Certainly with proper care tiger shovelnose catfish will survive and will grow up to 48 inches. On the other hand, In addition, the information you heard about the storage medium or tank used can affect the growth size of tiger shovelnose catfish. If the tiger shovelnose catfish is kept in a large aquarium, it can grow to almost 50 inches, while in the wild, the fish can only grow to 40 inches.