Vulture/Machete Catfish (Calophysus macropterus)

This is my Vulture or Machete catfish.  His coloration is really starting to show through.  This fish truely has a bad reputation.  It is said that this fish is a scavenger, and if pushed into starvation will bite chunks out of other fish.  This may be true in the wild, but I would think it is hard to find a catfish, or fish period that matches the character of this one in an aquarium.  The Vulture Catfish is a hearty predatory fish that is by all accounts a survivor.  They grow to a maximum length of around 20-24".  The maximum scientifically documented specimen was around 19.5".  These gorgeous fish are said to do better in a group as they do shoal in the wild.  Also in the wild a shoal will form for mass feedings.  They have a single row of blade-like teeth that they use to tear chunks out of their prey.  They readily accept a variety of foods, hence the moniker Vulture catfish.  Tales of fishermen pulling out their catch of larger species of catfish, just to have these and other scavenger type catfish boring their way into the body of their catch is abundant.  For a catfish this one has larger eyes than expected for it's size, the barbels(whiskers are exceptionally long extending sometimes beyond the caudal(tail) fin.  It is a powerful swimmer which can be seen from the deeply forked and very strong caudal fin lobes.  The adipose fin is also exceptionally long.  This fish is closely related to Pimelodid catfish, but the unique dentary, and unique swim bladder suggest that it exist close, but outside this family.  The dorsal fin spine is rather weak, but still has small, and sharp spines on the pectoral fins as in other catfish.

This fish has a great personality and once it becomes accustomed to it's owner and feeding schedule will swim at the surface almost begging for food!  One might be tempted to hand feed this fish, but a word from the wise please do not(that means don't) hand feed this fish no matter how tempting it may be.  Remember the teeth of this fish are well hidden under the lips, but trust me they are sharp and can leave a very nasty bite as a member of the forum MonsterFishKeepers found out.  We both got a fish from the same catch, and he began to hand feed his.  I warned him of the teeth, but he persisted.  once his fish realized that his hand=food it was all over.  The keeper put his hand in the tank to clean and "WHAM" he got bit on his had by the thumb.  This fish had zoned in on his hand expecting food since that is what usually brought it food.  The damaged caused was minimal.  It was a circular bite and you could clearly see that the cut was rather clean like someone had sliced his skin lightly with a razor in a circular fashion.  Luckily for him this fish decided his hand was not food after biting and immediately let go.  Had it not let go it could have rolled and took with it a  quarter sized chunk of flesh!!!!  That would be one incredibly painfull wound and would require a trip to the local emergency room.  Since this incident any thoughts I had of hand feeding this fish have went out the wind and I will rather just enjoy watching it from safety outside the tank!  

As for how it interacts with other fish?  It has not bothered a single fish in my tank thus far and has been in there a month so far.  It keeps to itself and waits in the current in the typical tripod stance of the pimelodid family.  The pattern is incredibly gorgeous on this little known fish.  i would recommend this fish to anyone that has a large aquarium and would like to add a catfish to it.  Varried reports do exist of this fish taking scales from scaled fish as well, but I wouldn't know as i only keep catfish currently.  :)

I will continue to update on this fish in the future so that you can enjoy this adventure with me!!!

Don't let the evil look in his eyes fool you, but to be safe if you must handfeed this fish please be safe and use a pair of feeding tongs or a feeding stick!!!!  This fish will also eat pellets from the surface so an automatic fish feeder is a good choice as well.  

River Monster Flathead Catfish eats..........

So my flathead catfish finally decided he would like to eat something!!!  I've been keeping this fish for about 3 weeks since I picked it up from the air port is has not eaten until now!!!  So what did it eat?  Believe it or not it ate salad shrimp.  :)  I had also previously got it to take some blood worms, but IMO that doesn't really count as it barely does anything for a fish this size.  I will continue to feed him shrimp and eventually I hope to get him on frozen silversides as well for added nutrition.  This predatory fish has gained a bad rap as a fish that will only eat live.  Here I have shown that in as little as 2-3 weeks this fish can be weened onto frozen meaty foods such as shrimp, fish fillet, ect.  Check out my youtube channel: necrocanis on there as well.  I hope to be writing some very interesting information up on keeping large catfish in the near future!!!

An update on recent fish keeping news!

Hi everyone.  It has been a while since I did a blog on my fish keeping.  Seems life is always getting in the way of such things.  You should be happy to know that some of the reason I haven't been able to blog is because I have been so busy with my fish keeping endeavors.
As you well know I am highly addicted to keeping catfish as my main pets.  I am happy to report that I now keep 3 new species of catfish that I have never kept before.  :)  This has brought new enthusiasm to me about keeping these wonderful creatures.  This has inspired me to build something rather unique.  lol.  A pond that doubles as a bed stand as well.  There is several reasons for this.  I had several needs for myself and my fish.  Some of my fish were starting to rather large for the 100 gal glass aquarium that I own.  So I needed something more substantial for them to live in.  Also I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for several years now.  I am very limited currently on space for keeping
fish.  So when push came to shove I decided to solve both problems in one swoop!
The construction of the pond was documented on monsterfishkeepers.com.  You can go there and go to the DIY tank build section and I have a thread titled "Cheap/Easy/Fast Pond/Bed-stand build".  You can get all the details you like there.  There is even a thread in the DIY filter section titled "DIY drop in bucket filters", that showcases how I made the filtration for this pond.  I am no expert by any means, but I try to do things economically and with a purpose in mind.  Now I have solved both  issues for the time being.  The tank has been up and running for over 2 weeks now with no issues.
I plan to do a short summary of the fish that I am now keeping to give an update for those who are interested.  I will write a blog entry on each species and detail when it was obtained, growth rates, food intake, temperament  etc.
        These are the species I am currently keeping.
Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris)
Vulture Catfish (Calophysus macropterus)
Bacu Catfish (Pterodoras granulosus)
Raphael Catfish (Platydoras armulatus)
Sun Catfish (Horabagrus brachysoma)
Iridescent Shark (Pangasianodon hypopthalmus)
 Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus caracoideus)
Bristle nose pleco (Ancistrus cirrhosus)

      I will try to get into the habit of doing an ongoing journal detailing things that are happening with each species.  For those wondering, the answer is "yes" I am only keeping catfish species currently.  They are my main interest.  I study them almost exclusively.  Catfish are such a massive group of fish that one could study them for a lifetime and barely scratch the surface.
     Happy New Year from Necrocanis, and hope you stay tunned for my next entry!

A word on my current fish and activities today.

So I thought everyone would like to know exactly which species of catfish I am currently keeping, and what sizes they are.  I have 4 catfish currently housed in a 100 gal tank.  There are 2 Sun catfish one is 10" and the other is around 12".  They are very voracious lately and eat Hikari Cichlid Pellets like crazy lately.  They have an ID shark that they sometimes swim with and attack.  The ID shark is around 10" long also.  He is also a pig and will try to get food before the suncats come up to attack him and steal what remains.  The last catfish is a 4 year old rapheal catfish.  It is around 6" long and has no fear of it's tankmates.  It will hide until food is put in the tank and is the first one out eating.  After he gets his fill he swims back under his driftwood home.  I sometimes feed them chopped shrimp.

My tank is looking pretty nasty lately.  I haven't had a ton of time for tank maintenance so I have left the algae to grow and help with the filtration some.  Looks like it is starting to die off with the short winter days here in Montana so I need to scrape it and get back into my normal maintenance.  I use a python hose when cleaning my tank, and will use just a wash cloth to remove the algae.  I have well water in my home so when the temperature is right I will put it straight into the tank.

If anyone is interested I am Necrocanis on both youtube, and on MonsterFishKeepers.

Introduction to me and my background in fish keeping.

Hello everyone.  I am Cliff.  I have been fish keeping for nearly 14 years.  I mainly have kept catfish as my pets.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have catfish in my blood!  If you visit MFK (monsterfishkeepers) at all and have visited the catfish section you have undoubtedly seen some of my posts there.  I really love the site as it took my passion for fish keeping to a whole new level.  I love to learn about fish (particularly catfish), and also teach and educate others on keeping them and keeping them alive!  You shouldn't just keep fish just to have them.  You should only keep them if you are willing to see them to their full genetic potential!  There are exceptions but they are few and far between.  I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone who rescues a fish.  It's better to keep it in sanitary conditions and alive than where it will die if not moved.

After saying that you should also know that I am a stickler for detail when it comes to fish.  I have very detailed knowledge of fish anatomy.  I will be doing posts on both catfish and how to keep them, as well as posts on their anatomical features.  I believe that if you are going to keep fish it will benefit you to know everything you can about that particular species.  Not just it's habits, but also about it's anatomy.  Remember knowledge is power!

Cliff