuechris said:


> Agreed in all honesty when I first read the story I didn't see anything really wrong beside the fact Ryan didn't think the catfish would eat his guppies. So I am one of those people who learned something through this .


Well i sure am glad that people are learning from my mistake!


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