RTC

[catfish dan]

To me your idea of the water fall filter sounds great as it is pourus so will in get a good bacteria growth i use a shower system on my pond which i find great great filtration,Airation and a great way for the gases to escape. While he is still young feeding every day is best till about 10inches then go to about every other day and drop the days to the size of the fis mine is 3 foot and get feed once a week on a whole trout and will just get a few little treets inbetween. As you have said temp is important but at the same time you dont have to be sticked at one temp all year around, As you said in the rainy season the amozon temps drop quit a bit ith the amount of water increse and it is usualy after the rainy season once the water temp starts to gain they will start to eat more and then spawn.

Filtration: a large bio system
Feeding: Small and often to start not to much or it will throw up=Large water change
heating: i dont think you need telling there
Space: the pond you are planning will be great in the future but you will probably find he will need it quicker than you think


Hope this is a help im always on and off this forum think this is the first time on in 6 mounth but ill be around for a few days if you have anymore questions

Dan,

 

[FLESHY]

Hey Dan, my responses are in green!

To me your idea of the water fall filter sounds great as it is pourus so will in get a good bacteria growth i use a shower system on my pond which i find great great filtration,Airation and a great way for the gases to escape. This is by no means the FULL filtration system. I just listed it because people were concerned with the biological filtration I had. While he is still young feeding every day is best till about 10inches then go to about every other day and drop the days to the size of the fis mine is 3 foot and get feed once a week on a whole trout and will just get a few little treets inbetween. As you have said temp is important but at the same time you dont have to be sticked at one temp all year around, As you said in the rainy season the amozon temps drop quit a bit ith the amount of water increse and it is usualy after the rainy season once the water temp starts to gain they will start to eat more and then spawn. Im feeding almost everyday. A volunteer fed him last fry day and the next day his stomach was still slightly distended so I gave him the weekend off before measuring. I dont vomiting will be a concern either, for now he is in a species tank, and will most likely end up the sole resident of that pool.

Filtration: a large bio system
Feeding: Small and often to start not to much or it will throw up=Large water change
heating: i dont think you need telling there
Space: the pond you are planning will be great in the future but you will probably find he will need it quicker than you think


Hope this is a help im always on and off this forum think this is the first time on in 6 mounth but ill be around for a few days if you have anymore questions

Dan,

Thanks Dan, I hope you stick around long enough to see him grow up under my care.

 

[FreshWater Guru]

I don't think mine has vomited, but then again there are so many other fish in there I don't really know. My pacu eat anything and so does the marbled sailfin catfish.

That seems like enough room for him. Just don't have any fish slightly smaller than him in with him. My 10" rtc ate my 8"bala shark with no problem.

They Vomit all the time, its part of their natural digestion. Things like bone, rock, crustaceans shells/exoskeloton and other things they swallow which they are unable to digest. So dont overfeed and have something to naturally balance the ph as their vomit can lower it.

 

[FreshWater Guru]

I am not suggesting that the hybrids dont grow fast. I am just hoping that it will be slower/to a smaller size than the regular RTC.

As I have said before in this post, most amazonian fish can go below 70F without any negative consequences to metabolism or growth.

I am not condoning the other posters actions, just saying that temperature wise...it can work out.

Took the little guy out today and measured him....11.9cm from tip of snout to tip of pinched tail...will be measuring every other week.

Hey Dan, my responses are in green!



Thanks Dan, I hope you stick around long enough to see him grow up under my care.

Low temp and removing the fish weekly to measure. Why in the world would you remove it weekly do you know how much stress that causes. Combine that with low temp and your at risk for ick and alot trouble. Plus you always need the ability to raise the temp high in case of illness. I would not suggest keeping any south-american fish under 70 degrees.

You need to slow down on giving advice and your opinions as facts, most of it is wrong. My first thread I read on this site was your bad advice resulting in a fishs death and I dont want to see that again.

 

[FreshWater Guru]

Well it isn't proper we don't really have to canvass opinions its just a fact ... its obvious that something as simple as temp range which can be easily modified is well within a Aquarist's means of control and that fish should be kept in their natural temperature range. If you want to keep your fish cooler and they aren't dying thats one thing but it isn't the correct temperature and the fish would be better off in warmer water. I believe that if we are to keep fish for our own amusement at all we owe it to them to keep them the absolute best way we can. To me its black and white ...no comprimises , no excuses do the absolute best for your fish you possibly can. Having non compatible species in a tank together is against that philosophy. I know it ...and you know it too. The good news for you is it shows that you definitely need another tank which must be a good thing as I have to make up phony excuses when my tanks breed.

Correct\Awesome post. This stuff isnt opions its a science, Fleshy wanted people to agree with him not get info/facts, esp. those that contradicted his idea's. So next time fleshy starts a thread he shouldnt be asking for advice, simply telling people this is what im doing.

 

[FLESHY]

Low temp and removing the fish weekly to measure. Why in the world would you remove it weekly do you know how much stress that causes. Combine that with low temp and your at risk for ick and alot trouble. Plus you always need the ability to raise the temp high in case of illness. I would not suggest keeping any south-american fish under 70 degrees.

You need to slow down on giving advice and your opinions as facts, most of it is wrong. My first thread I read on this site was your bad advice resulting in a fishs death and I dont want to see that again.

Low temp? Its a heated tank...

If you really want to get into a pissing contest, you can take it to PM. I know what stresses my animals. I also said bi-weekly.

Raising the temperature does a couple things. But in and of itself, does almost nothing for disease. It speeds up metabolism. Not only of the parasite, but also your fish. You want to get nit-picky, you can kill your fish doing that, especially if it is thin already from disease.

I have, in this very thread, said that I do not condone the keeping of fish (SA) at temperatures lower than tropical. However, I correctly pointed out that they CAN, and DO experience those temperatures for periods of time during the year, and it in no way harms them. (I have several times cited research with south american fish - pacu - that showed that their max growth rate doesnt even slow till they drop below 65f!)

Please direct me to the thread where I killed someones fish.

Please back up what you are saying...very little of it is making any sense.

 

[duggan]

I have a 12" RTC in a 240 gallon aquarium and he will eat virtually anything that is out into the tank, although one of his favorite foods is krill (uncooked) He has been gladly feeding out of our hands for about a month. I prefer to hand feed instead of dumping a bunch of food into the tank like I have read people do. It is important not to overfeed these fish, as they will eat continuously until there is nothing left. It is a good way to monitor how much he is eating and keeping him healthy and happy. These are incredible fish and I have become very attached to my RTC as any dog or cat owner would.

 

[kamilusoof]

i hv to 14 inch rtc in my 1000g waterfall,,no special filter needed, i use a simple power filter........
feed it fish bro8 home for human to eat,,,,,
abt 50% waterchange for 1 week..
hv a well, so very easy to do water changes
very easy to care for, it is a very hardy fish

 

[FLESHY]

I have a 12" RTC in a 240 gallon aquarium and he will eat virtually anything that is out into the tank, although one of his favorite foods is krill (uncooked) He has been gladly feeding out of our hands for about a month. I prefer to hand feed instead of dumping a bunch of food into the tank like I have read people do. It is important not to overfeed these fish, as they will eat continuously until there is nothing left. It is a good way to monitor how much he is eating and keeping him healthy and happy. These are incredible fish and I have become very attached to my RTC as any dog or cat owner would.

I love mine already as well...he is in a tank by himself right now, so all the feeding issues are not an issue. I hand feed 90% of my fish and always watch for portion control.

i hv to 14 inch rtc in my 1000g waterfall,,no special filter needed, i use a simple power filter........
feed it fish bro8 home for human to eat,,,,,
abt 50% waterchange for 1 week..
hv a well, so very easy to do water changes
very easy to care for, it is a very hardy fish

Right now I am feeding him mainly earthworms or small cuts of fish. He gets a 75% h2o change probably a couple times a week. Seems happy. Getting pics is hard though, he is either in his cave or cruising (impossible to get a good shot).

As far as the waterfall goes, it is not going to be the only form of filtration, but good to know it is working for you. In addition there is talk of making the pond DEEPER yet...and adding more area. This could truly end up being a monster display even on a site like this. Excited to share it with you guys if the university goes forward with it.

 

[redtail0812]

its a lot of work to keep them but its worth it