can you get red tail catfish x shovel nose catfish

[woodie]

we have i catfish what we got from a local fish shop that got sent back when i ate the rest of his tank mates

now he looks like a red tail except he has spots and a very square nose, he's very lively eats like a pig.

now someone said maybe he's a RTC x TSN now tiger shovel nose catfish have stripes he dosnt he has spots he's about 6 inches at mo and still growing quickly

any ideas

just sent some pics to my computer will put them up whaen there arrive

 

[CFC]

There are hybrids of RTC/TSN in the hobby, they were originally bred as a fast groing food fish in poorer countries but a few have made it to wholesalers and ornamental fish supliers.

 

[woodie]

hi i've got some pic sorted out what do you think he's grown since theses were taken and has been moved to a larger tank!

first pic

close up of his head

one of his belly

Clare

 

[bunjiweb]

Looks much the same as the only other RTC/TSN hybrid ive ever seen... hope you enjoy your massive predatory catfish! He will need a BIG tank, ideally 6x 2ft minimum.

Ben

 

[andywg]

6X2 is nowhere near ideal. It is far from uncommon for a hybrid to outgrow both parents which means you should be planning for a fish that will easily hit the 4 foot mark. 10X6 would be a minimum for an adult, and that would need relatively huge filtration.

 

[woodie]

i have a heated 8 foot x 4 foot pond for him to go in with my RTC , what is located in a poly tunnel, so i have enough space for him just wondered what he was as i have never seen rtc x tsn over here before

the pond is on a koi filter called a kockney what is big enough to filter my koi pond with fish well over 3 foot in it


Clare

 

[bunjiweb]

4 foot? I have never heard of them getting this big but im not too sure tbh..

I was just going on minimum tank specs for RTC/TSN.

It will go very well in your heated pond, i just hope your heating is up to the job

Ben

 

[andywg]

4 foot? I have never heard of them getting this big but im not too sure tbh..

I was just going on minimum tank specs for RTC/TSN.

So was I.

RTC is a minimum of 3 foot often hitting 4 (well past 5 in the wild) and TSN frequently pass 4 feet (again way past 5 in the wild) when fully grown. No-one is really sure on the adult size of the hybrid but it would not be outrageous to plan for a fish that will outgrow it's parents.

That pond sounds a good size (far better than what most end up with). What are you doing for filtration?

 

[woodie]

the filter will be a kokney 5 bay filter with sponges brushes and alfa grog and K1, wich keeps the water in top notch condition, we have the same filter on our Koi pond what is 3m x 5m what is heated using a heat exchanger what is hooked up to our central heating, controlled by a digi stat.

i think this should cope with RTC and RTCx

Clare

 

[andywg]

Hmm, not sure if I'd be overly happy about an RTC and a hybrid going in a pond of just 1,000 gallons. They may end up a bit cramped in something that size.

I'm not familiar with that filter but I assume it has a capacity of at least 200 gallons or so and as such would do fine.

(At this point Andy's interest in setting up his giant catfish pond is rekindled again. Once he moves there will be a grand project...oh yes B) )

 

[woodie]

the tank holds 300 gallons thats 1335lts thought this would be plenty big fo a start the filter system can handle 4000 gallons (17800 lts )

would have 3kw heater on it what can do 3000 gallons (13350lts)

Clare