Red tail catfish question

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What kind of food do you feed your RTC with and how often?
My RTC is 14" and i`ve had him for five months in a 1200L tank together with a Clarias Bathracus and Two Oscar ciklids.
He has grown from 7" to 14" in this period of 5 months.
 
why wouldnt i reply???
he/she is keeped in a 7*2*3 at the mo . next weekend he will be moved into a 8*3*3
i feed him white bait ,mussels and feeders every other day
and theres a long list of tank mates his seen off inclluding my arow
thers nothing rong with his eating
i do about 25-30% warter change once a week
eheim pro 3 filter
all parameters are tested each week and are allways stable
he is healthy and happy
just growing slower than some of you seem to think is normal
 
Danny,
Where do you get feeders here in the uk?

Thanks

Rich
 
Feeders are impossible to get unless you breed them or know the owner of a LFS. That's how I used to get mine. 2 owners/managers used to give me 10 goldfish or small cichlids for between 2 and 5 quid for my acestros/vampire tetras. If you know Terry from wholesale tropicals, I'm sure you could get him to order you 50 small fish for a good price.
 
I had a redtail get over 2ft. in less than a year! I was stupid back then he was in a 125 gal. Eventually he got to about 27 inches and stopped eating. After not eating for like 3 months I got worried and put feeders in. Need I say more, let the ich/fin and tail rot begin. I didn't know anything about desiese then. So he died. If I kept one now i know to start him out in my 350 gal pond and eventually be moved to a bigger pond. I am in the process of getting a bigger pond (750 gal) for my rtc x tsn hybrid. He's grown 5 inches in 8 months, but he's went through some stressfull stuff with 2 moves in that time period. I would say if you are getting a rtc, make sure that you have a tank that can house a 2 ft. fish within a year. I'd say start out in about 240 gal. and eventually step up to around 1000 gals or so for aquarium. Probably the 750 gal pond I am making would do fine also. it will be 8 ft dia with a huge footprint since it is round. Also is about 3ft. deep. So if you go the aquarium route i hope you got some moolah laying around, and if you go the pond route i still hope you got some, but not as much. With that said i think that anyone with the fish' needs in mind could make a great owner of one, you just need to make sure you are ready finacially, and mentally. Do you have what it takes to do the water changes for a 100 lbs. catfish 20 years down the road in a 1000 gal aquarium?
 
oh, and i find that my catfish grow faster on fresh shrimp than they do on feeders. plus when your catfish gets huge feeders will make you a poor person unless you are able to produce hundreds of them every couple of days! Might want to vary the diet a little too. I feed my catfish all kinds of things. i once fed him a garter snake. very interesting to watch. My friend who raises snakes brought a mouse over while i was at work(don't let friends have spare keys), and he said it lasted all of 2 seconds. the most recent feeder I gave him was about a 3 pound large mouth bass, lol. that was strange to watch. Oh and he eats bits of fruit too.
 
Catfish growth does generally slow down at 12 inch, and your not supposed to feed them as much when they reach this size, because they dont use up enough energy through movement or growth, so they have too much protein waste in their bodies.

Carl.
 
thanks carl d thats kind of what i thought but dident have the firt hand knowledge to back it up with
i get my feeders wholesale i get 40 for £10 each week
richie if you lived in the b,ham area i could have sorted you out soz mate
 
My RTC about 7 months and he is 22" and eats like a pig he loves market shrimp and anything else that will fit into his mouth I have him in a 265gal I will give him to my LFS when he gets to big to handle
 
wish some of you guys that can't handle your redtails lived closer to me. i would gladely take in a large one that someone doesn't want!
 
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