Cat Fish

[heather]

does any 1 know witch catfish is the most frienlist to other fish i was looking at a red tailed 1 then a peruno catfish ,, any ideas ................

 

[RadaR]

Red tailed Catfish get massive! And so do Peruno.
Im thinking maybe a Banjo Catfish as they don't move much and like to bury themselves in the substrate. Little fry might be at risk though.

 

[heather]

i am wanting a large 1 as we will be having a very large aquarium built into our walls

 

[RadaR]

Oh right, cool! How big is it going to be?
Red Tails get to 40" and Perruno get to about 25".
I'd go with the Perunno. Theses guys grow so fast. They can quadruple in size in weeks. Tank mates have to be bigger to fend for themselves so im thinking large cichlids, large characins, Arawana, large loricarids. Anything that can fit in its mouth is food.

 

[andywg]

For an RTC you have to be prepared for a fish that can get past 5 feet in captivity (6+ feet in the wild).

Not an aquarium fish that is easy to house by any means.

All catfish will eat things that fit in their mouths, and most larger catfish have large mouths. RTC find out if something will fit in their mouth by trying. The peruno is far more housable, but as mentioned, tank mates need to be large, I would say at least 2/3 the size of the cat to be safe.

 

[bunjiweb]

Do you mean friendly towards other fish or friendly towards you?

If you mean friendly towards you then any large pim will become hand tame and friendly towards its owner over time.

If you mean friendly towards other fish then corys deffinately....

What size is the tank going to be.

Ben

 

[heather]

we are trying to measure up at the minute we are thinking maybe 8 to 10 foot in lengh and we are still deciding on width .. if it was left to me i would have floor to ceiling but i do have to compremise with my husband ,,

i know the red tails can grow huge but let me tell you what anoyed me the other week i went into our local garden centre they have a aquatic bit well they was selling a large re tailed catfish in there for 65 pound and he was cramed in a 2 ft tank i felt so sory for him if the tank in the wall was up and running i would of took him he has been there far too long stuck in a little 2 ft tank ,,,

 

[CFC]

Even a 8-10 foot long tank will not be big enough for the long term care of an adult redtailed catfish, read this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=116411 and you should get more of an understanding of the space required for a 4-5 foot long catfish, even if the RTC you obtained was stunted and only reached 3 feet you will still need a tank that is 12 feet long and 4 and a half feet wide so really you need to plan for a tank that is a MINIMUM of 16x6x6 feet and hope it doesnt grow larger than 4 feet long.

True perruno catfish are rarely (never) imported to Europe, the fish commonly seen sold as perruno catfish is actually Leiarius longibarbus (formerly known as marmoratus). L.longibarbus reaches a maximum of around 3 feet in length and is a lot easier to house than a RTC, they lead a fairly sedentry lifestyle only becoming active when food is available (unlike the RTC which will prowl its tank continually on the hunt for anything edible) so a 10x4x3 tank would be ample space. The smaller Liearius pictus which only reaches around 2 feet would be even better and only requires a 8x3x2 which is a much easier sized tank to accomidate.

 

[heather]

them red tailed catfish do grow huge ,,wow.....
how do people keep these then if they are neading tanks that big because many people surely dont have tanks that big . ive known some 1 that keeps 1 and hes in a 6 ft tank and he hasnt grown that huge and hes years old .. is it true that fish only grow to the size of there tank ?just a general qwestion as alot of people have said this to me before thats why my tanks seem to be getting larger and larger just so my fish have a good nice space to grow in ...

 

[Rocky32189]

Here's a pic of a 3.5 - 4 foot long redtail catfish at the New England Aquarium in Boston. The thing is an absolute monster and must be seen in person to be believed. Do you think you have the means to house this guy:

 

[bunjiweb]

That red-tail looks weird, almost like a hybrid, but its in very poor condition..

 

[heather]

awwwww look at him he looks so unhappy ,, he would be more happy living in my bath ,,

 

[liserini]

i know the red tails can grow huge but let me tell you what anoyed me the other week i went into our local garden centre they have a aquatic bit well they was selling a large re tailed catfish in there for 65 pound and he was cramed in a 2 ft tank i felt so sory for him if the tank in the wall was up and running i would of took him he has been there far too long stuck in a little 2 ft tank ,,,

I think I know the one you mean. Apparently he's gone now, my boyfriend was in there on Monday and he said there's a blue discus looking fish in it's tank instead.

 

[heather]

he was in a very top tank ,,

 

[liserini]

Oh yes, that's the one! I hope he went to a good home and didn't die. He was the same size as the tank