Common name(s): Redtailed catfish, Amazonian redtailed catfish.

Scientific name: Phractocephalus hemiliopterus

Family: Pimelodidae

Origin: Parts of the amazon including deeper waters through to the flooded forest in the rainy season.

Maximum size: Difficult to say the max size of these fish as it changes so much. In the wild there are reports that 6-8' cats have been caught but 5' is more common. In captivity however, 4' is a god size with a lot staying at 3' , a lot of public aquaria have them to 3.5' - 4' some may have larger.

Care: As far as tropical fish go, they are actually quite a hardy fish and will adapt to captive conditions well as long as a large well filtered aquarium is provided. Eventually they will require a tank/pond of 10'x4'x4' min but larger the better for these fish. As they grow they are best started in small 36" tanks when 2" long and moved up to 4' then 6' tanks and then up to a pond. As for water chemistry, anything between Ph6.5-7.5 and a tempereature of 25-30C is fine. To keep nitrates down twice weekly water changes may be required.

Feeding: While they're small (2"-6") they are fine on bloodworm, chopped cockle and small pieces of lance fish/smelt daily or every other day. Once they get to 8"-12" they should take whole lance fish/smelt twice a week. Once they hit 12" bits of trout are best and fed once a week. I also add vitamins with this as mine won't touch any green foods.

Breeding: Never bred in captivity although we are starting to see red-tail/tigershovelnose hybrids coming into the shops which IMHO is wrong. This is most likly done using hormones.

Comments: This is not a good aquarium fish unless you have a fish house or are can build a huge tank in your home with an equally large filter to match. They should be left to public aquaria IMO. Never leave objects near the aquarium as anything they can swallow will be eaten. In the past, they have eaten cameras, sunglasses and mobile phobes not to mention tank mates.

This is a beautifull fish if kept properly.

Here's another picture to show the full markings nicely.

This post has been edited by Lateral Line: Oct 11 2006, 11:48 AM

Here's a pic of a giant 3 1/2 to 4 foot redtail at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.