mb_barton;706903; said:
Ive read all over the place that a RTC will reach 4 or 5 feet in length but the thing is Ive never seen one in camptivity that size. Just because they grow that big in the wild doesnt mean they will in a tank... how big do these things REALLY get in a tank....
could i house one in a 220g... and would my oscars be safe with it?
Well, here's the truth:
The only reason an RTC wouldn't reach it's adult size, is if it's not given the space it needs to be full grown. So of course it's not going to reach full size in a tank, because evolution didn't design them to grow full size in a tank.... they were designed to live in a huge river to be an apex predator that keeps other fish's populations in check.
One of my favorite exhibits in SeaWorld San Diego is the manatee exhibit. They have several, full grown, 5' or so RTC's, along with a few Alligator gars that look like they'd rip your face off if you dove into the tank. Words cannot suffice to describe the sight of that exhibit... then again... "Daaaaammmmm" does the job quite well IMO. Seeing them at that size really does tell you why they're not for the average hobbyist.
Now, to your second question... yes, you could house a juvie in a 220g for some time, but it would grow to a point where it would eat your oscars, probably all in one day spaced out by a few hours.
When it gets that size, you're faced with ethics and morals. Do you try to find it a home? (not likely... not much of a market for huge RTC's).
Do you euthanize it and buy a new one? (I've heard of it being done... don't let anyone on the forums know you did, cuz you will be flamed like non other, especially by the folks who have something to prove).
Or, just give it the largest enclosure you can (whether it's large enough or not) and give it the best care you can until it dies from either stunting, poor water quality, etc...
Now here's the funny thing... there's quite a few people on these boards that own an RTC (some more than one)... out of those, I bet less than half currently have an enclosure that's suitable for a fully grown RTC (yes, they do eventually stop growing lol), but I still haven't seen anyone with an enclosure that could.
I'll tell you what I have read: I plan on this... I'm going to build that... etc... etc...
Most times, plans fall through, dies during the owner moving to a new home, or the most common, the fish mysteriously croaks or is killed during a power outage. Oh, I've also read of the fish eating too much and regurgitating, thus an ammonia spike kills it and it's tank mates (which is strange because there's so many reports of these fish eating tank mates slightly larger than themselves, and living to eat another tank mate to the inappropriate dismay or disappointment of the owner.
So, if you don't own a public aquarium sized exhibit, you'll probably catch flak every time you talk about your fish on a public fish keeping forum. Just know you wont be alone I guess is my point. Heck, I wouldn't say anything, as long as you were honest. I'd applaud you lol. Call me liberal (not my political affiliation... actually, I don't have one, "open-minded" I guess), but I say as long as you're not playing "fish baseball", releasing them into natural water systems where they don't belong, and their wild populations is not under any kind of threat, go for it. Don't get me wrong, I have an appreciation for life, and I understand it's importance. But I wouldn't hesitate to kill a bug in the house... especially a spider. So if you can get some joy out of life by keeping a fish that will eventually get too large for you to keep, do it. Despite how others may judge you.
On the more positive side, if you happen to be a person who doesn't believe in "trying" to keep a fish, and want something you can definitely house semi-comfortably, that's similar to an RTC, look at Leiarius marmoratus, or Perrunichthys perruno. The marmoratus gets about a foot bigger than the perruno, at appx 36".
Body shape is fairly similar, as well as behavior (from what researching has turned up so far), just the color and pattern is completely different.
So, depending on your ethics, morals, and ideology... it's in your hands.
HTH
