Species profile: Iridescent shark

Scientific Name : pangasius hypophthalmus (previously p.sutchi)

Common Name : Iridescent shark , shark catfish , pangasius catfish

Class : Catfish

Family : Pangasiidae

Temperature : 78 to 82°F /27 to 30°C

Length : 110 cm in the wild but much smaller in aquaria.

Tank set up : Avoid sharp objects,likes some current ,large swimming space and very few artificial plants

Food : Blood worms , brine shrimps , tubifex worms and commercial foods

Swimming level : Mostly bottom and middle swimmer

Origin : Thailand

Compatibility : Very peaceful, will eat small fish that fit into its mouth, overly aggressive tankmates (eg: flowerhorns) should be avoided ,schooling fish when at juvenile stage but becomes solitary when it reaches adult stage

Breeding : Not Possible in aquaria, hormones triggered reproduction has been achieved in very large ponds.Typical egg scatterers

pH : 7 - 8 but will adapt to a wide range(6 – 8)

Comments : Very nervous fish which occasionally collides with the tank walls, plastic plants can be added on both sides of the tank to avoid damage to their sensible snout. Good jumper when frightened.A very large tank is needed when it attains adult stage.They have a poor eyesight and rely mostly on their feelers to locate food.Often sold in lfs as a small fish but nobody should buy these fish unless the buyer has a very large tank.

Pictures of juvenile pangasius. (Picture taken form aqua-global.de)

Picture of albino adult(Taken from planetcatfish.com)

[jebus]

aka silver patin
for big specimens
like 1ft n above
u can get them cheaply from sheng shiong supermarket at west coast area
less than 10 bucks

Normal adult pangasius(Taken from planetcatfish.com)

[sixthbrand]

very very very very skittish fish! can get them anywhere from $2-$5!

[Sunday]

Yea, extremely skittish. I've kept a few in the past but i've never been able to keep them alive for more than a week. They never seemed to eat and always died soon after.

[sixthbrand]

Originally Posted by Sunday

Yea, extremely skittish. I've kept a few in the past but i've never been able to keep them alive for more than a week. They never seemed to eat and always died soon after.

i have 2.. 1 i kept for over a year alr.. the other one's an albino..

[user134679]

Had a couple of these before.

Extremely skittish and always colliding into glass, resulting in head/face injuries.