Don't want to make the common mistake.

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mick11

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 20, 2007
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St. Peters, MO
Thanks for reading.

I have been keeping fish for over 25 years, my mom got me started with her 30+ tanks full of angelfish.

I'm extremely lucky to have a friend in the glass business. He said I can have any of his glass that is slated for demolition. My goal is to get one of his 8' by 3' by 1/2" tempered sheets of glass. He has a 8' by 4' by 1/2 tempered glass, but I don't think that glass is strong enoght for a 4' tall tank.

The plan is a 8' by 4' by 3' tank. Approx 700 gallons.

Is this tank large enough to hold either a single RTC or RTC/TSN Hybrid for life and give it a good home?

I won't buy one of these fish if it won't be happy.

Thanks a head of time for any reply, good or bad.

Mick11
 
I don't know if 1/2" glass will be strong enough, there is a way to calculate if it's strong enough, but I don't remember how to do it. Even with 3/4" glass you'll need to do a lot of bracing. I'll get back to you on that one.

To answer your question, that definitely won't be big enough for an rtc. The hybrid is much less bulky, but can still grow to about 4'. Hopefully a catfish expert will chime in because I'm not sure about the hybrid. (my rtc x tsn is in a 180 gallon growout tank, then it will be in a 1500 gallon pond.)
 
I would recommed 3/4 inch glass for a four foot tank just to be safe. For a 3 foot tank, 1/2 inch should be fine. No a 700 gallon is not ok for life for a rtc or the hybrid. 700 gallons of water would be fine for 2-2 1/2 years, but not after that. If you want either of these fish, I would suggest atleast a 1200 gallon pond, or tank. The rtc gets to 4 foot in captivity, and the hybrid gets larger, but it is not really known how much larger because not many people have grown them this large yet-expect 4 and a half to 5 feet. Necrocanis on here has a hybrid around 32 inches or so. Hopefully he will chime in as he is the catfish god!
 
Actually I beleive Necro's hybrid is over 3' now.

Either one is going to pass the 4' mark during it's life, which means that your 4' wide tank isn't wide enough for sure, General rule of thumb for lazy cats is take their potential length, times that 1 1/2 for the width of the tank and times it by 3 for the length, so your talking about a min 12 x 6 foot print for a big cat like this... thats not to say that they wouldn't work in a smaller foot print and be happy ... this is simply the general way of thinking. With these cats your looking for a large foot print tank not needing to be very deep. Personally I'm building a 10 x 10 x 4 pond in the garage for mine so that could give you an idea of what is needed for one :D Hope this helps
 
Thanks for the excellent feedback. I appreciate the honesty.

Any thoughts of a good cat for that size tank? I saw two nice redtail cats that acted like dogs. Super friendly. I'm looking for something like that, but able to live in the 8' by 4' by 3' tank.

No way would I build a 4' tall tank with teh 1/2" tempered glass. I think I would be ok with a 3' tall tank. Asking some of my engineering friends to do some calculations.

I'm going to have a practice tank 1st. My buddy currently has a 8' by 22" by 1/2" tempered glass sheet. Will make the 8' by 2' by 22" tank for my daughters. Good practice before the 700 gallon tank

Thanks again for the feedback, and making sure I didn't give a RTC a bad home.
 
I'm doing the calculations right now for the glass. I really do not think 1/2" glass will work for even a 3' high tank. Especially if a 2' catfish bangs into really hard. What are your plans for bracing the tank?

Maybe a tigrinus will be okay in there for life? Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I cant believe that a 8x4x3 is considered too small for a RTC for life :OMG: This sight is getting as bad as some of the others :irked:


I think some of you guys out there buying ALL these cute little cats will be in a world of hurt when and if they reach 1/2 of their possible size. I dont care what your pipe dreams are ............building, maintaining, and paying for a large pond is a huge responsibility let alone its inhabitants. I've been in this hobby longer than most and it seems like many big cat keepers come and go and the term "FOR LIFE" really means until your old lady has had enough, you cant pay the mortgage, kids need braces, you lose your job, or you find a better hobby. Most people on this sight will NEVER keep a RTC or any of their fish..........FOR LIFE.


These are just the facts. In the last couple months how many on this site have gotten rid of their fish for one reason or another ?????? If you have a RTC that outgrows a 8x4x3 tank I'm sure you wont have a problem building him a bigger home........First you have to grow him that big, and despite what everyone seems to think........THAT WONT BE EASY.

If you really have a 8x4x3 tank that RTC will thank you for many, many years. And you'll be giving it a better home than 95% of the people who will respond to this question......ME INCLUDED.


Just my opinion of course.




bob
 
I have to agree with BG on this one. That tank will be fine for a RTC in most cercumstances. A lot of people confuse the early growth rate of RTC's with thier life time average. A 4' RTC is rare and also quite old. They would also have a HUGE mass at that size. RTC's are stocky fish. The growth rate slows down a great deal once they they reach two years old.

Like BG I've been in the hobby for longer than most members have been alive. I HAVE in fact kept fish for thier entire natural lives.... over 18 years in some cases. One thing you might want to change about your plans however is tank depth. 30" is difficult enough to clean and servace...let alone 3'. your RTC dosn't need all of that depth....in fact you'll get a lot more interaction out of them in a 2' deep tank and this will also reduce the necessity for thicker glass. 1/2" can easilly handle the pressures of a 2' deep tank...especially if you split the viewing window to allow bracing in the middle.

Kiddy pool ponds and even wood braced liner ponds have relitivly short life spans when your talking about a fish that can live as long as a RTC. then you have to deal with housing the fish until the next one is set up.

It sounds to me like you want to do the resoponsable thing for your future pet and would be willing to upgrade down the line as necessary. Don't let the nay-sayers scare you off of owing one of the best pet fish in the hobby. The set up your talking about will easilly hold a RTC for 6 years or more and possibly even longer. Growth rates for individual fish vary and it's mush healthier to avoid 'power feeding' to grow an instant monster.

If every baby RTC sold in LFS's all over the world reached 4' or more we could put a huge dent in world hunger.
 
I agree with wolf and bg with all they said, I only said nay because you said for-life. It is true that you'll be giving it a great home compared to others, and it's also true that an rtc will rarely ever reach 4'. However, I am under the impression that you plan on keeping this fish for 10 or more years. From what I understand, you want the fish to look comfortable and have plenty of room. Because of this, I do not think an rtc would be a good choice for you because you want the rtc to have tons of space. If you're dying to have one, go ahead and get one because you have a large tank and it seems like your dedicated.

It's a very good idea to use a shorter height and divide the panels in half, then you can brace it better, and there is no chance that you'll have 700 gallons on the floor. It's also easier to clean and build.
 
Again, Thanks for the great feedback an honesty. A 2' high tank would be easier to maintain for sure. I'm 6'5" so I have a huge reach, but reaching the bottom on a 3' tank would be done during water changes. That said, I probably will back away from the RTC. The fish that go into my tanks are there for good. No swapping out.

I'm sort of looking at the tigrinus now. Some places say max size at 2'. I would think a 8' by 4' footprint could hold one of those for life.

I would really like a cool cat. Too see how the RTCs came to the owner when he tapped the glass was too cool.

There was a neat youtube video of a rtc/tsn hybrid that was getting rubbed by his owner. How many other members on this forum can say that about their fish?

I plan to fiberglass/epoxy the outside of the tank as well. I work in aviation and newer aircraft have more and more composite structures. An outside wrap on a plywood tank would really increase the strength at the joints. My biggest fear will always be the glass or acrylic. The bigger tank will be braced to my friends, who are strength engineers at my company, recomendations.

Thanks again for taking time with my questions.

I'll be picking up two 8' by 22" by 1/2" tempered glass sheets next week.

Sorry for any typos. My cat loves Fish Guys wave chacters and is attacking the screen.
 
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