Catfish of the week #1

[Red tail catking]

Catfish of the week sounds cool. I think a week is good it gives everyone a chance to contribute hope it goes well for you. Why don't you start it off with some of your experiences with South American Redtails.

Okay but my care is prob. very basic to other RTC keepers but hear it goes.

I keep my RTC in a 11' dia. 2.5' deep stock tank he's very sweet cat likes to snuggle sometimes (I know that sounds creepy but he does ) I keep the bottom of the tank covered with SMOOTH and LARGE river rocks so that he won't try to swallow them, because this fish will swallow objects that are bigger than its mouthand when I say objects I mean any thing! I feed him beef heart (thats thawed out), fish from my seafood section, such as prawns I try avoiding live foods because this encourages agressive behavior to tank mates. I also feed him dark leafy greens, fruits like seedless and cut pears and apples, and sometimes tofu. I try to keep his diet as varied as possible. I do adout a 25% water change every 8-9 months but a lot less now because I'm starting to use this stuff thats called liquid gravel vac and by the way for you guys that have HUGE tanks I really recommend this stuff Very social lets me hand feed and pet him, does some very hilarious things once and awhile. I wouldn't ever give him up ever. I'm planing on making a 15'x8'x4' tank for all my monster fish (someday)
So to rap this all up I recommend this irresistible fish to any one who can GUARANTY a full life long husbandry to this majestic beast that we call the...
Red tail catfish! Because this fish can easily reach ages over 40 years and prob. even longer!!!!!

 

[Red tail catking]

RTCs are my favorite too. I have owned a couple and will eventually have a 16'x16'x16' tank in my house that is 10' tall. I will then own around five or six of these guys. I have had 3 or 4 now and have kept them with all different sorts of fish from gourami to oscars and everything in between. They will eat anything they can get ahold of. My first experience with a young redtail started the way I kind of expected. He was around 6 inches before he started eating his tankmates. He ate around 6 angels that were full grown(left the baby alone), ate a 10"rocket gar and a jelly bean parrot. The jelly bean was a sacrifice since it was terrorizing the fish in the other tank. They are great cats, but be prepared to upgrade your tank twice a year as he grows or just start out with a 265 gallon tank or bigger.

Ummm ????... U better be one rich mother F@#%er to get that plus red tails don't need that much height.

 

[Red tail catking]

Heck I guess I'll go next. First experience with a RTC was about 5 years ago. I only knew about fish thru petland and regular LFS at that time. I saw a beautiful catfish in petland unlike any other cat I had ever seen before. It was black and white and had a huge mouth and only one eye. I had never been interested in cats before that day I was a cichlid man preferring Oscars and Red Devils, but there was somethin about this cat that just sparked something in me I had to have it even if it only had one eye. I still kept my reserve even though I was drooling inside. I asked one of the employees what it was and how much. He said it was a Redtail catfish and it was $50. I pointed out it had only one eye and said I don't think anyone would pay $50 for a one eyed fish. I suggested in a joking way the RTC has only half the eyes he suppose to so he should be half off. The employee looked at me laughed and I said I'm serious could I take him for $25. He walked away to talk to another employee presumably the manager and came back and said sure you can have him for $25. So I had bought my first ]v[onster catfish, he was about 5" and very cute. I took him home and stuck him in my 75 gallon. He struggled to get enough food his tankmates where Oscars and they made sure virtually nothing touched the bottom and what did they were on top of faster than the RTC could get to it. Apparently his one eye was worse than having no eyes since his depth perception was off. He could see the food and smell it, but would be off where it would land on the substrate. He was always in the wrong place while the Oscars always had a bead on the food. He never ventured above the bottom since the Oscars aggression kept him there. He was wilting away I had to try something, so I started handfeeding the RTC beefheart and feeders which wasn't easy. The RTC to my surprise wasn't afraid of my hand unfortunately neither were the Oscars, but I managed to keep them off me long enough to feed the RTC. Within I'd say a week and a half the RTC was a different fish. Seeing me approach the tank he'd rush to the surface full of energy and fight giving chase to the Oscars if they dared get in his way at feeding time. He soon learned to even like being touched by my hand though it was sometimes unsettlin as he'd rub,rub and then all of a sudden bite. He didn't try to bite every time, but it still was unsettling. Now I had fish eat from my hands before, but being able to pet him just blew my mind. He grew to be my favorite fish he was personable, beautiful and the widest fish I had ever had. I had fish grow vertically to dinner plate sizes, but this bad boy was growin horizontally. He was my favorite till the end when a poweroutage caused my overstocked tank to go under. I lost 3 fish one was my RTC. He was my introduction to ]v[onster cats and remains one of my favorite pets.

WOW that was was beautiful, sad, and prob. Tiring for your fingers. Great story make a novel LOL

 

[jhutch]

You don't have to be rich just prioritize the way you spend your money. The height is for something such as an arapaima and I group of red bellied pacu. I am going to be building my log cabin soon(I build them for a living and it's only 125,000 for the glass to to build the tank). I'm building a 450,000 log home I think I can fit that tank into the budget.

 

[Red tail catking]

Now that I'm starting to give this thought mabye I should change it from catfish of the week to just fish in genera. Because sooner or later I'm going to run out of monster catfish but if I did just plain fish then we can talk about other things like stingrays, cichlids, eels, barbs, arowanas, loaches, pacus, FW Barracudas, snake heads, bichirs, plecos, hybrids, knife fish, coldwater fish, gars, and yes we'll still do catfishes. Because see if we do this we can get even more people interested in this weekly event. So Just tell me guys do you think this is a better idea and I apologize to any HUGE catfish lovers but think of it how many people do you know that keep nothing but catfish. And mabye we'll do reptiles and amphibians too, just thought.

 

[basslover34]

You don't have to be rich just prioritize the way you spend your money. The height is for something such as an arapaima and I group of red bellied pacu. I am going to be building my log cabin soon(I build them for a living and it's only 125,000 for the glass to to build the tank). I'm building a 450,000 log home I think I can fit that tank into the budget.

yeah.... ummmmm... Post pics

 

[koltsixx]

Thanx basslover34 you always lighten up a thread and for the comment and my fingers are like my mouth never tiring. I guess I'm long winded even when writing. I just thought it was a real relevant story cause it's what sparked my interest in ]v[onster cats. Keep on smilin

 

[oscardelahoya93]

Do i know you from some where redtailed catking,, seems like i know you.
I will probably have a red tailded catfish one day probably when im in college i think they are quite a remarkable species of catfish. Nice and colorful and they get so huge. Good luck with the MCOW(monster catfish of the week)



peace out

 

[Red tail catking]

Do i know you from some where redtailed catking,, seems like i know you.
I will probably have a red tailded catfish one day probably when im in college i think they are quite a remarkable species of catfish. Nice and colorful and they get so huge. Good luck with the MCOW(monster catfish of the week)



peace out

Yeah thanks... BEN

 

[Red tail catking]

So only three people have RTC come on lets get some pics, vids, and more. If you know some one else thats interested in RTC tell them to become a part of this. Come on lets start broadcasting the Fish of the week.