S.A. Red Tail Skin Issues

[Djthomas]

I was givin an 8 inch S. A. Red Tailed Catfish. When I took him in he looked really healthy and was a big eater. Today I noticed that his skin seems to be sheding or has a slim coating on it and he is off his food. What can I do to help him for I do not want to loose this great fish?

[Shane]

We will need a lot more information to help. Please tell us all about the aquarium, filtration, maintenance routine, foods, tankmates, etc.
Your immediate action should be a large (60-70%) water change.
-Shane

[Djthomas]

I had him in a 75 with a canister filter, but moved him to a 55 with an off the back filter. I moved him due to the total number of other "dirty" fish that are in the 75 gal, like gold fish and koi and the other cats. He is currently in a tank on his own other the the feeders. I have him on small to med feeder goldfish and strips of salmon, which he loves. The tank is at 72* F. I do a 20% water change ever Sat and Wed, however after reading your reply I did do a major water change and changed the filter pads in the filter. I maintain this tank the same as I do my 75 gal and my son's 55,40,29, and 2 10's; which I have never had a problem with before. I would love any help you can give me, I do not want to loose this fish.

[MatsP]

What size is the fish?

Did you change ALL the filter pads at once? That will loose all the "good" bacteria in there.

And a 55g tank is definitely too small for a Red Tail Catfish, almost immediately after they are bought (they usually sell at about 4", and a 55g tank is really only suitable for fish up to about 6"). A 75g tank is a tiny bit better, as it's wider (thus having more surface area for larger fish).

You do realize that this fish will grow ENORMOUS, _and_ live for about 50 years, right? [Assuming of course it's kept in good conditions and a large enough heated pond - it probably won't survive more than a few years in something you'd call a "tank"].

--
Mats

[Richard B]

SA RTC's with slime problems are reacting to poor water conditions - they need massive filtration as they can produce copious amounts of waste & the filter needs to be mature - i would "seed" the filter with media from an existing filter to be sure - maybe enhanced with a filter bacterial aid, & continue with large more frequent water changes. Monitoring pH, Nitrates & Nitrites would be recommended.

I personally dont like the use of feeders as they can transfer things to the tank & i am not a big fan of feeding salmon as it is a very fatty fish depending on where it is sourced from (wild or farmed).

Prawns, cockles, mussels, crab & non-fatty fish are far more suitable but "animal foodstuffs are far more polluting than standard aquarium foods - you could try ripe, soft fruits too like peach, & plum.

Whilst you have a problem i'd avoid feeding too much - ensuring high quality water is essential & your first priority

[Djthomas]

[*]You do realize that this fish will grow ENORMOUS, _and_ live for about 50 years, right? [Assuming of course it's kept in good conditions and a large enough heated pond - it probably won't survive more than a few years in something you'd call a "tank"].

--
Mats[*]

Yes I do Realize this fish will grow to be enormous and will live a very long life. I am sure he will be very content in the new 1500g pond/tank I am building in my heated garage. I am lucky that I rep for a water garden company so I get all my supplies at cost or FREE. I do think I will start looking for a 125g until my garage pond is complete.

I have run an exotic animal rescue in the past so I am very used to dealing with other peoples castoffs. I will never take in an animal I am not willing to whatever is needed to house and care for that animal for life.

[Shane]

I think folks have hit on the major issues above. They basically are:

1) Much larger water changes. 20% will not cut it. I would shoot for 60-70% weekly or, even better, 40-50% twice weekly.
2) Lots of filtration. Not sure what your hang on the back filter is, but I doubt it is enough. I am a fan of the Marineland biowheels and typically run two Model 350s on a 45 or 55 gal. tank. There are plenty of other filtration options of course.
3) Get away from the feeders! These things kill. Esp as the fish will already take "dead" food there is no reason to risk a bacterial, fungal, or viral infection by introducing feeders.
4) Your 1,500 gal pond will be a temporary solution. 1,500 gals is about 10' X 6' X 4'. 3-4 years down the road you will need to be looking for something closer to 3,000 gals.

-Shane

[MatsP]

If we assume the fish grows to 5ft/1.5 meter (Chris Ralph has told me and others about one that he saw in Peru that was 5 ft - with the head cut off, so it must have been well over that WITH the head - I can only guess what they wanted the head for - fish soup anyone? ;) ].

If we then use the rule of 4L x 2L base and 1.5L height, you are looking at a tank that is 20ft x 10ft base and about 8ft tall. That's 10000 gallon - so even Shane's suggestion of 3000 gallon is about a third of what a fully grown fish would need.

But I suppose if you can build a 3000 gallon pond that you keep at 25'C/77'F, you should be able to keep it there until it's about 3ft, which will be a few years down the line...

Note that for every time the fish doubles in length, you need another 8x the volume, give or take.

--
Mats

[wrasse]

[

f we then use the rule of 4L x 2L base and 1.5L height, you are looking at a tank that is 20ft x 10ft base and about 8ft tall. That's 10000 gallon - so even Shane's suggestion of 3000 gallon is about a third of what a fully grown fish would need.

You are clearly very good at maths - and we see that often.......
If a public aquarium had a tank that size or half that size, with a red tail in it, the fish would look and appear well maintained. And no doubt living with lots of other fish. Yes, this fish is exceptional, but IMO your advice is unrealistic.

I'm not recommending anybody goes out and buys this fish - it grows too big.

But DJThomas has been given this fish. Clearly he has some good ideas and resources for keeping this fish. A decent space with heavy filtration is essential.

[MatsP]

I didn't say you need to keep the fish on it's own, but I think good care of the fish is to give it enough space to swim. Sure you could perhaps get away with smaller from a maintaining good water conditions perspective, and obviously the fish doesn't actually NEED to be in a tank that is much bigger than the fish itself from any physical reason - if it fits in whatever container it is in, that's all that is physically required. But from a humane perspective, it should have enough space to move around freely - and that requires more than a couple of times it's own length in two directions, and one larger than the other. It doesn't HAVE to be 4L x 2L, but I would certainly not go MUCH lower than that.

Or to put the argument the other way around, what would you suggest is the minimum size for a 1.5 meter/5ft fish? Or a 3ft fish, for that matter?

And I'm not talking about "We can't find any better place for it" solutions, which is probably what happens in most public aquaria that these fish end up eventually when the owner can't/won't look after them properly. It appears that a large proportion of LARGE tanks in public aquaria are marine water, so obviously not suitable for a RTC.

And yes, I'm not infallible - I have a rescued common pleco in a too small tank according to the above metrics.

--
Mats

[wrasse]

i've yet to see a 5' RTC in captivity, but I've no doubt they can reach that.
If I was DJThomas I would aquascape its home with caves, obstructions of all sorts, branches, etc etc, to create an obstacle course. This would make its environment interesting and seem far larger than the dimensions of the 'tank'.
A gross feeder like this needs big filtration, IMO that's the key to keeping it happy. I'd use a huge tricklefilter tower, or something similar, ie - Koi filtration.

[MatsP]

Sure, no matter what size the tank is, it needs to be filtered properly, and these fish produce large amounts of waste - and they do it in bursts, so compared to the same amount of smaller fish, the filtration need is even better to cope with a sudden release in ammonia.

Decorations and hidey holes are great, but they actually REDUCE the available swimming space, and fish do need to swim in a natural way - and that's where the tank-space needs to be a few times longer than the fish itself.

--
Mats

[wrasse]

Yes, and in the Amazon this fish lives in mile upon mile of river.
But this particular fish doesn't have that.

'Decorations and hidey holes are great'. - together with good filtration, that's what it needs.