Redtail catfish

[Jonathan Greer]

Got it from my local fish store its around 15 inches but right gill is curled will it be ok to leave or should i have it trimmed as i have seen on line

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Im pretty sure a redtail catfish is a fresh water fish from the amazon and will end up becoming huge. They easily get over four feet long...

Not to mention, they are fresh water!

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I would attempt to post this on a freshwater forum suck as monster fish keepers. Although this reef forum has a ton of aquarium knowledge we specialize in well... reefs!

 

[Acroporaaddict]

Like others have said, wrong forum. I hope you have an enormous tank. I had a redtail in a 15' x 20' pond. He went from 2" to over 3 feet in a year and a half. Ate all my other fish and got very very expensive to feed after that. Ended up giving him to a friend who had a much bigger pond.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I would attempt to post this on a freshwater forum suck as monster fish keepers. Although this reef forum has a ton of aquarium knowledge we specialize in well... reefs!

Speak for yourself, I'm with Authorities on all things whiskered... Planetcatfish;Hilarious

Mind you I can't argue with this being in the wrong Forum. Check out planetcatfish.com for the best advice but during my time there I have seen cats of all kinds make incredible recoveries including some RTC's with curled gill plates. It may never completely straighten out but if you stay on top of your water quality the severity of the bend should get better. Can't say I've heard of such a surgery being performed on a cat for this reason but I don't really work massive pims, largest member of their family I have are my 2-3 inch microglanis iheringi (but they still ate all my fish)

 

[Sea&summit]

I personally wouldn't cut it I think your just hiding the symptom of your problem. I would test the water and do a water change but from what I gather from a little research is its probably stress related. As everyone else has said red tailed cats get HUGE. What size tank is it in? You could also try a river tank manifold I lost a hill stream loach because of not enough flow red tails are a river fish not a lake dweller

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I personally wouldn't cut it I think your just hiding the symptom of your problem. I would test the water and do a water change but from what I gather from a little research is its probably stress related. As everyone else has said red tailed cats get HUGE. What size tank is it in? You could also try a river tank manifold I lost a hill stream loach because of not enough flow red tails are a river fish not a lake dweller

Hillstream loaches are just that- they tend to come from higher elevations with small clear rivers that typically have fairly high flow and fairly pristine cool water.

Red tailed cats although also from rivers are typically at much lower elevations, warmer climates, much larger rivers and much less pristine water quality especially during the intense dry seasons in their native lands. they're range is pretty impressive and can be found in wide variety of habitats including some areas of higher flow but far from exclusively. they can be found in very slow moving water, fairly turbulent conditions and nearly stagnant water pools during the dry season, something hillstream loaches could never thrive in. In fact I guarantee there are red tailed cats thriving in lakes that they were introduced to accidentally and intentionally. These fish are apex predators and tough as nails capable of thriving in a wide variety of parameters and large changes in them. Although a red tailed cat would most likely still thrive in a strong laminar flow set up it is both not entirely true to what they live in and extremely hard to pull that off on a scale that could accommodate on of these behemoths. I'd focus on the intensity of the filtration much more than the turnover of the actual tank itself. The most longterm success I've seen with these fish is fairly sluggish tributary set ups with tank mates much to large to fit in their mouths (Sadly not many candidates;Hilarious).

Also I believe the OP has recently acquired this fish so the chances of it being caused by him are fairly slim if thats the case, mind you he's the one that may be able to correct it, hopefully without surgery.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

Speak for yourself, I'm with Authorities on all things whiskered... Planetcatfish;Hilarious
)

Hey I’m on MFK I would have a giant fresh soley focused on a tigrinus if I could. Just guiding op to correct forums without sounding rude.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

Hey I’m on MFK I would have a giant fresh soley focused on a tigrinus if I could. Just guiding op to correct forums without sounding rude.

Apologies if I came off as rude to you or the OP, I was just trying to make fun of myself and how dorky I am about catfish not trying to insinuate one forum is better than the other or anything like that although after reading my first post I could certainly see how it may come across that way. I just wanted to suggest a different forum other than the one you mentioned in a proud to be a catfish nerd way. I believe both forums are worth checking out in the case of a red tailed catfish health query but only have experience with planet catfish.

I'm right there with you about the tigrinus, my dream tank would be a few thousand gallons with a handful of Pseudoplatystoma!

 

[Jonathan Greer]

All good lol