Ya I'm aware of that. If I do get a SB RTC then I would add it last to my tank and make sure my other fish are large enough for the RTC not being able to eat them. I will be keeping it with Asian Aro, Gar, Dats, pbass etc. It'll be in a grow out tank before adding it. I just don't want a catfish that will grow to over a meter long in my tank. IMO a 600gallon would be too small for a regular RTC anyways.
rtc 27 inch long 13 years old?!
- Thread starter justarn
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Ya I'm aware of that. If I do get a SB RTC then I would add it last to my tank and make sure my other fish are large enough for the RTC not being able to eat them. I will be keeping it with Asian Aro, Gar, Dats, pbass etc. It'll be in a grow out tank before adding it. I just don't want a catfish that will grow to over a meter long in my tank. IMO a 600gallon would be too small for a regular RTC anyways.
hmmm, these short body morphs have my mind going all weird. I agree also with the statement that all catfish are individual and it's luck of the draw weather or not it will grow to 30" max or 60" max. I had 3 limas I purchased at the same time and one grew to 16" in 3 years while the other two were 11" and 9". Same diet, just the bigger one(who I think was female) ate more than almost any catfish I have seen at her size. I know it's a different species, but you will see this in every species of animal in the world, not just fish. I've kept guppies before and some were 3" while others were just 1.5" in the same growth period. The max sizes that sites like planetcatfish qoute are based off of the largest scientifically documented measurements for those species. That's not to say your's will get smaller or larger than that. The sizes are not a true indicator of the largest fish found in that species either. There have been rtc caught over the 5' mark, but the max size is much smaller because these giants weren't properly studied or documented by ichthyologists.
As for the short body varient. I would love to see some keepers in the usa. Obviously this is being produced in asia for the fish keepers there. I would grow one myself for study purposes and disect it eventually to study the skeleton in comparison to my regular RTC. Would be nice to see what irregularities there are. Usually in short body variants the spinal cord is extremely crooked to allow for the short bodied nature. You would think they would just be crammed together, but from my research the skeleton is actually nearly the same size just bent into extremely awkward positions to allow for the short bodied nature of the fish. An example is short bodied paroon sharks, and clarius catfish.
As for the short body varient. I would love to see some keepers in the usa. Obviously this is being produced in asia for the fish keepers there. I would grow one myself for study purposes and disect it eventually to study the skeleton in comparison to my regular RTC. Would be nice to see what irregularities there are. Usually in short body variants the spinal cord is extremely crooked to allow for the short bodied nature. You would think they would just be crammed together, but from my research the skeleton is actually nearly the same size just bent into extremely awkward positions to allow for the short bodied nature of the fish. An example is short bodied paroon sharks, and clarius catfish.
Ya I will have to find the short body RTC in Asia as its much easier to find over there and I go there often to visit (wife and family lives there) so I'm going to try and bring one back along with a short body paroon shark from there. I've already asked Oddball the procedures on bringing fish back from overseas. It is a hassle but it can be done and since I go there twice a year it's worth a try.
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i dont believe there has been real conclusive studies done involving measurements of rtc to determine if there are measurable differences in the sexes. On farms the fish can be treated within the first 3 days to chose the sex. They treat them to be either male or female by suppressing the hormones that would normally cause it to be male or female. They then keep them separate. This is only done for brood stock. it is also beneficial to do this since females of most species grow larger faster. If they treat them to be all female they will grow to market size faster. Of the 4 rtc raised in aquariums that I have dissected all were female. This is by no means conclusive, but would be nice to dissect more or get in contact with the farms and see if they are treated to be all female save for broodstock.
In other words TBTB said it best. Very difficult to tell dimorphism in RTC. Dissection is the easiest way lol. Unless you can get them to produce their gammates. You will then notice an expression of either eggs or milt. This should let you know right away which sex you have.
In other words TBTB said it best. Very difficult to tell dimorphism in RTC. Dissection is the easiest way lol. Unless you can get them to produce their gammates. You will then notice an expression of either eggs or milt. This should let you know right away which sex you have.
1. Do you know if RTCs are farmed for food? (BTW, I never understood why it is written that RTCs are not widely used for food in SA because their flesh is black/dark because I disected plenty of RTCs and their flesh has always been of normal, expected color.)
2. Or are they farmed for the aquarium trade? I was under a vague impression that RTCs in the aquarium trade are wild caught but their constant supply, which appears to be year-round, does indeed point to artificial production.
3. The third possibility, that's the most likely, is that RTCs are farmed to produce the RTCxTSN hybrids - the food fish - and some of those farmed RTCs go into the aquarium trade. Do you know if RTC is a paternal or maternal species in the production of the hybrid?
Interesting thought about possibly most of the farmed ones being female.
Malawi Aquatics in St. Louis has a big boy in (I think) an 800. Poor guy can't turn around very easily, but I'm pretty sure they took him in years ago just to save him. He just watches TV and eats. It has to be 48 inches or so.
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