Bad Cat, my personal Journey in to RTC

Loco Lucas

Plecostomus
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Apr 25, 2018
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Belgrade Montana
With time black shark will reach 2'+...

Anyhow...

Thank you for this delightful write-up! If I could give you a hundred likes, I would. A lot of invaluable lessons in here for anyone thinking about keeping an RTC for the next 20-30 years.

At my present understanding, I think Bad Cat is a male due to its moderate (for an RTC) growth rate and size at this age and its head shape, which is narrower and not as flat as the heads of the females IME.

Yes, IME when RTCs get large, they stop feeding at the same intensity all the time and go through periods of stronger or weaker appetites, with an occasional fast here and there. One must be careful though it is not related to water quality. The ammonia and nitrite must read firmly at zero ppm by a liquid API test kit. Nitrates low, pH, KH, and temp stable. Aeration vigorous at all times. I've lost some RTCs due to inadequate aeration, which resulted in lethal indigestion.
When I first move Bad Cat into the 300 gallon, he was doing well for the first week, then showed signs of being in distress and was breathing hard. I ran to the store and picked up a much larger aerator and added 2 more stones. Problem solved. I check the water quality once a month, but I am changing water on his tank quite often actually. With there being a non substrate tank even a bit of "debris" at the bottom calls for a quick vacuum. One of the reasons I run 2 Fluval FX6 filters is because I will clean one, leave the second alone. So one is always not disturbed. This has always worked well for me in the past and I did this from when I had large salt water tanks. I found that there were less shock loads to the entire system when doing this.
When Bad Cat moves up a tank size, my plan is to keep the Fluvals, add a third. Then, set up a 55 gallon "bio" filter... basically a 1500 to 2000 GPH pump filtering through 4 "socks" dumping into the 55 gallon tub that has auto level water control. Tub will be filled with positive and neutral bio balls, with an upgraded air blower sending the air to the bottom. I was going to then have a simple over flow back into Bad Cat's tank. If the pump fails, everything just goes to it's natural level. I want it to be dumping its self for water changes. Depending on size of tank.... I was thinking if it exchanged 20 to 30 gallons a day by an over flow into my drain, that should take care of the chore of water changes so often.
 

Loco Lucas

Plecostomus
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Apr 25, 2018
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Belgrade Montana
Oh, as for the girlfriend of 7 years... I am nearly 50 years old. Been married before, have 3 children of my own. My now ex has 2 children...
We lived together, etc. But didnt want to be "legally" married. I am now glad we were not.... she had an issue of sticky fingers with my money and a small problem of telling the truth. So... it just took 7 years for the house of cards to collapse upon her.
Bad situation for her, sad for me.
I am just lucky the ex doesn't want half of Bad Cat.... though I do hear that lightly breaded and seasoned cooked in hot oil with a bit of butter is the way to go. Hahhahaha
 

thebiggerthebetter

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I feel the pain, bro.

......

It is probably not possible to think about Bad Cat's forever home at the moment. I thought I'd still mention that upgrading step by step has its share of extra work, expenses, and risks. It'll get harder to keep manually transferring the heavy, strong, and spiny fish too. If you could set up a 2000 gal or bigger, it might be all Bad Cat ever needs. It can be done on a small budget with a cheap above ground pool and rubber liner.
 

Fishman Dave

Potamotrygon
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Great write up.

Its always great to hear other people's tails of adventure with catfish, and often with redtails. Sometimes you just wouldn't believe the things they do and then other times it just brings back memories. One of my first red tails did exactly the same thing at around 8inches and ate my pride and joy 14" arawana even though there was no way he could fit him all in and even though there were a number of smaller tankmates. Again, he grew fast and unfortunately when I lost him he was still a baby at just over 32", but one which
would feed by hand and let you stroke him at the surface, a real pet. My latest one is like none i have ever met before. Still only 8" after over a year. No real appetite to eat other fish, very picky with food indeed, a hugely unexpected change as he is taking way longer than expected to get anything near large enough to go in the pond.
Sounds like yours is becoming a real pet too.
 

thebiggerthebetter

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Dec 31, 2009
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Great write up.

Its always great to hear other people's tails of adventure with catfish, and often with redtails. Sometimes you just wouldn't believe the things they do and then other times it just brings back memories. One of my first red tails did exactly the same thing at around 8inches and ate my pride and joy 14" arawana even though there was no way he could fit him all in and even though there were a number of smaller tankmates. Again, he grew fast and unfortunately when I lost him he was still a baby at just over 32", but one which
would feed by hand and let you stroke him at the surface, a real pet. My latest one is like none i have ever met before. Still only 8" after over a year. No real appetite to eat other fish, very picky with food indeed, a hugely unexpected change as he is taking way longer than expected to get anything near large enough to go in the pond.
Sounds like yours is becoming a real pet too.
Ouch...

Must we assume you are talking about your Asian RTCs? If so, it needs to be pointed out as this thread is on SA RTC.
 

Fishman Dave

Potamotrygon
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Nope, not this time! Haha, I do have a much wider range of catfish and fish i don't talk about! Started out with the "true" redtail back when you had to pay an absolute fortune to get one! Now they are practically given away but just as much of a pet to keep. That first one was a 25 kg fish and not had one a human friendly since.
 

Loco Lucas

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2018
71
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Belgrade Montana
Nope, not this time! Haha, I do have a much wider range of catfish and fish i don't talk about! Started out with the "true" redtail back when you had to pay an absolute fortune to get one! Now they are practically given away but just as much of a pet to keep. That first one was a 25 kg fish and not had one a human friendly since.
The crazy part is that I have to move next summer... from Montana to Washington state. So the move will be one of epic moments.
Yes, moving Bad Cat is... not fun. But I am a fisherman too... I have quite large nets. I tire him out a bit, do the lift, and surprisingly there is little struggle. Unlike the Hybrid I have who is a complete ass.
IMG_20181218_223713_702.jpg
At 20+ inches.... Black Hole tries to kill himself and everything around him. I will never venture into another one again. This is my third and last...
But there is something about the SA RTC that is just awesome. I should only have to move Bad Cat 3 more times. Then he should have his permanent home. I am planning on a pond. I used to build ponds professionally, so that is my plan with all my large fish. One big tank and let them figure it out. Hahhaha
 
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