PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,

I plan to make a pond of about 3000m² with a depth between 1.50 and 2m (so that the water does not freeze in winter). We would like to put koi carp there. Being passionate about catfish, I was wondering if there were species that could live there all year round? The estimated temperature is 1°C to 26°C (possibility of different temperatures at the bottom).
I thought of the following species:
-Silurus glanis: my spouse is afraid that he will eat his carp so we ruled him out of the possibility
-Ameiurus melas: being considered harmful in France, we would prefer to avoid
-Hypostomus plecostomus
-Corydoras paleatus

Are there other possible species? We would prefer a catfish that, if possible, can live alone and of a size between 30 and 80cm. The pH will probably be around 7 - 7.5.
I should point out that we have no rivers nearby, so the risk of introducing a species into another environment remains minimal.

Do you have any ideas ?

As water of 4 C is the most heavy there is, the bottom of your pond will remain @ 4 C in the coldest of a normal winter with this depth. Still 4 C will be found
Not many fishes are imported from southern South America, but perhaps you could be luckey with fishes from north America. Further I would recommend you to look into catfish from Asia, many of them are facing colder winters than one would expect. But it will not be easy finding some.

I would not think H plecostomus would survive 4 C. Corydoras will never reach anything near 30 C. C paleatus - if you have wild cought from Uruguay - can however manage 4 C in winter.

Point is, not many fish are imported which reach 30 cm.

will manage this at least when adult. If you can get and keep them legally, North American catfishes are the answer but will outcompete koi...

Jools

How about the common bullhead does not get very large

Jeanne

Would madtoms survive?

Cheers, Eric

sturiosoma wrote: ↑31 Oct 2022, 13:36 How about the common bullhead does not get very large

Jeanne

I come across Cottus gobio while searching the internet, is this the one you are talking about?

Would madtoms survive?

I haven't seen any species larger than 18cm so I'm afraid they'll get eaten by the big carp.

I spotted:
-Silurus asotus
-Silurus soldatovi

I have looked at all the channel catfish but they seem to be getting quite big and may not survive the winter.

kiwidu21 wrote: ↑31 Oct 2022, 14:58

sturiosoma wrote: ↑31 Oct 2022, 13:36 How about the common bullhead does not get very large

Jeanne

I come across Cottus gobio while searching the internet, is this the one you are talking about?

They're likely referring to , and not the sculpin.

You previously mentioned , another option might be

kiwidu21 wrote: ↑31 Oct 2022, 14:58

Would madtoms survive?

I haven't seen any species larger than 18cm so I'm afraid they'll get eaten by the big carp.

If you're worried about madtoms getting eaten, then I wouldn't advise any or .

Cheers, Eric

That's a sweet pond, over 50 by 50 meters!

Channel catfish live in temperate zone of the N. American continent, including Canada, which is much harsher in winters than France.

In any case, I am confused by what has been posted a bit. We are going from the largest catfish like the mentioned Silurus species to the smallest like cory and madtom. And there is plenty catfish in between sizes. If you like Silurus glanis, then perhaps Silurus asotus and Silurus meridionalis could work for you.

What is / will be in the pond? Species and sizes?

There are others, like those from the Leiocassis genus, Tachysurus genus. There are Australian species. There are highland cold water species from many places of the world, even say India. Some from the south of S. America.

I just realized my mistake, it will be 300m2 and not 3000m2...
Apart from the carp, probably Chrosomus notropis. It is not dug yet so I have a little time to choose the future population.
I like Leiocassis and Tachysurus but I'm afraid it will be difficult to find them in my area, I have to check with my supplier. In case I might have some small ones, is it possible to grow them in an aquarium (so water between 16 and 27°C) then release them into the pond once they have grown?
I also like bagarius but I guess they wouldn't survive the winter?

17x17 meters or 57x57 feet is still a great pond.

Notropis chrosomus is a 5-8cm fish. IDK if it'd safe with large koi. I'd not expect koi to go after any small fish but don't have enough experience to be sure. Plus every tank / pond may differ.

The highland goonch / bagarius may survive freezing winters but IDK, never looked into it. Goonches are way too dangerous and predatory to any pond mates anyway. They have large dangerous teeth.

Channel catfish is a species Ictalurus punctatus, it will eat any koi that fit in its mouth, so should be safe with large koi, but koi tend to be timid and hungry predator catfish tend to be nasty to tank mates. Other large N. American catfish are blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus and flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris but they grow bigger and are far more predatory than channel catfish.

In the genus of Ameiurus there are yellow, black, brown, and other bullheads that may fit your bill and also white catfish that's very much like a bullhead. Don't confuse American bullheads with European gobies, please.

Here in the US several specialty online vendors of fish have been selling on occasion Silurus meridionalis, Silurus asotus, and Leiocassis and Tachysurus catfish, so these may be sourced in Europe too with some effort. Silurus biwaensis I've never seen for sale in the US but it is an option. Soldatovi, if ID'ed properly, is too large, close to glanis. I've seen them once for sale but doubt the ID nor checked it.

Australian catfish of the Tandanus and Neoater etc. genus are sometimes offered in the US.

This is all off the top of my head. I've not looked diligently into temperate water catfish around the globe.

This is the species I was thinking of Ictaluridea does not grow over 10in.

Jeanne