I was recently given a 3" Red Tail And need to know the dietary requirements of these as He seems to swollow anything he can get a hold of. I gave him a earthworm and he swallowed it whole now looks like he swollowed a golf ball. Yesterday he ate a piece of cucumber that was for my Clown loach. I just dont want to make him sick by feeding him something he shouldnt have. Any Help would be appreciated.
Feeding Small Red tail cat.
- Thread starter SupeDM
- Start date
What you are feeding him is fine. At that size I was feeding mine Hikari frozen bloodworm cubes and beef heart cubes. Started mixing in raw shrimp when he was about 5-6". Mine grew from 2" to 16" in 3 months so I must be doing something right!
The key is not to overfeed. RTC will foul the water quickly by either puking up his food if you feed too much or just his waste(mostly urine, impossible to see). Bi-weekly water changes and water testing is the key to a happy and healthy RTC.
The key is not to overfeed. RTC will foul the water quickly by either puking up his food if you feed too much or just his waste(mostly urine, impossible to see). Bi-weekly water changes and water testing is the key to a happy and healthy RTC.
Thank You. I will keep up the feeding I have Krill and river shrinp. Anything he doesnt eat gets snatched within seconds by the plecos in his tank. I didn't realize that they grew so fast. I better get my other tank up quick. He will be in a 125 with 1 18" common pleco and 1 26" tire track eel. Again Thank You!!!
Hopefully this is not the final tank you have planned. He will out grow that tank within a year, and eventually reach 4 feet.
Unfortunately you probably also don't know that these guys can grow as large as 6 feet. Give this back to the pet store and let someone else worry about it or build it a tank that is atleast 1000 gallons if you intend to keep this fish for life.
Mine stayed in a 125 until he was sixteen inches. He was by himself. It took about a year, and then he was moved into the pond. I know every case is different, but I speak from my own experience, and that's all that I can do. And it's commonly stated on MFK that no one has ever seen an RTC over four feet that was kept in home aquaria. That's why I say four feet.
No he wont be staying in here forever. I have a 12 foot above ground swimming pool that he will eventually be put in. But right now I am just worrying about getting him up to size and his dietary requirements met. I know how big they can get. Thats why I have him. I seem to get all the fish that others cant take care of in my area.
I hope it's going to be heated, well filtered, and indoors as your state gets way too cold, even in summer for these cats lol.SupeDM;3380101; said:
may I ask how you heat a 12 foot pool in Minnesota? that sounds like one hell of an electric bill! LOL