New Owner of a Red-tail Catfish

[dizzy]

Hi! I've recently gotten a South American Red Tail Catfish. It's quite big, abt 30cm long. I've been reading the website and I noticed that everyone keeps them in huge tanks. I have placed mine in an established Koi pond. Do you foresee any problems? It seems to be more active at night too. How can I tame my fish? I've read of ppl being able to hand feed these amazing fish. Right now, all I do is put some guppies in the koi pond from time to time. Is this enough? I have another question, do I need to give it some form of shelter in the pond? Thanks!

[Deborah]

I hope your Koi are MASSIVE cause they'll become dinner otherwise.

[Skyetone]

red tails do indeed like to hide under shelter like large lava rocks or hollow logs durring the day. Yes they are a nocturnal fish. If you start to feed them frozen tiger shrimp from the store they will become naturally crious about you and come to the waters surface to feel you out with there wiskers. Be prepared they grow rater fast. And yes they will eat the koi if it will fit in there mouth.
I had three 12"s that I lost to chain petshop goldfish feeders.

[general-sherman]

Don't koi require cool water? What temp. does the pond stay at?

[Skyetone]

thats very true.. I ahve heard that the koi do want cool water. The redtails want around 80* f .....

[Deborah]

Koi need aireated (sp???) water, in warm water there is less air, but they'll grow quicker.

[coelacanth]

There are enough Koi bred in Malaysia to show that Cyprinus are quite happy at temperatures comparable to those required by Phractocephalus. I would be concerned however about the safety of the Koi regardless of their size. Faced with what it regards as competition for food, the RTC will bite at the fish around it, and although their teeth are small, there are lots of them in bands that feel like sandpaper, and they have got powerful jaws. I can imagine that one could do a lot of damage to a large-scaled fish like a Koi, which would allow for secondary infection (not to mention the stress).

[S. Allen]

and missing fins and things...

[jim2y]

I have a redtailcatfish too. I think you 'll need a hundreds of guppies to statiate your redtailcatfish.
My redtailcatfish is 20 inches in long and it can eat 8 inches of walking catfish even my redtailcatfish ate my 8 inches armored catfish when it feel very hungry, so you have to be careful because it may eat your koi too.

[jim2y]

Hii..... Has anyone mix a redtailcatfish or tigershovelnosecatfish with other fishes?
I am going to mix my tigercatfish with a silver arowana and my redtailcatfish with a pairs of cichla ocellaris. But a few years ago i mixed a silver arowana 22 inches and my tiger shovelnose attacked my arowana and my arowana jump out of the tank and dead so do you have any experiences about mixing big fishes together? Thanks....

[mitch]

Theres no dout in my mind, as your RTC gets bigger he will bother the koi. Please take into concisderation that koi are quite peaceful and rest at night, where as the RTC is very active and will bother the koi at night when there resting. This could lead to the koi becoming wery stressed, which could also lead to illness without you knowing the main cause.

I have a 20" RTC ,
Two weeks ago i also had a 13" ocellaris which could eat 15-20 guppies in one feed, And he was eaten by the RTC and it only took him 2-3 days to dieguest !!! I hope this will give you some idea of what there capable of.
At the moment i an in the process of removing my other fish before he turns on them.

[got bait?]

My 22" RTC recently ate my 10" Red Terror. He is in a 100g and I can't get a bigger tank. I need to find him a new home. Sucks, I've had him "Felix" for two years now. Eats out of your hand and will even let you scratch his head. Like a dog with fins!