PlanetCatfish.com

bought my redtail as a cute kitten, (6cms long) about 6months ago and he's been very happy since. He's about 15cms long now - and yes he is in a big tank and hopefully will grow huge! everythings ticking along just right, but wondered if any of you have detailed info on redtails as very hard to find books and specialist info on these beautiful cats
am anticipating some hassles as first 6 months have been bliss, so any complications to look out for or dietry info would be much apprechiated. his main diet at the mo is lance fish, and the odd mussels now and then, which he loves but doesnt like grapes at all - but likes being hand fed whenever poss!
look forward to reading any wise wisdom to enhance my catfishes happy existence

cowpuss wrote:am anticipating some hassles as first 6 months have been bliss, so any complications to look out for or dietry info would be much appreciated. his main diet at the mo is lance fish, and the odd mussels now and then, which he loves but doesnt like grapes at all - but likes being hand fed whenever poss!

One of the biggest problems for the private aquarist is maintenance time once the animal is large. Unless you can rig up a ball valve or similar, to do weekly 25%+ water changes on a 1000 gallon+ aquarium takes a long time at domestic water pressure. If you have a fish market locally, one of the best additions to the diet would be white fish trims (sold as 'cat pieces'). Avoid sprats, herring, mackerel etc., these are too oily. Avoid farmed Salmon and Trout, these are just plain nasty.
You can buy frozen Cockles and Greenlip Mussels quite cheaply, and most supermarkets will have small squid on their fish counter. Just roughly clean them as if you were going to cook them for yourself, then feed away. Shell-on Prawns are a really good food, and there is a smaller Prawn sp. sold as 'Pink Shrimp' that is even better in my view.

coelacanth, thankyou so much for your reply, cowpuss (his name) is going to just love his next meal!