I want a Bagarius yarrelli 'The Goonch'

I really want some of these.......September the 12th is the day for the arrival of a tasty menu of monster fish the like of which u gotta see....also 4 Inch africans to beat the band....As well as this i reckon i have one of the finest goldfish collections arriving direct from the home of goldfish China itself...in the next week or two.There is no one who has a decent collection of these beauties this is set to change for the better........big selection of nano tanks arriving today i think in the last two weeks i have sold more tanks than at any other time in my career.....our fish health is exceptional at the moment...thanks to moi .....ah yes modesty i have been blessed by the god of fish....all our remaing dennerle plants will be half price to clear em out make way for the new list.....i love my job !
IAn

Ian, you are really getting a taste for your Monsetrs :)Do you have any plans to source some Goonch?

Hy dude .....what do u think......yea you are right i have made enquires, should hear back soon.....i really want one of these....i am actually going to start a collection of the continents greatest predators it will be a long road and i will start it by getting a few Irish pike to keep and display.....it is only fitting that this is the way i should go because i have a 30 lb female specimen from Blessington lakes on the wall at Aquatic Village....this is where my monster madness originated....so i have a pedegree already been fishing since i was six year old......i have caught Barracuda,,giant trevelly....monster rock grouper.....tuna.....giant needlefish....so what do u expect from a fish junkie the habit always gets worse not better.....

The devil Catfish is a must...the nickname 'the Goonch' is too captivating to not dream of, i have been watching a ton of documentaries on line..then some nile perch i hope, then the list will grow.....
IAn

my god with your dream monster fish you'll bankrupt yourself building tanks and ponds to keep those monsters in, but it'll be impressive... u truely are a fish lunatic

ShhhhhhhwinnnnnG!

6 x 30 cm Goonch secured should be available in 2 weeks ....in Ireland approx 3 weeks oh my god.....am i lucky or what...

Go for it!! I'll be up for a gander as soon as they arrive.

You need to check out ArapimaG's monster tank build www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/...ank_MFK_version.html

Cheers,
Patrick

how about a blog on these big fish?
something along the lines of....
pictures of the tank to house them,
pics of the fish every month or so to see them grow,
maybe a video or two,
and would really like to see details of their care, filtration systems, water change routines and feeding time! along with problems encountered, experiences with the individual species etc
nothing like a first hand account to show people what is actually involved in the care of these fish
cheers
joe

A blog would be a good idea.

I'll visit the blog.

ian

@Ian.....you mention monsters from each continent.......so which fish from each continent would you class as the 'Tops'?
I wonder if your list is the same as mine (I would probably miss out certain catfish).
(go on....get making a list lad )

ian

This must be a wind up, considering these monsters get to over 6 feet long, 150lbs and are vicious predators with a reputation as a maneater. I'd love to know how you plan to keep them.

Il be the first one up if you get pike in,there ugly beautiful,if you know what I mean,love to see a couple of zander to!

Ian as always i respect u as a friend and probably one of the most knowlegable guys i know....but something tells me u are trying to suck me into something here....i ain't sure what but as always i am game.........

Now before i give u my wishlist i know you well enough to know that we will be thinking on different levels.I know you will be thinking pound per pound type predators and if so we can get totally obscure but i am going to approach this on my level so i will be straight to the point because i am a big predator fan and i will let you take the obscure route which i will probably concede to on so many different levels because pound for pound there are countless miniscule heavy weights out there but i will leave those up to you... i'm a simple straightforward guy.

But don't get me wrong we both have to choose our paths and my path is rod and line man versus beast.If i had the chance i would remake all the monster hook series with me in them giving it socks so lets see....

Starting in reverse and freshwater/ Brackish

10. Would have to be Pike and to give Ireland a little mention even though its not a continent as such but i have to get it in...i'm a major fan of these beast having a 30lb mounted on the shop wall caught 8 yrs ago.
9.Barramundi - Australia
8.Big Bass fishing Noth America species - large mouth bass / Peacock Bass
7.Muskellenge Pike - North America
6.Alligator gar - Mississippi North America.
5.Nile Perch - North Africa.
4.The Goonch 'Devil catfish' - India
3.Goliath Tiger Fish - The Congo/Lake Tanganik
2.Arapiama Gigas - Amazon South America.
1.Zambezi shark otherwise known as the ferocious Bull shark the baddest of all freshwater monsters.....i'm not sure if i'll try to buy one in the future....

So there you have it the ull shark is tops for me when it comes to the monsters for the Zambezi shark is a true killer of human flesh well documented and set in stone.....world wide and spreadinf fast!

Ian its over to you dude.....i had fun doin this!

I may be trying to suck you into a good discussion on your opinion on what you personally rate as great monster fish.....and the criteria that you gave is an added bonus.

Great list by the way, and a few of the fish on there would also be on my list (and some are my favourite fish as well).

Some on my list may not be that much of a predator......but most are pretty primitive.

I love the recent river monster and monster fishing programmes on TV....not because of the usual superlatives that TV like but because for once there has been a great focus on freshwater fish as opposed to the once endless documentaries on sharks and reef fish.

I do keep some monster fish (or smaller versions of what people call monster fish), but I am presently limited in what I can keep in our overstocked home, and have kept many monster fish in the past (and ones that I do see a lot of tut-tutting about).

OK. here's a quick off-the-top-of-my-head list

Marine:
Mola Mola;
Bat Fish;
and Manta Ray. {I've only ever kept one of those monsters...batfish)

UK/Ireland:
Pike;
Perch (OK the perch is not the usual monster fish, but good enough....and I used to keep them).

North America:
Alligator Gar;
PumpkinSeed Bass (Lepomis);
Polyodon (Mississippi Paddlefish).....the later is one fish that I would love to keep but I have also recommended they be on a banned list of imports.....what a conflict).

South America:
Arapaima;
Electric Eel;
Tambaqui;
Hoplias (wolf fish)

Asia:
Scleropages (Asian Arowana);
Asian Sturgeons;
Mekong Catfish;
SnakeHeads.

Australia:
Scelopages (Australian Saratogas);
Sawfish;
Australian Lungfish.

Africa:
Goliath Tiger Fish;
Nile Perch;
Large Polypterus (eg endlicheri);
Boulineriachromis microlepis (I should check the spelling somewhere);
African Lungfish.


ian

igmillichip,reading that reminds me of a dive I did in Thailand. There were a couple of small wrecks,one was an old wooden junk type boat,and there were quite a few batfish in it. As usual,I had a good poke around,and in as far as I was allowed,and when finning away I had that feeling something was behind me,so I turned,and a batfish was following me,but as soon as I looked over my shoulder,it stopped and looked away. This happened several times,and I was in stitches,it was like a cartoon. guess you had to be there

@Acara......batfish are so cool. They could be something to tempt me back to marines, but I don't have the room for a batfish tank.

some of my favourite larger fish include
n.america-flathead catfish,ali gar

s america
piraiba
jau
pacus-got 3 x2footers,ugly buggers,cause plenty of trouble but still like them

africa
vundu
emperor cichlid

asia
paroon

europe
wels cat

australia
jardini aro

yeah Ian would be great to see a build blog of any big tank construction