I Did the Right Thing With My RTC Today; I Think...

[ng80]

limas are no problem in a tank ur size.
synos are good and can hold there own against bigger chichlids my big synos chase anything that comes to close.

ther are smaller pimlodella species out there other than pictus.
avoid hemibagrus espicially wykki and nemurus both are very aggressive and get too big to be happy in your tank for life.

Zonata are very aggressive cichlids mine was an absolute sod even at 4" he killed a 10" pearsii. I would get rid of him and then get the catfish you want. or if he may well kill anything else you put in there as they will be new in his territory. if he attcked a rtc then he will attack most other fish cos most rtc's would just try and swallow the cichlid whole . (or mine would)

 

[necrocanis]

My 9" black bullhead never does anything until I put food in her water. I still love her though. She is the tamest fish I have. I caught her a few months ago at 7", and she warmed right up to me. She knows when I come in the room it's to feed her. She eats out of my hand and will actually swim in my hand if I put it in the water. As far as working well with tankmates. She killed a channel cat that was bigger than her. In her defense she was gravid with eggs at the time so she might have just had that killer instinct of parents.

Like most have mentioned already limas are a good choice, and are active alot, and very curious to watch their strange behaviors, just watch out what you wish for. I have one that is growing like mad. I've had it for about 10-11 months and it grew from 3" to 14.5" in that time, and is still growing. Now all of a sudden it is eating more than ever and in the past two weeks it has put on that .5" on the end of the 14. They can suprise you. You always hear they will never make it to more than 14", but I have news for everyone, my hit that in less than a year, and if I recall correctly pimelodid catfish grow for their entire lives which are incredibly long. So needless to say I have a future monster lima on my hands. I have a pic of one that is 28" long somewhere. It is wild caught, but it shows you the potential. Most people don't realize that max sizes for wild animals are the animals that are at the end of their natural lives. These fish grow their entire life, and if they live a long full healthy life they can reach those sizes even in captivity. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

 

[rlheugel]

I think I would really enjoy having a bullhead. Based on looks only, I like the yellows the best. I don't really know how I would go about getting one, unless I pulled it from the lake, and I am unsure about the laws here in Texas. I think I will look into these issues more in the future, but I am going to give a lima a try I think. However, I think that a bullhead will certainly be my next catfish. I did, however, see a syno in a store I was in today, and I must say they are much cooler in person. It made me re-think them, but I guess it will be lima for now, research, and bullhead later, then maybe a syno someday.