Anyone else have an fiesty Rita catfish

[Pelteobagrus]

I believe my fish to be Rita rita and i'l post a pic as soon as i can get a clear one of him.

He's in a 60 gallon tank with assorted cichlids and other catfish and he is the only fish that never gets so much as a split fin.

He lives in a section of pipe and defends it with zeal i've only seen in cichlids. He's chased everything from similar sized channel catfish to a tilapia almost too big to fit in there back out. To top that off he had the tilapias face in his mouth. He even goes after me when i get too close to it.

I have heard some catfish fear pretty much nothing but this one intrigues me because its so easy to watch, its not once in awhile its a few times an hour. He's pretty laid back at feeding times but he guards his home well.

I was just wondering if that is typical for this species or if he's just keeping up with the crowd and standing his ground.

Its about doubled in size since i purchased him about four months ago. I wanted something interesting and had never seen the species in stores before. Other than a reasonably large adult size are there any care tips i should know. The only place i've found quality information on this species is this site which I frequent many times a week.

Thanks a lot for your time,

Jason

[Silurus]

Large bagrids are territorial to one extent or another. The behavior is not surprising, given that Rita is a large, carnivorous fish.

[Pelteobagrus]

Very graceful looking catfish as we..definatly one of my favorite species that i've kept so far.

Jason