red tail catfish

MIKE · Post by **MIKE** » 05 Jun 2006, 19:59

im planing on geting a 200g tank for my red tail catfish(baby) can he live with a spotted gar(baby).idk if the gar will eat it or if the catfish will eat the gar?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 05 Jun 2006, 20:09

If the Gar ever fits in the mouth of the catfish, yes, most likely... My personal opinion is that Red-tailed catfish doesn't belong in the aquarium hobby - there is NO REASONABLE way to house these fish if you can't afford to build a large indoor pond that is also heated - and look after it for another 25 years... A 200g tank is for for the first couple of years, but after that you'll be looking at custom built tanks/ponds and specialized filtration - assuming you don't kill it by mismanaging it first, of course...

--
Mats

Dorad · Post by **Dorad** » 05 Jun 2006, 20:22

Hi,

I very much agree with MatsP's comments regarding these catfish. I recently wrote an article in Practical Fishkeeping detailing how I rescued one of these catfish and took it to Sparsholt College to much larger accommodation. I have the following information for you:

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus is a predatory fish in its natural habitat, feeding upon any unsuspecting fish which happen to get in the way of its incredibly large and cavernous mouth. This catfish is classed as a food fish in South America, which is not surprising when you consider that these fish can reach over 180cm in length and weigh in the region of 44kg! Whilst there are a number of enthusiasts who wish to keep this truly magnificent catfish, there are not very many who can afford or offer these catfish the type of accommodation required in order to keep them successfully in captivity. All too often these catfish are sold as juvenile specimens at around 15cm in length, only to find that after a year or so that the catfish is now 45cm in length and has outgrown the aquarium. Whilst these are magnificent fish to observe they are not ideally suited to life in captivity, unless being looked after in a large Public Aquarium. Whilst fish collecting in Peru I saw the body of one of these catfish offered for sale to the locals as food, and the body alone without the head was in excess of 120cm or 48â?

The Stig · Post by **The Stig** » 05 Jun 2006, 20:23

yes i agree, build a tropical pond or dont bother keeping one. They can grow to 6 foot.

Post by **medaka** » 05 Jun 2006, 23:27

HI Mike

Greetings and welcome to PC

apart from echoing Matsp and Dorad.

Have you read the Big Cat Sticky

in this forum..
big cat sticky

OrcinusJr · Post by **OrcinusJr** » 01 Sep 2006, 06:03

My Redtail cat hasn't eaten anything in almost a month. He is the only fish in the tank, i've done two small water changes (every two weeks) and it made no difference. Please give suggestions, I cant loose him.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 01 Sep 2006, 15:43

Double posting (you already have a topic on this) and hyjacking someone else's post at the same time is frowned upon here....

it's your own hide, but still

OrcinusJr · Post by **OrcinusJr** » 01 Sep 2006, 18:19

I'm so sorry i didnt mean to step on any fins, i didnt know that you could only post about the topic. I also didn't relize that you could get replies from the same people in more than one post. I'm a little new to the whole forum thing. Once again I'm sorry.

catfishrule · Post by **catfishrule** » 09 Sep 2006, 23:10

http://aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/image/2307.jpg go there and see what those catfish can do.

zoo york 207 · Post by **zoo york 207** » 20 Sep 2006, 02:16

The Stig wrote:yes i agree, build a tropical pond or dont bother keeping one. They can grow to 6 foot.

hey Carl! funny seeing you here!

Sorubim lima · Post by **Sorubim lima** » 26 Sep 2006, 20:48

hi chaps
i have bean ofered a red tail at 1ft but i have a 4 ft tank so i tink i will leave him for now...... be very carful buying a red tail thay can be very agressive but have also known them to live with tiger shovel nose an thay were both 2ft in a 6ft tank and very happy. cheers

seds · Post by **seds** » 27 Oct 2006, 04:22

I heard that in the wild they grow to be almost 9 feet... I almost bought one a while back, the little ones are adorable...

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:42

seds wrote:I heard that in the wild they grow to be almost 9 feet... I almost bought one a while back, the little ones are adorable...

I'm not sure if 9 feet is accurate - that would make it half again on the longest I've heard of (6 feet), but they are definitely pushing above 4 feet in nature. Chris Ralph (who writes about large catfish in the UK magazine Practical Fishkeeping) reports having seen one that was "4ft without the head" in this post:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?p=91239

--
Mats

Dorad · Post by **Dorad** » 27 Oct 2006, 17:41

Hi Mats,

I agree with you that 9 foot is rather large for a redtail, 6 foot is the reported size, and you just have to take my word that the body of the dead fish was 48" long. I have a picture of the fish under a table in the fish market in Iquitos but not sure how to add it as an image to the text!!

Regards

Chris

[/img]

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Oct 2006, 17:44

You can add the image if you have it on another web-site (see the FAQ and sticky post in the ID section for more details on how to post pictures).

--
Mats

MIKE · Post by **MIKE** » 05 Nov 2006, 18:27

MIKE wrote:im planing on geting a 200g tank for my red tail catfish(baby) can he live with a spotted gar(baby).idk if the gar will eat it or if the catfish will eat the gar?

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 06 Nov 2006, 00:37

red tail catfish

red tail catfish

Maybe someone can help

Sorry

Re: red tail catfish