Pics have been posted in one of my previous threads, as well as a video. I feed him everyday with krill and silversides... just enough to keep him from eating the tankmates... funny thing though, krill and silversides are pretty much the only non living foods he cares for. Extreme or not, he's grown that much.Bgonz;837062; said:That means you rtc is growing almost a 1/4" a dayYou can probably have some buddies over and littererly watch him grow
That sounds a little extreme to me, whats your feeding schedule ???
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bob
Redtail Catfish questions
- Thread starter jhutch
- Start date
Iv'e been a RTC fan for some time. My avitar is of Lucy 12" and under a year old. For years I've listened to people talking about the mythical 6 footers but I only know of one approching 4 foot in capativity...that one bieng a 25 year old resident of a public aquarium. They grow VERY fast at first and then slow down. Many of the ones you see returned to LFS's are grossly overweight and well under the 3 foot mark. I kept a black Pirhanna from a fry to over 2 feet long in 15 years so I know and understand long term commitment but in all of those years Ive heard the same RTC myths floating around and they have the same thing in common...the person telling them knows somebody who read about somebody that... none of the information comes from first hand expierance that's why theres so much misinformation on the net. By the way that picture of the 150lb wild RTC has been around for a LOT of years. Occasional giants happen in almost any wild fish and this ones no exception...however at 61" long it's still short of the lightly tossed around 6 foot mark and once again grossly over weight.
As far as accomidating a RTC It's been my expierance as well as others who have kept them for 5 years or more that no mater how large of a tank you give them they will find a corner they like and settle in there about 90% of the time. Quite unlike an Aro whos constantly in motion.
People talk about the dangers of stunting a fish's growth but no one seems at all concerned about the artificially enhanced growth rates produced by feeding an order of magnitude more food than the fish could manage to get in the wild, especially at an early age.
As far as accomidating a RTC It's been my expierance as well as others who have kept them for 5 years or more that no mater how large of a tank you give them they will find a corner they like and settle in there about 90% of the time. Quite unlike an Aro whos constantly in motion.
People talk about the dangers of stunting a fish's growth but no one seems at all concerned about the artificially enhanced growth rates produced by feeding an order of magnitude more food than the fish could manage to get in the wild, especially at an early age.
Wolf I like some of the points that you make, but the only real danger I can see in overfeeding them is the fact that they might become overwieght, or get sick in the water leading to nightmares in tank maintanence. In the wild these fish are opportunistic. Their bellies expand for a reason. They gorge themselves and then have a fasting period. If something happens to come along while they are fasting they will still try to eat it, it's all part of survivability. I have no doubt in my mind that there is or was once a rtc that is over the 6ft mark. I recently read a report of some freshwater biologist here in montana that were doing an electro fishing survey of sturgeon populations here. They came across a channel catfish that was in their estimate around 5ft long, and couldn't be fit into their sturgeon survey net. Funny thing is that the state record here was around 28 lbs. and the world record is around 58 lbs. they estimated this fist over 80 lbs. Not saying that anyone has a rtc that will get to over 6ft in their aquariums, but I have no doubt that with modern advances in the hobby someone will have one over 4ft. in the comming years. Look at the wells catfish many legends report this fish 800-1000 lbs. and over 18ft. long. Largest ones being found today are in the 200-250 lbs. mark. These catfish all have the potential to get huge, but over fishing won't allow it because it takes such a long time for them to reach that size. I say if you can keep a rtc alive for 50 years and feed it properly you might just have yourself a 4 ft.+ specimen. Remeber also they need a varied diet. You can't expect them to get huge off of goldfish, or fish alone, in the wild disections have shown they eat mainly invertebrates, and smaller fish, plus fruits. You want a really healthy rtc, start feeding yours, bananas, pieces of apple, orange, shrimp, whole lean fish, ect. Don't feed them garbage that they can't digest. Again everything stated is from personal expirience and from tons of research, and shared conversations with naturalists, and freshwater biologists. Just to site one more account, the current blue catfish world record is around 124 lbs. I believe, they are caught in nets over 150 lbs every year, and mark twain brought three over 200 lbs., and one over 300 lbs. back to a museum in the 1800s. No telling how long these giants can live for in proper conditions. Be nice to see private aquariums with 4-5 footers in the future. I've read an article where they use the rings in the pectorial spines of catfish to determin age much like the rings in a tree. They counted the rings in a rtc that was close to 5 ft, and wieghed 125 lbs. They said it was estimated at 41 years old. I'll try to find some of the references when I get home.
Lucy loves chicken heart and beef on occasion in fact it's the only thing she lets me hand feed her so far. We feed the wolves a raw diet so it's always around. The one small flaw in your logic is that YES wild fish will pig out when available and then fast but its the fast part that never happens in a aquarium. Differant food items are available to fish at differant times of the year.
I have one last point on the age old question. if someone can take a RTC fry and raise it in a 300 gallon tank...keep it alive for 20 years or more than that fish (even if some may claim its stunted) will have outlived the wild survival odds by a substantial level. VERY VERY few individuals of any species of fish manage to make their way from a fry to a notably large individual. the vast majority of fry in nature are lost to pridation and while those in aquariums might not all reach thier full potential they still live a far longer and happier life than the odds say they would have in the wild.
I have one last point on the age old question. if someone can take a RTC fry and raise it in a 300 gallon tank...keep it alive for 20 years or more than that fish (even if some may claim its stunted) will have outlived the wild survival odds by a substantial level. VERY VERY few individuals of any species of fish manage to make their way from a fry to a notably large individual. the vast majority of fry in nature are lost to pridation and while those in aquariums might not all reach thier full potential they still live a far longer and happier life than the odds say they would have in the wild.
we'll find out. Finally got a lfs after much debate, and showing of my fish tanks to order me a rtc. YAY, this will be the first rtc I have owned in the past 5 years. He's 1.5" right now. hehe, decided to go with a 12' dia above ground pool for my new pond it's around 33" tall and will hold 2100 gals.
My RTC grew from 2" to 20" in 4 months. He makes the 1000G look small even at such young age. He can propably reach 30"+ in his first year...
I doubt that it's optimal conditions but it IS possible and far less stressful than most people assume concidering the alternitive. I'll let you know in a few years...None of us, no mater how well meaning, can hope to even come close to whats available in nature space wise but we compensate for it in other areas. I'm just happy that Lucy is finally getting over her early 'hiding' stage and is taking food from my hand.
Will I upgrade in the future to a larger tank as she grows?
If necessary...yes. I may even go the heated pond route.
My only contention is that her life in captivity is FAR safer and she has a much greater chance of a long happy life with me than she would in the wild so it's unfair to state catagoricly that it's wrong to keep a RTC in a 300 gallon tank. All of my tanks, by the way, run on the understocked side unlike much of what I see posted here. This has an even greater long term impact on fish health and safety than the size of the accomidations itself especially in a sedentary species like the RTC.
Will I upgrade in the future to a larger tank as she grows?
If necessary...yes. I may even go the heated pond route.
My only contention is that her life in captivity is FAR safer and she has a much greater chance of a long happy life with me than she would in the wild so it's unfair to state catagoricly that it's wrong to keep a RTC in a 300 gallon tank. All of my tanks, by the way, run on the understocked side unlike much of what I see posted here. This has an even greater long term impact on fish health and safety than the size of the accomidations itself especially in a sedentary species like the RTC.
Wolf3101;837958; said:
WELL PUT, You think as I do.....
You know you need at least a 75,000 gallon pond to house one to adulthood......I think I read that on the internet somewhere....
bob
