Realistically How Big do RTC's Get..

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Experiment397;4518137; said:
i personally think the reason people go, rtc needs huge tank, is becuase they are catfish, and catfish create large amounts of bioload. now i have only seen 3 rtc in real life, and one was in a several thousand gallon tank, and the guy said it was 16, the other 2 where in a 3' tall, 6' long, 4' wide tank and the other in a 4'tall, 8' long, 4' wide tank, and they both where maybe 2.5 feet, while the one in the several thousand gallon(he claimed it was 3 but i think 2.5) was the same size. i think they would be fine in a tank that was 2x their length, and a foot wider then they are long, and as tall as they are long.
Click to expand...

I agree with the bioload issue here. Cats do create a large amount of bioload. I've only seen 1 RTC in a 500 gallon tank. It was an amazing sight at 2.5 to 3 ft. long. Truly an inspiration for a monster fish. And the colors . . . breath taking. Clear and bright. But honestly, I doubt they are over rated by the internet or their owners. Maybe the information submitted or found by resources on the internet are going by what their groth potential is, being in the wild and not in captivity.
 
fish do grow slower in captivity b/c of the smaller environment its put in to and also it probably eats more in the wild, my 2 RTC's are 12" and only 4 -5 months old my TSN is pushing 23"(500gal pond being cycled 4 him)he is about 2yrs old.

so a 400gal would work for like 2yrs maybe depending how much you feed him i see my RTC getting to 2 feet within 16months maybe less once they get into the pond in another week

theres a good thread on here about STUNTING FISH AND THE EFFECTS OF IT!! its a good read

best of luck with your future plans they are cool fish my friend i love my kitty cats lol
 
Well ... I've had 3 now and all got over 4' in the pond. Biggest I've seen was well over 54" in a friends pond.
 
taksan;4528335; said:
Well ... I've had 3 now and all got over 4' in the pond. Biggest I've seen was well over 54" in a friends pond.
Click to expand...

Your friend should show that to the guiness book since the largest one caught in the wild was 4'5" and his was captive kept
 
Deep Blue Sea;4530985; said:
Your friend should show that to the guiness book since the largest one caught in the wild was 4'5" and his was captive kept
Click to expand...

I don't know where you got that from... but your completely wrong. The current official world record is 123 pounds caught in April this year and was 69" short length. The previous world record was 97 pounds and was 61" short. These are the official IGFA records several fish taken by commercial means in the Amazon and in private fishing ponds in Thailand exceed these sizes. for exhample the 71" 134 pound fish taken in Kot San lake in Thailand recently and the 78" 150 pound fish dissected by Armburster during the UOT experdition in 1997.
 
I wouldent mind catching on that size just thing of the size of it !!! :drool:
 
I'm sure that theres not many massive specimens out there due to the luck factor of getting to the right fish keeper's hands...

I personally think captive care kills off more fish than nature itself hence the less numbers of bigger specimens reported.


PLUS I'm not even sure which public aquariums have the big RTCs on display.
 
Underwater world at bird world near Farnham surrey in the uk have got a red tail and some pac us in a large tank and I think that if prospective owners saw this 5ft beast they would think twice about buying them.

I stretched out my arm next to the glass and he was much longer and the depth(top top of dorsal to belly) was simply massive.

I also totally agree with the bioload and need for swimming space larger than just enough to turn around.
 
Yeah I am a firm believer that RTC's are really only pond fish. I'd suggest a minimum of 1000g per RTC would be the bare minimum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom