# Redtail Cat



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

My redtail was out and swimming today so i thought i'd snap some pics of him.
he's about 2-2.5" and he just ate so he's got a fat lil belly on him.
enjoy.
Front view
View attachment 62541


Top view, he has good camo!
View attachment 62544


swimmin
View attachment 62540


View attachment 62542


View attachment 62543


----------



## lophius (Mar 24, 2003)

Incredible - I have seen hundreds of redtails and never seen oen that has so much black as yours .. keep posting pics as it grows

carl


----------



## Phenek (Mar 22, 2005)

That is a wonderfull fish !









does this kind of fish must be kept alone or can it have "roomates" ?
How big this guy is going to be ?

I hope that this question have noy been answered anywehere else in the site ....

if son, I apologize


----------



## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

great red tail you got there


----------



## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Very nice RTC :nod: My old one started out that size as well and within a year it was a 27'' monster. Just be carefull not to overfeed it.

Good luck and hope to see some more pics in the future


----------



## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

They're so cute when young








It's really a shame they have to grow so damn big


----------



## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Judazzz said:


> It's really a shame they have to grow so damn big
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Or salers that don't tell how big they get, knowing they are going to be placed in a 50 gallon tank. Btw: this was off topic, sorry


----------



## remyo (Aug 26, 2004)

ah nice i love those cat fish


----------



## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

This is the most critical time in this fishes life.. Feed it as much as possible if you want a healthy, good colored, fish.


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Peacock said:


> This is the most critical time in this fishes life.. Feed it as much as possible if you want a healthy, good colored, fish.
> [snapback]1039097[/snapback]​


I do, i feed it alot of krill, and i often feed him out of my hand its pretty sweet.


----------



## Serygo (May 17, 2004)

Sweet lil guy!
Too bad they grow so damn fast, and get so big


----------



## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

Phenek said:


> That is a wonderfull fish !
> 
> 
> 
> ...










they get a few feet (massive) and they will eat anything that fit in there mouths

and mauls great looking rtc


----------



## King Oscar (Apr 5, 2005)

how come his tail isnt red??


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

King Piranha said:


> how come his tail isnt red??
> [snapback]1039492[/snapback]​


its a real light red right now, its hard to tell cause of the light, but its also cause he's a baby.

And yes, thast true they will eat anything that will fit in its mouth, thats why im going to put it in the pbass tank in several months so it cant hurt anything, im also thinking about adding 1 or 2 datnoids. (in the 300 gal, not the 125)


----------



## WorldBelow07 (Dec 16, 2004)

King Piranha said:


> how come his tail isnt red??
> [snapback]1039492[/snapback]​


juvie


----------



## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

Phenek said:


> That is a wonderfull fish !
> 
> 
> 
> ...


heres more info


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

MR.FREEZ said:


> Phenek said:
> 
> 
> > That is a wonderfull fish !
> ...


Nice info!, you can also keep fast fish with it, rtc's arent the fastest, but they can and will sneak up on fish, and GOBBLE!


----------



## smokinbubbles (Mar 25, 2005)

nice red tail man. i remember my freind had one awhile back and he put it in his pond casue it got to big for his 125. a couple days later he went to check on it and it was gone. he thins somehow it got in the creek.

J-Rod


----------



## lophius (Mar 24, 2003)

> a couple days later he went to check on it and it was gone. he thins somehow it got in the creek.


 .

Not good !!!!

My boy is now approaching 3ft (rapidly), I don't know about 'not quick' mines as fast as a marlin when he wants feeding (or the peacock bass has snatched the food before the redtail)









carl


----------



## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

Good stuff.
But like Judazzz said, too bad they grow into MONSTERS!


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Gordeez said:


> Good stuff.
> But like Judazzz said, too bad they grow into MONSTERS!
> 
> 
> ...


i feed him coffee to stunt his growth


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

my RTC has grown alot in the last 5 days, its strange for it to have such a growth spurt in this short amount of time. Its honesly grown an inch in a week, im still working on pics. But when i got home i noticed a huge buldge in his stomach, and it scared the hell out of me. Until i looked closer i noticed an orange tent on the inside of his stomach. Thats when i realized that he ate one of my african cichlid's. haha, the one he ate was a big ass fish, i seems strange how he could eat such a big fish, but then again he has a big ass mouth. Now he just has a huge buldge in his stomach, almost like he ate a golfball.

Here is a pic of the fish it ate.
View attachment 63280


Just thought i share, its rather funny to me.

mauls


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

View attachment 63646


View attachment 63647


He's almost doubled size in 2 weeks, he's insane. In that last pic, he's beside a 12"pleco. His head is getting wider every day, its SAWEET!


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

they are definatly little pigs









he's lookin good


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

lemmywinks said:


> they are definatly little pigs
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks man, he is nothing amazing like yours! he'll get there one day though


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

mauls said:


> lemmywinks said:
> 
> 
> > they are definatly little pigs :laugh:
> ...


I sold mine. sorta bummed out about that, but he was too big for the tank he was in









and yours will probly hit 12-14" within a matter of months. these guys grow like mad while they are young. He will probly be close to a foot long in 4-5 months (if that, depending on how much you feed him) so enjoy him as a baby while you can


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

lemmywinks said:


> mauls said:
> 
> 
> > lemmywinks said:
> ...


sweet man. since he will grow so big, i put him in a new tank, here are some pics.

View attachment 64374

View attachment 64375


----------



## thornton_851 (Jan 2, 2005)

nice rtc man, i wish i could get one and keep it for life but i guess hoplo cats are the only thing i can get for now i wanna get a tiger shovlenose cat but they get big 2 i was thinking about a lima shovlenose cat i heard they only get like 18".....


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Well Last post was jun 6th, here is an updated size, he's about 7-8" ALREADY!

View attachment 66830


View attachment 66831


These things grow so fast, i've never seen a fish grow this fast in a tank in my life.

i've only had this fish for 1 month now and its grown atleast 4-5" since i've bought it.

I bought it around 3" haha


----------



## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Looking good so far







In the beginning my RTC was dark, just like yours. After I have changed the black gravel in to sand the white stripe alongside his body had becomming much brighter. Also the tail was more red after I had changed the gravel. But this is just a matter of taste









And now just wait till it becomes a true tankbuster (and this will happen very soon)


----------



## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

mauls said:


> Well Last post was jun 6th, here is an updated size, he's about 7-8" ALREADY!
> 
> These things grow so fast, i've never seen a fish grow this fast in a tank in my life.
> 
> ...


wow they do grow fast then. make a pond for it


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

jan said:


> Looking good so far
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thanks man, ya i want him and dont want him to get biggerif you know what i mean? but in my new tank i will have play sand as the substrate so i figured he'd change some color


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

damn.... told ya he was gonna grow like a mother f*cker


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Well, heres some more updated pics

May 24th
View attachment 81126


And Oct 24th
Guessing with my eyes, its 11-12", (mouth about 3" wide) pic taken in the process of moving tanks, its in my 125g right now because it'd eat every last fish in my 180 gallon.
View attachment 81127


The way this thing is growing, i will need to start working on a new home for it. I was thinking about an indoor pond thingy. One of my friends has one and it looks real nice. Its about 3-4 ft deep, and about 8ft long and 4ft wide and its right up aginst there wall with brick work all around it. So this might be a pretty cool idea, but i gotta check out the funds for it,

Hehe.

ANyways enjoy this pics


----------



## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Wow...he has grown pretty fast and is still looking good by what I can tell. Are you keeping him or are you planning to sell it?


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

jan said:


> Wow...he has grown pretty fast and is still looking good by what I can tell. Are you keeping him or are you planning to sell it?


i dunno yet heh.. if somebody wants to buy it go ahead.

But if not i want to build that indoor pond thingy, i think that would be pretty cool


----------



## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

nice RTC, Don't you wish they stayed less than a foot long


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

traumatic said:


> nice RTC, Don't you wish they stayed less than a foot long


hehe yup, maybe 2ft max i could handle that


----------



## SregoR (Aug 7, 2005)

I love those, but too f*cking bad they get so damn big.


----------



## jason k (Oct 6, 2005)

give him 4 months and he will look like this
a 13 inch eating machine


----------



## Serygo (May 17, 2004)

Someone needs to like crossbreeed a RTC with a catfish that gets 2ft at the max... or something like that...
Keep the look of the RTC, but get the size of another fish...


----------



## psychofish (Jun 5, 2004)




----------



## JorgeRemigio (Mar 31, 2005)




----------



## spec-v (Feb 27, 2005)

awsome redtail :nod:


----------



## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Serygo said:


> Someone needs to like crossbreeed a RTC with a catfish that gets 2ft at the max... or something like that...
> Keep the look of the RTC, but get the size of another fish...


that has been done somewhat.

many of the 'pictus' cat genus have been cross bred with others of the same genus, hasnt worked out the exact way you describe it, but close as genetics will allow


----------



## Ries (Mar 20, 2004)

i love that fish. they are beautiful. but they are growing so fast


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Ries said:


> i love that fish. they are beautiful. but they are growing so fast


yes they are


----------



## dc2rtek (Oct 27, 2005)

real nice, arnt the red tails expensive?


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

dc2rtek said:


> real nice, arnt the red tails expensive?


mine was only $11 when it was a little guy


----------



## lewis (Sep 13, 2005)

Glad to see him doin well.


----------



## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

Well its about 20 days later.... Sorry to keep this thread active heh, but this freakin thing is on ROIDS man.

Its prolly grown another 2 inches and is really alot of muscle to it.

View attachment 83690


View attachment 83691


----------



## TRomP (Oct 20, 2003)

Nice maaaan, really nice. Hope you'll get a big enough place for him to stay so you can take care of him more !


----------



## The Predator (Sep 28, 2005)

very nice red tails.


----------



## NIKE (Jan 27, 2003)

great look'n furture monster mauls


----------

