How should I feed my redtail catfish????

[tonymofo]

Ok, so here is what happened. In just got a 10 inch RTC? (He's so cool!!!!!) I woke up in the morning. I have a 10" RTC, 16" Silver Aro, 17" Clown knife and 2 8 inch Synodontis ocellifers. Ok I feed all my fish like usually do, but I stuffed my RTC. He ate a feeder goldfish, about 10 night crawlers, 2 frozen shrimp and 3 superworms. Later on that afternoon about 4 p.m. I cleaned my tank( I do a 15% - 20% water change every two days. The RTC threw up everything except the goldfish, and there was slime floating everywhere, the water was now terrible. I guess I should wait for him to digest his food when I do a water change.

 

[Bgonz]

Why did you feed a new fish so much ??? let him settle in a little. He can go weeks without eating and still be OK. It usually takes a week or two or maybe longer for a RTC to get real comfortable. You should have done a water change BEFORE putting him in. SLOW DOWN.

And also......... He will eat all your other fish




bob

 

[necrocanis]

Actually sounds like you overfed your rtc. Most people that have never owned one before get into a habbit of over feeding. When rtc eat too much or when they are stressed they will vomit everything back up. Best to stay away from feeder fish as well. They harbor desieses and parasites. Just take a look at the feeder tank and pay close attention to the fish. They are 90% of the time unhealthy, underweight, and close to death. Personally I like to watch them eat them on ocassion I will quarantine some gold fish or minnows for several weeks to ensure nothing is wrong and to fatten them up on healthy food before I even think about feeding them to my fish. It is only an ocassional treat like once every two months or so. Mostly I feed shrimp, and pieces of fish fillet. At the size of yours I would only feed when the belly goes back down to normal, and they will try to eat everything you put in the tank. Your synos are in serious trouble in a couple of months if they are in the same tank. RTCs the size of yours typically grow 1-2 inches per month, and will consume anything up to about 75% of their body mass. Also hope you have a giant tank. Currently I have a rtc that I bought at less than 2" and he is currently 14 1/2" after less than 4 months. You can expect that your's will grow another foot or more in the next 8-12 months. Probably reach 30-36" within the next 2 years. Hope you are prepared. I have mine in a 1100 gal heated indoor pond, and eventually I will upgrade to an enormous aquarium. Hope this helps some.

 

[tonymofo]

Thanks good advice, won't feed him so much!!!!