Just Joined

[Happilyretired]

Hello,
I‘ m new to this forum but have been a hobbyist off and on for fifty years. I thought I was finished with keeping tanks until I rescued a pitifully kept aquarium with fungus infected guppies and a Pleco that was in a state of shock. Now the guppies are in good condition and as guppies will have multiplied and the Pleco is doing so much better that I am going to buy a very large tank for him or her and the two red fin catfish and eel looking loaches that my husband bought to surprise me on his trip to pickup food for the existing fish. now he cannot complain about the larger tank I need to buy to accommodate the Pleco and the others that are growing so fast.
The consequence of rescuing an aquarium of fish in my small town is now people call wanting me to either look at their tank and fix it or take their fish because they are bored with the fish and hate to flush the little guys. So hello.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Hello...and you're going to need a huu-uuuuge tank for those red tails!
One adult would need a tank of 1,500 to 2,000 gallons.
Whilst well-meaning, I'm sure, I have to call your delightful hubby a complete numpty!
Check this out for the Red Tail catfish.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Welcome! I agree, if we are talking about red tail catfish, you'd better dig a swimming pool in the yard! Hopefully we're mistaken and you're talking about something else?

 

[fishyfun&fans]

adult red tail catfish can grow huge over 5ft and weigh over 180lb

not me in the photo but here is your Red Tail Adult size

 

[Happilyretired]

Hello...and you're going to need a huu-uuuuge tank for those red tails!
One adult would need a tank of 1,500 to 2,000 gallons.
Whilst well-meaning, I'm sure, I have to call your delightful hubby a complete numpty!
Check this out for the Red Tail catfish.

Actually, they are red tailed sharks but not really sharks. I bought a piece of drift wood from the pet store nd soaked it and even let it dry out, hoping there were no snail eggs. Then there were tons of snails so his friend said get the cori dories, eels, and red tailed shark. He thought he was solving the snail problem, which it has but the eel and sharks are getting very large. I looked it up and they don’t grow much over 6 inches. Still too big for my existing tank.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Actually, they are red tailed sharks but not really sharks. I bought a piece of drift wood from the pet store nd soaked it and even let it dry out, hoping there were no snail eggs. Then there were tons of snails so his friend said get the cori dories, eels, and red tailed shark. He thought he was solving the snail problem, which it has but the eel and sharks are getting very large. I looked it up and they don’t grow much over 6 inches. Still too big for my existing tank.

Phew.


...Almost.
Resist the uninformed and misinformed impulse buy.
You'll save a lot of fish from unpleasant deaths.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Red tail shark is just another name for a red tail catfish isn’t it?

 

[itiwhetu]

Red tail shark is just another name for a red tail catfish isn’t it?

Nope, This is a redtail shark, above is a red tail catfish

 

[fishyfun&fans]

yep ive just looked them up again i was wrong here

 

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, red tail shark we can probably deal with. Whew. You had us worried with that red-tailed catfish business.

A few things about them: Need about a 55 gallon or larger tank. Two of them will probably not get along and they'll start fighting as they get older, so you'll either need a tank that's large enough that they can form individual territories (that would probably require a very large tank) or start making a plan to rehome one of them.

Also, even if you just keep one, prepare for aggression issues. I had one that was peaceful until he reached about 4" long, then he turned into a tyrant. Completely terrorized every fish in the tank. This was in a densely planted tank with lots of hiding places and such. I finally gave him to the manager of the local pet store, who put him in a display tank with some other semi-aggressives that could stand up to him. Not all red-tail sharks turn out that way, but many do.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from keeping him. They are one of the prettiest fish in the hobby, in my opinion, and well worth keeping. Just realize what you're getting into.