So I´ve planned to make a fish pond in my back garden, and I´m fond of the thought - of course - to have a catfish in it. Any ideas about suitable species?
Allthough I live in Denmark, it´s rather warm here in summer (20-30 degrees) and I´ve planned to let the fishes spend the winter in a large aquarium indoor. My biggest problem is to find a catfish that doesn´t get TOO big.
Don't know if you can get them there, but ictalurids would be nice, especially some of the smaller bullhead species. Another possibility would be East Asian bagrids like <i>Pelteobagrus</i>.
Interests: The "passion" for fish has subsided somewhat the last couple years, only currently keeping two corys and what might be an LDA-33, as catfish goes.
Uhm. . we don´t have freshwater catfishes in Denmark (at least I think we don´t) But the idea about capturing a wild catfish was good, though. . Are Ictalurids avaliable in shops in Norway?
Ictalurus nebulosus was introduced to some small lakes in Norway about hundred years ago or more, might be that this was done in Denmark as well but i wouldnt know. i have never seen this one for sale in Norway, but why buy it when you can catch it.
How about a common pleco, I keep one in my pond during the summer and bring him indoors for the winter. He loves all of the rocks and algae, he even cuddles up with my albino channel cats under there.
hahaha... hard to catch an ictalurid? woo, that's a good one. I once went on a fishing trip with more than a dozen people and I was the only one to catch anything but one, in a set of lakes that's got a good population of all sorts of fish. That's like fishing for crayfish. if you've got meat past it's prime, you put it in the water( for crayfish in a pair of womens pantyhose past it's prime, for catfish on a hook) and wait. just go for the "The worse it smells, the less it appeals to humans, the more catfish like it" theory and if they're out there it's an easy catch, use a barbless hook to minimize damage and have a tank ready for recoup. as to catching with nets and such, no idea... it's illegal here to do any of that. my guess is similar to south american catfish... find what looks like a nice shady spot and net about for them, or do the seine net thing...
