I heard that the RTC are edible, but the locals don't eat them because they don't like to eat red flesh.
RTC tiger shovelnose cross
- Thread starter sjo501
- Start date
If they're genetic freaks from a lab, that probably means that they won't mate and I don't think I've heard of neither fish breeding in captivity...yet.
benzjamin13 said:
read in "Jumbo fish" that eating RTC gives u severe muscle cramps. Ppl dont eat something for a reason... and its not the color.
I have read on many exotic fishing trip sites that you can eat a rtc. They say the meat tastes like pork and they try to serve it at least once per fishing cruise. I also have a friend in North Carolina who told me when his rtc got too big for his tank he ate it, with no ill effect. If it is toxic some of these people need to be warned, LOL. Back on the subject of TSN x RTC, mine is a total pig now that he is acclimated to his new indoor pond. I fed him 2 dozen night crawlers last night along with 4 jumbo uncooked shrimp(they're like 4" long a piece), 1 hot dog, and today I put the goldfish from my Q tank in there, and much to my suprise the swollen gut hybrid ate 4 of them, and they weren't exactly small( from 3" to 5")
lol. If he eats like this I will have a mega monster on my hands in no time. He is very docile also. I am able to lift under his chin and bring his head out of the water slightly. He just sits there and tastes me with his barbells(creapy). Also tries to take my fingers off when feeding him worms by hand. He will break the 2" mark shortly. I will post updates regularly. The other 2 catfish hybrids I have, are eating too, but the TSN x RTC kicks their ***es when they get in his way. They are much more shy than him, they hide when I come around, he comes to the surface.
lol. If he eats like this I will have a mega monster on my hands in no time. He is very docile also. I am able to lift under his chin and bring his head out of the water slightly. He just sits there and tastes me with his barbells(creapy). Also tries to take my fingers off when feeding him worms by hand. He will break the 2" mark shortly. I will post updates regularly. The other 2 catfish hybrids I have, are eating too, but the TSN x RTC kicks their ***es when they get in his way. They are much more shy than him, they hide when I come around, he comes to the surface.
almost forgot, he took 2 crickets off of the top of the water too today. I meant for the other hybrids to eat them, but he is just too dominant.
benzjamin13 said:
Fish will often times display "un-natural" behaviors like this once in captivity. I've seen the RTC breed in captivity. Not the TSN yet, though. I've also seen hybrid come out without actually attempting to make it happen.
The reason I started reading this thread is I think I may have ended up with a hybrid by accident. I had a juv TSN shipped to me for a new South American display at work, but the more I look at him, the more I think he's a mix. At what size/age will the coloration change if it is indeed a hybrid? The one I got was a beautiful TSN on arrival at 2", now at close to 5" he's starting to color more like the red tails. My issue is that as a zoological institution, I can't display a hybrid.
My Red-Tail Shovel Nose was getting picked on by the Jaguar Cichlid, but I moved the Jaguar into the Big Boy Tank and a week later I moved the Red-Tail Shovel Nose in there. They're all doing fine. But the Red-Tail Shovel Nose is shy, so I'm hoping he's eating enough.
The problem with hybrids is that there is no standard.Although many are shaped similarly the colourations can be extreme in their differences.Try looking on planet catfish just after the red tail and just after the tiger shovelnose for some picture variations,and also bear in mind that both species have also been crossed with other cats.I have seen hybrids for sale in many stores labeled as tsn because of the shape but after about 5-6 months old it is more apparent to see a widened and slightly shorter snout.And no, they definitely dont breed together,they were first produced in a lab in Czech Republic.
