Redtail cat problem

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scubasteve81

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 26, 2007
11
0
0
Indiana
Greetings all:

I have taken it upon myself recently to "confiscate" a redtail cat from a teenager. Long story short, there was a redtail cat and 3 small peacock bass (All fish under 3.5 inches) in a 10 gallon aquarium. Ignorant, I know. One bass got eaten, duh. The other two were found dead two days later.

Insert concerned mother of teenager, whom I am good friends with. She calls me and tells me what is going on. I go over and look at the fish, it looks pale and the eyes are cloudy. Acting abnormally. I tested the water, the ammonia levels and nitrite levels are sky high. I go back to my place, and get a bucket with 3 or so gallons of RO water (I keep feeder fish for reptiles) go back over to wonder boy's residence and drop in catfish. It calmed down immediately.

Here are my questions. Do you think it would be possible to house this fish in the same aquarium for a week (after a water change of course) which would be the needed time in order for me to obtain a larger tank from a friend. (75 should start it out fine, or no?) If so, what can I add to the aquarium to try to help this problem from happening in the meantime? I understand the nitrogen cycling process ,but really with feeder guppies and mollies, I don't deal with this problem much. Or is the water volume just too small for the amount of waste produced by this species?

Also, any ideas on what I can treat it with for ammonia burns? It doesn't look too bad, the eyes are a little cloudy, and I can tell there is some skin sloughing but it doesn't look all that bad. Access to antibiotics is not an issue, even if it needs to be compounded. But I may be way off base.....

Anyhow, thanks in advance for the help.
 
i would get him into a larger tank ASAP. and keep the water tip top. 75 wont last long with and RTC. if you are looking for a home for it I have room. they are tough fish with good water he should come back pretty quick. welcome to MFK.
 
I have some large stock tanks that reside in my basement. The biggest is 300 gallons, so I'm not all too concerned with the space aspect. Although I'm not sure if the turtles in it right now agree with me... It's not that I'm not wanting the fish, just not necessarily sure that I need it around. Regardless I want to make sure it recovers. Thank you for the prompt reply and the welcome. Glad to talk to another Hoosier too. Do you have any ideas on what to do about the ammonia burns?
 
you have any pics. id like to know how bad they are first. where are you in indiana? Im on the west side.
 
Amonia Burns aren't really the issue at this point, Get this guy into clean water, regardless of the size of tank (I beleive you said he's under 3.5" in size) Keep a close eye on the water quality for awhile and he'll be fine as you didn't indicate any other issues with behaviour I wouldn't be to worried about it recovering more about how much it will cost you to feed ;). Although Pics will definety help to asses the "damage" and we can better tell you what you need to do to help from there

The Bio load from those 4 fish would have been enormous on a 10 gallon tank and it most likly had a small filter that wouldn't have kept up even if it was cycled properly.
 
With good filtration in a 75 he may be a little happier for up to a year. Others will probablly disagree but I swear by Supalife Tonic salt in the water (2 tsp per 5gall). This usually helps sort out various wounds (not sure about ammonia burns). RTC is a very nice fish and does not deserve to be kept in those conditions. Good on you, you samaritin you.
 
I wouldn't be adding Salt unless you have some reason to do so... IE ick. as with most Cats RTC's aren't very fond of salt in their water and as with most other cats when dosing with salt... it's always a good idea to use half the dose as you would with a Scaled fish.

75 gallon for a year???? No Offense since your new... but are you crazy? this is a fish that gets up to 2feet long in the first year of it's life (averaging between 18" and 24") and produces ALOT of waste... your talking MIN double to tripe depending on growth rate. there just isn't enough water in a 75 to handle something like a puking episode with an 18" RTC... you need the extra volume of water to maintian the quality of water even though you could prob get away with keeping the fish in the tank.... (Cringe at the thought of a fish thats half the size of the tank)
 
I havent added anything to the tank. I read somewhere about some antibiotics, but decided to forego them unless I saw anything abnormal. The cat went back to what I would deem as normal (remember no experience with them) black coloration. (Not a crummy grey. The eyes don't seem as cloudy. The dorsal pectoral fins are a little chewed up. But, it is alive, and it did eat (a medium sized molly which I might add that I was suprised at the aggression!) so I guess it's not feeling too bad. Concerning pics, it may take me a day or so, but I plan on testing the water every day, (I hardly use the testing strips for feeder fish, they do just fine) and changing out the water 50% 2x a week. Is that too much? I just want to ensure what happened doesn't happen again. I made the trip this afternoon to get the 75. Right now I have the RTC situated in a pathetic 20, of which I fed off a molly colony for. It has undergravel filtration, a powerhead and a hang on filter rated for a 40 gallon (not sure about GPH). So how long do you think it could live in a 75? The other member mentioned a year, you disagree. Half that? A couple months? Should I just splurge and get something like a 220? Does anyone here keep anything in stock tanks? Thanks again for the advice and understanding.
 
I know several here keep them in stock tanks, and thats actually my own plan.
 
I say dont waste your money on a 75. It would be pointless for him. I have mine right nowin a 150 rubbermaid. He is 13" right now. Plan on doing a 300 and by the time he outgrows that I plan on having my huge pond done
 
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