I'm going to go against the grain here and say that most people like to greatly exaggerate the size of a red tail catfish. It won't hit 6 feet, it probably won't even hit four feet. If someone can show me a verified picture of a four foot plus red tail in an aquarium/pond then I'll eat my words, until then, I think around 40 inches is a more realistic expectation but it will take several years to reach that size as they slow down greatly around 30 inches.
If you reallllyyyy want to keep him it doesn't have to cost $100,000 either. I'm not sure where that number came from. A 600 gallon stock tank will run a few hundred dollars and will hold him for a long time with its 8 ft diameter. The only issue is they don't fit in many doorways. http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/105/610-gallon-green-poly-round-stock-tank-arm-10139
For filtration, turn a fifty gallon drum into a sand filter(non fluidized bed), pick up a decent submersible pump and you're good to go. You can put the heaters inside the drum to keep them out of the pond.
Between the tank($300), pump ($200), heaters ($60) and sand/pvc($40) you're looking at around $600 for a six hundred gallon pond that you don't have to build and will keep him happy for a long time.
As for food, yes they eat alot but it doesn't have to be expensive. Catfish chow is $20 for fifty pounds and there are plenty of cheap fish if you know where to look. hint, its not tilapia. Plus, if you fish there is another option, no need to filet the catch either, just chunk it up and throw it in the freezer for a few weeks to kill of anything before feeding.
Sorry to derail, I don't believe that they should be in the pet trade but for all those already out there, there are ways to keep them happy without spending an arm and a leg. With that in mind, all my big cats were given to me for free but I wouldn't trade them for anything. There is nothing quite like a sea of giant mouths snapping that surface to greet you..err beg for food
If you reallllyyyy want to keep him it doesn't have to cost $100,000 either. I'm not sure where that number came from. A 600 gallon stock tank will run a few hundred dollars and will hold him for a long time with its 8 ft diameter. The only issue is they don't fit in many doorways. http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/105/610-gallon-green-poly-round-stock-tank-arm-10139
For filtration, turn a fifty gallon drum into a sand filter(non fluidized bed), pick up a decent submersible pump and you're good to go. You can put the heaters inside the drum to keep them out of the pond.
Between the tank($300), pump ($200), heaters ($60) and sand/pvc($40) you're looking at around $600 for a six hundred gallon pond that you don't have to build and will keep him happy for a long time.
As for food, yes they eat alot but it doesn't have to be expensive. Catfish chow is $20 for fifty pounds and there are plenty of cheap fish if you know where to look. hint, its not tilapia. Plus, if you fish there is another option, no need to filet the catch either, just chunk it up and throw it in the freezer for a few weeks to kill of anything before feeding.
Sorry to derail, I don't believe that they should be in the pet trade but for all those already out there, there are ways to keep them happy without spending an arm and a leg. With that in mind, all my big cats were given to me for free but I wouldn't trade them for anything. There is nothing quite like a sea of giant mouths snapping that surface to greet you..err beg for food
for OP's sake, who went somewhere behind the scenes, it seems... 