For my first fish EVER, I bought a RTC...Sparking memories of playing with catfish in the rivers of Nicarague as a child, my eyes where drawn instantly to this creatures majestic appeal and potential. Remembering my brother having a fishtank in the attic and my close friends recent amazement with his fish, I bought this fish semi-on inpulse...Sadly the tank my brother had was a 5 gal., luckily he was still under 2 inch's...I soon realized he needed a bigger tank and got him in a 40 gal. breeder later that week(which i prefer for added depth 18")....
Since he loved the fake log i had, I decided to build him a slate cave in the 40 gal and buy the biggest piece of mal. drift wood the store had (which some new guy sold me for 30$, the next day the owner told me its retail was 110$ and im known as the wood guy now). I have had him for 4 weeks and he is already 6 inch, doubling in size every 8-10 days. He loves his cave and i have made it very solitary and black out, it prevents me from disturbing him during sleep and allowing him to get into a noctornal habit. He is by no mean shy, but does stay in the cave all day and only comes out for food or out of curosity when im messing with the tank. I guess he would rather sleep all day and use his energy toward growing big. Honestly i feel bad for RTC that do not have caves.
I have him in with 2 xray tetras, 2 glass catfish, 2 neon tetras, and 2 7" phantom knife fish. I thought he would eat them but he just sleeps all day in his cave. Why waste all that energy chasing fish when he gets beef hart twice a day. But i think having the cave to stay in with driftwood for other fish to dodge into along with a reg. feeding habit has turned this catfish into a docile giant.
Filter is a Rena XP2 Canistar, 150 wat heater, submerisable UV filter, and Marinstar 36inch light
Please post advice, tips, and hot to post pics...Ill keep this threaded updated with growth rate, personality (agressive or not), health, and photos.
BTW-before i get flooded with "get a bigger tank", Im moving in 2mnth and will be putting him in a 100 gal Tenecor + my new property have a 1200 gal pond. So he will always have a good habitat, which is why i do agree with most who say "get a bigger tank"
Since he loved the fake log i had, I decided to build him a slate cave in the 40 gal and buy the biggest piece of mal. drift wood the store had (which some new guy sold me for 30$, the next day the owner told me its retail was 110$ and im known as the wood guy now). I have had him for 4 weeks and he is already 6 inch, doubling in size every 8-10 days. He loves his cave and i have made it very solitary and black out, it prevents me from disturbing him during sleep and allowing him to get into a noctornal habit. He is by no mean shy, but does stay in the cave all day and only comes out for food or out of curosity when im messing with the tank. I guess he would rather sleep all day and use his energy toward growing big. Honestly i feel bad for RTC that do not have caves.
I have him in with 2 xray tetras, 2 glass catfish, 2 neon tetras, and 2 7" phantom knife fish. I thought he would eat them but he just sleeps all day in his cave. Why waste all that energy chasing fish when he gets beef hart twice a day. But i think having the cave to stay in with driftwood for other fish to dodge into along with a reg. feeding habit has turned this catfish into a docile giant.
Filter is a Rena XP2 Canistar, 150 wat heater, submerisable UV filter, and Marinstar 36inch light
Please post advice, tips, and hot to post pics...Ill keep this threaded updated with growth rate, personality (agressive or not), health, and photos.
BTW-before i get flooded with "get a bigger tank", Im moving in 2mnth and will be putting him in a 100 gal Tenecor + my new property have a 1200 gal pond. So he will always have a good habitat, which is why i do agree with most who say "get a bigger tank"
