RTC feeding help

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T

tigrey

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 30, 2009
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jamaica
i need help feeding my rtc hes about 4-5" long, i feed him bloodworms, pellets, earthworms, and shrimp. just wanted to see how many times a day should i feed him and what are appropriate times i should feed at? what is the highest temperature that he can live in, and when do i have to start to feed him once a week?
if someone can give me some answers that would be great!!
thanks alot!!
 
You are giving him a good varied diet, so no mistake there. You can try giving him a vegetable every once in a while since he's already taking everything else. Try peas seeing that they are the same size as pellets and help keep his digestion going. You can still feed him everyday, a portion twice a day is good. Temperature wise, 80 degrees F is always a good number to be around for young fish. Feeding once a week should not begin until he is very large, around 28'' or so (someone correct me on this).

Now that I answered your questions, please answer one of mine: HOW did you get him on pellets so young? (if there is a method involved, please share)
 
i bought some massivore delight pellets and i tryed feeding it to him but he wouldnt go for it so i broke it into pieces. he had trouble at first but he got it down. a few days later hes eating the whole pellet like nothing. so just try a little amount at first break it in half or even smaller
 
Hi nice to see a veryed diet as already said some veg would be great in his diet, and as for how often to feed him it will depend on how fast you want him to grow but as a youngster once a day is fine then once he hits the 10-12" mark you could cut back to evry other day depending on the water quality and the size of his home and then as said once hes over 24" you could cut down to 1-2 times a week

Dan.
 
I agree with Dan. Keep up the varied diet, the more you feed him when he's small, the faster he'll grow. Expect him to hit around 24" in the first year, so be prepared on tank size. Once he gets bigger you can slow down on the feeding. Big fish need fasting periods to let their stomach settle. Just try not to overfeed him, because he'll throw it all back up.
 
Hey question, what is your little ones personality like? I like to compare the size personalities between small and big. I have no doubt that he will develop a more out going persona, but for right now he doesn't care if im in the tank or not.
 
I'd keep the water around 76 or 78. There's no reason to raise his metabolism with higher temps. This only means he'll eat and poop even more!

He'll start "figuring things out" about you and establishing that personality within the next few months. I really started to notice when mine hit eight inches or so.
 
My RTC was like any other boring fish until he hit 9''. There he came out during the day time and begs for food. He's quite the character.
 
I usually feed pellets to the other fish first, so that gets him out and about, then I'll drop in tilapia for him and he goes nuts. He does this little head stand thing and pounces on the tilapia. I'll usually put my face up to the glass and he'll come up and check me out then swim around and look for more food. He's quite hilarious. Usually just hangs out in the back during the day though. I'd say he's only around 4-5 inches, but he's growing fast.
 
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