Red-tailed Catfish

[GobyMaster]

Hey, I have a dream tank here, and I was curious. What is the minimum tank size for a Red-Tailed Catfish?
And would they eat Altum Angelfish and Discus?
Cheers,
GobyMaster

 

[andywg]

The bare minimum adult size is going to be 3 foot, but they do reach 5 feet in captivity (5, 6 and even 7 feet are reported in the wild).

Assuming a 3 foot size you are looking at a bare minimum of 12x6x4 to have it as an adult. If you work on the 5 foot basis (which is best) you are looking at 15-20 feet long and 10 feet front to back.

Both those fish would be prey and barely touch the sidees of an adult.

 

[GobyMaster]

Maybe I should keep dreaming about Red-Tails. . . . a tank that big is a little beyond my budget!
Cheers,
GobyMaster

 

[SJ2K]

I can totally appreciate why you'd wont one though

 

[CAC]

I dont really know why people think of them as dream fish. Theyre nice enough, esp when young but as adults, like alot of fish that get big (think giant gourmai, TSN, with the exception to the rule being arowanas IMO) arent great looking as adults, and get deformed bit and bobs (or atleast deformed looking to me). Maybe its just the size factor that people go nuts for.
Like Andy said, a 20 footer would be about right. Even if you can only go to 2 foot long, there are so many alternatives which I tend to find even more amazing now-a-days...
Are you setting up a new tank then GobyMaster?

 

[clareandkarl]

Having had our red tail since he was the size of a penny piece and growing him on to the 3ft cat that he is, in his 20ft tank I would say that whilst he may not move around THAT much, he is a great fish. he is very territorial, even in a 20ft tank he likes the first 10ft to himself, although he doesn`t hurt any of his tankmates he`s not too keen to share.
I find his colours brilliant, his huge red tail and fins, striped side and big white belly that he shows when he swims up the front of the tank.
Ours has branched barbels after they were split and a fin that never grew properly but that doesn`t matter to me, so I do agree that a lot of them don`t grow perfectly, ours was so small when we got him that you couldn`t tell!!!!!!!!!!

I certainetly wouldn`t keep ours with anything smaller than himself, our TSN, Nigers and Arowanas are great tank mates as the other cats are peaceful and the arowanas are feisty and top dwelling mainly.

i completely agree that they are not the `be all and end all` to cats. i personally have always had a great affinity for them, but it was only after adoring them for a year or so that we actually got one, knowing we already had the tanks big enough for his forst year and werre on with the fish house project, i do think people impulse buy them and get bored after a while.

if we put our finger up to the tank he follows it and you can `take him for a walk`, along the tank, he follows you along!!

Just my opinion and personal experince of this fish.
Clare

 

[cane76]

rtc are great fish if you can house them properly
i love looking after our 2ft one at work i can stroke him and he hand feeds

 

[GobyMaster]

I dont really know why people think of them as dream fish. Theyre nice enough, esp when young but as adults, like alot of fish that get big (think giant gourmai, TSN, with the exception to the rule being arowanas IMO) arent great looking as adults, and get deformed bit and bobs (or atleast deformed looking to me). Maybe its just the size factor that people go nuts for.
Like Andy said, a 20 footer would be about right. Even if you can only go to 2 foot long, there are so many alternatives which I tend to find even more amazing now-a-days...
Are you setting up a new tank then GobyMaster?

Yeah, I'm getting a bigger tank here pretty soon. It'll be a six-footer. . . . no where near big enough for a Red-Tail, or as big as clareandkarl's 20 footer, but it's big considering the biggest tank I've had so far. . . . .
Cheers,
GobyMaster

 

[CAC]

Cool, what cats are you going to put in then if you cant have an RTC?

 

[GobyMaster]

Not sure. . . . . .
I think it's going to be an oddball tank. I might put some Lima Shovelnoses in it, but I'm not sure.
Cheers,
GobyMaster

 

[nath1]

clareandkarl, i would love to see some pics of this beautiful fish!!!
nath1
p.s. sorry for being ignorant, but what is a 'tsn'.

 

[GobyMaster]

There aren't any pictures, but there is a link to a video here.
A TSN is a Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, by the way.
Cheers,
GobyMaster

 

[clareandkarl]

http/s64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/cla...2006/?start=all

Here is a link to our photobucket with lots of pictures of all our fish including our red tail, and tiger shovelnose.
Clare

 

[SJ2K]

Would be easyer to just dig and heat a pond for the RTC

 

[DarkEntity]

And possibly the only partially sensible option for one. They just shouldnt be traded, its ridiculous that shops still sell them as babies and unaware people buy them.