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I have just got a new giraffe cat after months of waiting and trying to find one he is tiny and has now disapeared into the rock work in my 200 gallon tank.



How long do you think it will take for him to settle down.

I am going to feed jmc pellets and worms etc.

What growth rate should i expect ? i have heard 1" a month is about average. in the first year.

any further practical advice would be great.

I do know how big this fish grows so please dont waste your time.

nice! looks like a classic A. occidentalis but ID-ing these guys can be tricky. They grow at a slow-to-moderate rate, IME, maybe 3"-6" a year - I mean the big guys that reach 3' eventually. I have had several specimen which did not grow at all in one year (remained at ~4" TL). Never gotten a precise ID on them but they looked just like your guy except for mottled color appearance. Not all auchenoglanis are giants and the genus has been recently revised to include more species. Some one like Birger can give you more info or send a sci paper.

IME, unfussy eater but shies away from meaty foods - fish, shrimp - when small.

Hi Thanks for the info,

I have seen a real monster one a few years back in a private aquarium that was around the 3ft mark but was well over 10 years old but had no markings and was near on grey colored.

I guess the markings get less pronounced as they grow. I will try and post regular updates as he gets larger.

Very Nice. Don't you just love it when you finally get a cat you've waiting forever for and it immediately goes into hiding.
I'm sure he'll venture out as most Giraffe's I've seen didn't seem to be too shy. Good Luck!

Yeah it's annoying hes hiding but he had a long journey to me so i guess ill give him time...

I have 70kg of ocean rock in there for the Malawi's so he will be safe in there for a while, if he eats a few fry i wont be upset as i live in a very hard water area and the cichlids breed like rabbits.

In a way i'm pleased these large species are harder to find than they were a few years back as it mean less people get sold them being told it will only grow as big as your tank..

It used to be very easy to ID these - if it looked roughly like a Giraffe Cat it was a A. occidentalis. Then some scientists wrote this:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 14&t=31262

And we now have 9 or so species that are quite similar. Small ones are harder to tell apart than adults...

--
Mats

As said juvis can be tough...but through the bag(not the best way to ID something) it looks similar to this one in this thread http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =8&t=32248 yes/no??

Was it advertised or sold with any particular name attached?

Birger

Hi,

He was labelled as a Giraffe Cat Sp. A. occidentalis, I got him from wholesale tropicals in london via mail.

I took a photo through bag as i knew once he went into the tank i was going to see him for a while
He does look similar to the one you mention, but his markings were very pronounced.

He was 6-8cm tl and in perfect condition.

Well, enjoy, you should get good growth in that size tank as long as it is not competing too much.

It would be interesting to have growth rate and pictures recorded every six months or so if possible, keep us posted how the little fish progresses when you can.

Birger

I will provide regular updates and as he grows hopefully i can photo him more easily..

vieja80 wrote:I will provide regular updates and as he grows hopefully i can photo him more easily..

Nice one! We look forward to seeing how he and his surroundings develop. As you've noted, it's easy (and I'd suggest also understandable) to jump on the back of people keeping small but going to get big cats - so nice to see one with a future!

Cheers,

Jools

cheers all,

I have seen fleeting glimpses of him over the first week and he seems ok.

Fingers x'd for a decent pic soon

I have to say that is a cute giraffe cat fish that you have got there. By the way, how did you even manage to get one? It is pretty rare. I have a similar cat but only that the spots are replaced with stripes but definitely not the stripes of that of a tiger.

a pic would go farther than 1000 words, Joshua, when it comes to ID-ying

Yes, it is rare in common shops, even fish-oriented. In 2 years, I've seen them maybe 5 time at various shops while I have made hundreds of LFS visits in various states. You can usually find them on-line too. They are always poorly ID-ed or not ID-ed at all other than giraffe catfish.

I have to say that is a cute giraffe cat fish that you have got there. By the way, how did you even manage to get one? It is pretty rare. I have a similar cat but only that the spots are replaced with stripes but definitely not the stripes of that of a tiger.

I will repeat a quote from another post

Joshua3,

Your post looks like elaboate spam to me. Please can you tell us a bit about yourself and the fish you keep please. Failure to reply correctly will result in a ban.

Cheers,

Jools

I nearly bought 2 giraffe cats from Viscum Aquatics today (Barnburgh) but was told they grow to 3 foot!

If anyone is looking for more I'd try them!

I got a pair of breeding Flash Pleco's instead!

Perhaps you know your giraffe cats very well. If not, please revisit my post above - first reply to the OP. Most of the 9 species are not giants, top out at less than a foot.

that might be, but the most common imported species is the wittei; the one we have known as the occidentalis all this time, until the revision

that one -wittei- does reach 2 feet TL at least and gets quite massive; you'd need a huge tank

the other species are very rare in the trade if at all, with the exception of the Tanganyikan species that's sometimes imported by those who have good connections with the stations at the lake
that one too gets quite big!

getting hold of one of the "dwarf" species will be very hard

the one pictured a few postings above is a baby wittei; hence a potential big fella

Most of the 9 species are not giants, top out at less than a foot.

You have to keep in mind this is just for recorded measurements...If we are going to assume we should be assuming that they will grow larger for these species and these measurements in the Cat-eLog will change in time.

If you take into account the known large species, ones mentioned by Sid and the others(including the Rukwa variant), add in the rapid growth of Mark Smiths beasty which looks like its growth is not slowing down and is from the far west, that leaves quite a spread of large individuals over much of Africa.

I find it hard to believe that these others stay small(in this case 12 inches is small)...granted it is possible but not likely in my opinion.

Birger

yup

chances are that your baby Giraffe will end up like this:


are much much greater than you getting a 'dwarf' species that stays 'only' 1 foot.

it's a very active cat, boisterous, disruptive in a nice way and fast growing.
just the behavior makes sure you need a roomy tank, let alone the sheer bulk.

look at this one....there's someone sitting behgind it, likely a fisherman

imagine the tank where such a monster could be housed comfortably.....