Old and Big Fish

[rdd1952]

Today we visited a LFS that I had never been to before. They had a Red Tail Catfish that was about 3' long. The sign on the tank says he was born in 1981. They also had a pacu which was about 1.5' long. He was born in 1974. They were not for sale. I bet this store had 150 - 200 tanks of fresh and salt water fish.

 

[Ben]

yeh those fish grow huge and should never ever be kkept in captivity unless the tank is in the 10,000+ gallon range

DD

 

[nshockeyplaya]

I think 10000+ is pushing it a bit lol. I would say 1000+

 

[Sutto]

Pacus would be ok in a in a 100g Tank with RTC needing about the same. The main thing with these fish is width - a LFS over here in Perth, Australia has a 2' RTD (South American Variety, not asian) sitting in a 80g tank that was custom built. One thing that needs to be remembered is that for them to reach full size it is going to take a long time. Have a look at Arapaima gigas - I know they have been in WA and the ones that came in had to be kept in Ponds not long after they arrived.

-Sutto

 

[Ben]

I think 10000+ is pushing it a bit lol. I would say 1000+

exaggerating a little hehe

Sutto - i think 100gal is too small for them IMO

DD

 

[Doggfather]

Sutto: you sure it's an 80g tank? Considering the street cost (these fish are not legal in australia) is around $1000 for a 'kitten', i doubt any lfs would spend a large amount of moneyon fish and put them in an unstuable tank.

 

[astroboy]

Pacus would be ok in a in a 100g Tank with RTC needing about the same. The main thing with these fish is width - a LFS over here in Perth, Australia has a 2' RTD (South American Variety, not asian) sitting in a 80g tank that was custom built. One thing that needs to be remembered is that for them to reach full size it is going to take a long time. Have a look at Arapaima gigas - I know they have been in WA and the ones that came in had to be kept in Ponds not long after they arrived.

Dude, 100g is far from adequate.

Have you seen this?
http/www.anythingfish.com/images/Ted/Pho...edsBigFish1.htm

You want those swimming in 100g of water? i doubt it

 

[OohFeeshy]

Biiig fishies.... I just heard about a rellies tank. Apparently it fills up about half the room, and the fish in it eat a whole tin of corned beef. Each. One bite only.

 

[nc_nutcase]

In my opinion when we start working with very large fish the dementions of the tank become as important as the gallonage, as Sutto mentioned. I would say that the Red Tail Catfish as well as the Pacu need 100 Gal per fish minimum to reach adulthood, with a 150 Gal minimum for one fish that is 24 inches / 61 cm wide (front to back).

I have several Pacus now and am well aware that I need to provide them with more and more space as they grow, and time is short because these suckers grow fast!

 

[Candyco]

I know someone that has a 1ft pacu stuck in a 3ft tank.... been trying to talk him into getting a bigger tank or selling the fish but he isn't interested. Makes my blood boil

 

[GSD]

My Lfs Has a huge tank covering one wall with a pacu arowana some type of catfish and 2 giant rays in theyre for sale but at £400 each!

 

[rdd1952]

Nc_nutcase, if you want to see these fish, they're not far from you. The store is in Charlotte on Wilkinson Blvd near Morris Field Rd. It's called Tropic Pets. They do have an enormous amount of tanks and fish. But unfortunately they also have painted glass fish and tetras.

 

[nc_nutcase]

less than 7 miles from me! God I love this "World Wide Web" with local people I'll be there between 1:30 and 2 o'clock...

 

[Paul_MTS]

In my opinion when we start working with very large fish the dementions of the tank become as important as the gallonage, as Sutto mentioned. I would say that the Red Tail Catfish as well as the Pacu need 100 Gal per fish minimum to reach adulthood, with a 150 Gal minimum for one fish that is 24 inches / 61 cm wide (front to back).

I have several Pacus now and am well aware that I need to provide them with more and more space as they grow, and time is short because these suckers grow fast!

urm 150 is no way near enough not even for a 2ft fish really, 200g is minimum for aorund 2ft fish.

dimensions are very important on bigger fish as you need to start making the tank wider.

I would probable fit in a adult RTC or TSn in my 200g but thats it, fit in being the key phrase as they wouldn't beable to move. 500g is mininum for either of the big cats and pacus.

and the tank would need to me 30" minimum wide.

 

[Raechal]

RTC's cost about $26.00 each and I was going to get one a while back ago when I had my first 10 gallon and knew NOTHING about these fish. I liked them so much so I looked them up online and WOAH they were huge! If I ever had an indoor pond or something like that, I would keep one.

I already begged my parents to turn out pool into an outdoor pond. Then I could probably keep a RTC in there. But...they refused.