Red tailed catfish keeping/maintanence/requirements

Tokis-Phoenix · Post by **Tokis-Phoenix** » 04 Jun 2007, 19:30

Hi there, i will start off and say that i do not own any red tailed catfish. In fact the largest fish i own is a 10inch+ common pleco in a 125gallon tank.
But i would like to do a giant aquarium project in a couple of years time, and i would like to know more on keeping certain tankbusting catfish like the red tailed catfish and giraffe catfish in particular. I read this article on PFK in particular which i found very inspiring;

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... cle_id=586

Is a 381 x 388 x 213cm/12' x 12' x 7' deep aquarium (4000gallons) sufficient to keep either red tailed catfish or giraffe catfish?

Tokis-Phoenix · Post by **Tokis-Phoenix** » 04 Jun 2007, 20:45

Ah i just found this on this on the site via a search;

"An adult red tail will require at least a 8 foot long tank which should be a minimum of 30" front to back (width) to allow the fish to turn properly. Although the fish are commonly found in deep water pools in the wild, they don't seem to require such a water depth in captivity and minimal substrate (undergravel filtration is not a good idea for these fish due to their ability to move large amounts of the filter area if they take the notion) means that even a tank 18" tall will suffice. Taller tanks will allow the fish to more clearly signal when they are hungry as they start "prowling" around the surface when their stomach rumbles and give you more room for manoeuvre with water changing regimes. Adult red tails only require feeding approximately weekly and even this is a luxury compared to their wild feeding habits."

http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... icle_id=77

So a 12ft long by 12ft wide and 7ft aquarium for example would be more than sufficient for a red tailed catfish based on this article?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 05 Jun 2007, 11:18

All of this depends on what guidelines you follow. I don't think a 4000g tank is sufficient for a RTC. My opinion is that the fish should have at least 4L x 2L x 2L sized tank, where L is the length of the fish.

Since RTC grows to at least 5ft in nature (there are posts here on this forum where a length of 6ft is indicated), you can then calculate the size to 20 x 10 x 10ft.

Of course, 12 x 12 x 7 ft is better than something smaller - it would be fine at least until the fish reaches about 3-4 feet - which should take a couple of years or so from the 4-5 inches that they usually sell at.

If we do assume (and this is an ASSUMPTION) that the cost of tanks is linear to volume, then we can say that a liter of tank is about £1 (US $2) [this works roughly for small tanks up to about 1000 liter/250 gallon]. A 4000 UK gal tank is 18000 liter. So the cost of just building and equpping the tank would be about £18000 (US $36000). This is just the TANK itself. You obviously need somewhere that is classified as "indoors" to keep this tank. Just building a simple shed of 12 x 12 would probably set you back another couple of thousand pounds, and you need some good foundation to keep the tank in place (or if you're building a pond, you'll be digging quite a bit to do that).

Heating costs will be noticable for the winter period, and bear in mind that the best way to heat a big volume of water without getting problems with condensation is to heat the ROOM, rather than the water itself. Good insulation will cost initially, but once installed, it should pay for itself very quickly.

Also bear in mind that these fish live for a substantial number of years - 15-25 years or more. So you have to know that you're not going to move anytime soon, or you'll be spending the money again to keep the fish with you (and the new buyer of your current house may not appreciate it as much as you do).

--
Mats

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 05 Jun 2007, 12:52

Agree with MatsP on his thinking for size of "enclosure". This is based on best results for the captive although what you propose is far better than the 6x2x2 that most people seem to think is acceptable for a tankbuster.

Having been fortunate enough to have briefly visited Africa & Brazil & seen where some fish live no tank could ever be too big but easily it could be too small. Whatever you decide quality diet & excellent water conditions will be essential (for any fish)

Tokis-Phoenix · Post by **Tokis-Phoenix** » 09 Jun 2007, 16:20

That fair enough then, thanks for your help/info. In a couple of years time i want to do a large indoor aquarium or pond project, the maximum size aquarium/pond i could probably opt for would be a 12ft long by 6ft pond/aquarium.
If an RTC is not suitable for such a size tank, would a giraffe catfish be suitable?

taksan · Post by **taksan** » 09 Jun 2007, 16:32

A giraffe would be better....

My RTC's out grew a 12x6x4 in under 2 years and are now in a massive indoor aquaculture pond.

The bare minimum for a adult RTC is in my opinion 2000 gallons of water and 12 feet clear in any horizontal direction of swimming space. That would mean a round aquaculture tank of 12' diameter and 4' in height would probably be ok but the problem with RTC's is well ...eventualy they WILL eat ALL their tankmates or die trying to. They require very good water quality and massive filtration and are highly sensitive to a lack of DO in the water.
To keep any of the big pims you have to LOVE them like children and be prepared to spend both lots of time and lots of money keeping them in perfect order.
Then you have to be prepared to keep them for 25 years because if kept correctly they will live at least that long if not much longer.
Unless your completely crazy like I am I would advise anyone NOT to keep big pims and even if your crazy I'd say try prozac first

Tokis-Phoenix · Post by **Tokis-Phoenix** » 09 Jun 2007, 16:58

Cool, i'm glad to hear that giraffe catfish would still be a good option then. I'm already an avid fishkeeper, the hobby is very addictive, have gone from one 10gal tank almost 4years ago, to 3 125gal tanks today.
I feel really sorry for red tailed catfish though, they just grow too big for most people to look after, most of these beautiful catfish end up in aquariums way too small for them...
If i do this big tank/pond project in a couple of years time, i wil buy some fish for the tank, but i would mostly like to adopt large unwanted catfish. I know a 12ft long and 6ft wide tank is not a really large tank (although still pretty massive), but i'm hoping it will be enough for some large catfish around 1-3ft long each

.

TheFishGuy · Post by **TheFishGuy** » 01 Jul 2007, 13:02

Simple fact is no tank is large enough, no matter how large it is, it's still just a tank and not a river....

The large cats shouldn't be sold. End of story....

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 23 Jul 2007, 09:24

TheFishGuy wrote:Simple fact is no tank is large enough, no matter how large it is, it's still just a tank and not a river....

The large cats shouldn't be sold. End of story....

Amen.

Tokis-Phoenix · Post by **Tokis-Phoenix** » 31 Jul 2007, 18:06

I appologise i haven't been around for a while, been very busy recently.

pictus_man_77 wrote:
TheFishGuy wrote:Simple fact is no tank is large enough, no matter how large it is, it's still just a tank and not a river....

The large cats shouldn't be sold. End of story....
Amen.

If we lived in an ideal world, a lot of fish wouldn't be sold to the general puplic. But the fact of the matter is that RTC are sold, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The vast majority of these RTC will die long slow deaths of suffering from inadequately sized tanks, poor water quality and diet, other fish etc...

If i were ever to do a giant indoor pond project, i would adopt and save an unwanted RTC if the pond was large enough.

What i want to know, is that would a 20ft long by 10ft wide pond be sufficient, or would i need to aim for an even larger indoor pond? 24ft long by 12ft wide...?
In the next 2-3years time, i would like to do a giant indoor pomd project, if i could ever build a pond large enough to keep an adopted RTC, this would be my goal.

I appreiciate everyone's opinions on this subject, i understand it is controversial as to whether these fish should even be sold at all in the hobby, but for now i am a believer that any fish can be kept well in the hobby if you have a tank/pond large enough for it.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 31 Jul 2007, 18:21

I would say bigger is alway better, that way you can rescue more RTCs then.

Best of luck with your project. It is by no means a small undertaking what you have planned.

Keep us posted.