rosy reds vs. feeder goldfish

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brettsdad2011

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2012
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madison, wi
hi all, im new here and kind of new to the aquarium hobby as well. i've been reading on here a lot, about two hours a day actually, just learning and soaking up wisdom. i've read a lot about feeder goldfish maybe not being the healthiest diet out there for large aggressive fish and was wondering if rosy reds are a better option. stock includes: two albino clawed frogs that eat anything, one 8" clown knife, one 8" armoured catfish, one 8" LNG, one 4" rocket gar. the clown knife and rocket gar only eat live right now. the LNG is pellet trained, wasnt even hard.

completely off the subject, we have a 225 gal that we will be setting up as soon as we learn more about filtration, flow, live plants, and compatibility. we plan on swapping the armoured cat with a RTC and adding a endli or delhezi. anyone see any problems with those fish getting along? how aggressive are RTC's?
thanks for all the help so far.
 
The problem with RTC in 225gal is that they will outgrow it. I think you are better off without a RTC.

Rosy Reds ain't better than goldfish, in fact they're both worst feeder fish. Try feeder guppies or any livebearers.
 
we feed guppies the only problem with that is the LNG and clown knife could likely go through 50 in an hour. never heard of a livebearer...what is it? if a RTC is out of the question would a TSN also be out of the question? thanks again you guys. i cant wait to get this thing stocked. looks kinda stupid with feeder goldfish in it right now....
 
TSN get larger as RTC so both are out of the question.

Livebearers are a group of fish that give birth to live fry instead of laying eggs. Guppies, mollies. swordtails, mosquitofish and platies are all livebearers.
 
The catfish you mention "could" at adult size, eat your son (I assume that's your son in your avatar). They are said to swallow small children in the Amazon region where they come from.
Don't get one unless you plan on upgrading to a 1000 gal tank in a year, and your son can't fall into.
The zoo where I live get regular requests to take Red Tails, and pacus from people that can't properly care for.
The reason feeder fish are not particularly good, is they often bring in parasites and diseases that can sicken and kill your fish,
feeders are often raised in less than optimum situations, making them prone to stress which causes disease.
Live bearers are prolific fish such as guppys or platies that you raise yourself in better conditions eliminating the disease probability.
But unless you feed the feeders a good diet themselves, they can be nutrient poor as are most fish sold as feeders.
 
so, RTC and TSN are out...looks like im keeping the armoured catfish, unless...there is a smaller hybrid of a RTC of TSN??? maybe??? anybody know? also, are guppies difficult to breed? is there anyway i could possibly keep up with the demand of these fish breeding my own food? i hope to get the clown knife on frozen food soon. then my only worry would be the rocket gar but he doesnt eat much anyway.
 
imo your going to run into a few issues in the future...

CK - get large and potentially very aggressive, i had to get rid of mine as he started beating on my gar at night when no one was watching... this is a fish that easily will get 24"+ over time with good care. Some do fine, others do not.

LNG/ Rocket - ime gar do not do well with the false gars... ie needlenose and hejutas. personally I think its an issue of species differences. my gar postured, and my false gar had no clue it was being threatened.. thus leading to constant aggression issues.

Armoured cat - There are a few species that are called this...at 8" im assumeing its a common pleco? If so these are poop machines that get big as well, and are omnivores. Ive had one clean out my tank of fish.

As for the original questions... my gar get rosys and goldfish... as far as nutrition wise ect... buy from a lfs that takes care of theirs. I also QT and feed them flake foods and pellets ect. But if you get poorly cared for feeders to begin with then your more likely to run into issues.. Ive fed live food for many years and never had a major problem because of them. Your most likely to run into issues from water quality issues and mechanical failure imo. Live food is expensive, and unfit for certain species ( gar are one of the exceptions, they are piscivores) Other foods that are better nutritionally include Nightcrawlers.

If your worried about nutrition ect... live foods are part of most " monster " diets. To what extent depends on the owners personal preference. my own experiances have been nothing but positive growth rates and overall health from feeding a diet revolving around live. That being said imo. 60/40 live/prepared is an ideal goal to shoot for to give your fish the best nutrition possible... takeing into account individual needs. ie carnivores vs herbivores ect.. Variety is best. Feeding a high quality pellet/ formula around a basic "raw" diet.

RTC's... If you havent read the threads... do so in the catfish subforum. as a recent RTC owner myself. All I can say is.. while easy to keep, and beautiful fish. They are not cheap to feed, house, maintain ... ect. while I dont think thay are hard to keep you will need a LARGE tank or pond. our personal plan is to build a pond in our basement ( we are looking at houses atm, a full basement is a top priority for us.). These are beasts in every sense of the world. I was personally hooked on them after meeting a fully grown one years ago. Things most people dont think about.. not just the water volume needed to house them.. but the filtration. If you do not have $$$ to buy something custom built essentially, you will need to understand filtration enough to build your own. I suggest reading threw the DIY sections to get and understanding for the full magnitude of what you will need.

Im not saying not to get and RTC but they are not a "light" investment of time or money. expect to invest thousands if your being frugal.. expect 10k or more if you plan on buying new/ paying for others to do it.

livebearers are popcorn to the fish you have.. realistically they are compleately inappropriate for your fish.
 
Jacunaba said:
if you can find one, get a SB (short body) RTC.


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Click to expand...
And they still produces same size of turds of normal body RTC and has same size of mouth. Still ill suited fish for that tank.
 
MN_Rebel said:
And they still produces same size of turds of normal body RTC and has same size of mouth. Still ill suited fish for that tank.
Click to expand...

100% agree. I didn't read through everything. I didn't know poop was a factor as id hope he'd have the filtration side of it down. I shot that out there as an option. A SB would be just fine in a 240ish with better dimensions than the standard 96x24. My buddy's SB RTC is about 6 years old and hit a whopping 25".



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