Fish closely related or similar to RTC?

[thebiggerthebetter]

I would agree with you to some extant. Short bodies are horrible but I read that they do happen naturally in very rare cases. Obviously, this doesn't mean we should go around forcing animals to form short bodies. However, I'd like to know, what is your opinion on albino/leucistic fish?


That's an interesting fish. I'm reading that the max length is 2 feet 3 inches. Seems kind of short, wonder how true that is.

The problem is obvious - the basic economic principle - once there is a demand for something, it will generate an offer to satisfy it (and the play between the demand and offer will determine the price).

IMHO, Moe hit the nail on the head. There is de facto a demand for mutant pets and it has effected (brought about, made happen) the offer. Mutations do not occur one at a time but in bunches. This is well known. People whose principal goal is to satisfy the color mutant demand at the same time produce mutants of all other kinds through their inbreeding, line-breeding, and genetic "engineering", which sounds progressive, smart, and even noble but in fact gives birth to a hundred or a million of obviously-suffering animals for each non-obviously-suffering marketable animal.

But with the demand for disfigured animals, the marketing of these would add to the profitability of the color morph producers and more entrepreneurs will jump on the wagon and more of this kind of businesses will spring up.

Abomination marches on and snowballs and soon is accepted as the new norm by more and more people, by new generations and soon humankind forgets what's right and what's wrong. When your cute teenage granddaughter develops a taste for keeping hunchback and crooked-lip koi or ultra-long-fin plecostomus catfish that cannot swim but only wobble, it will have been too late...

Ask any albino human - do they suffer from albinism? UV light alone causes them pain. We don't need to mention people crippled in other ways. Animal suffering is not as refined as human because they are cruder creatures but qualitatively they are the same phenomenon.

AFAIK, and it is not far, but color mutants do suffer from other mutations of internal organs and what not. They are usually sickly, less hardy than their normal colored kin, and their observed lifespan is on average 5x-10x shorter, which doesn't occur for no reason.

$0.02

As for the wyckii, it is a MUCH more manageable fish than an RTC or jau and indeed most don't exceed 2' by much albeit I have heard (only heard) of 2.5'.

 

[coolcomfort]

The problem is obvious - the basic economic principle - once there is a demand for something, it will generate an offer to satisfy it (and the play between the demand and offer will determine the price).

I do think so as well. I'm not sure around you, but where I am I haven't seen a single short body for sell. I assumed they only did that in third world countries.

As for the wyckii, it is a MUCH more manageable fish than an RTC or jau and indeed most don't exceed 2' by much albeit I have heard (only heard) of 2.5'.

The Wyckii looks sweet but I read it is aggressive. Does this mean it doesn't go well with other tank mates?

 

[moe214]

I do think so as well. I'm not sure around you, but where I am I haven't seen a single short body for sell. I assumed they only did that in third world countries.




The Wyckii looks sweet but I read it is aggressive. Does this mean it doesn't go well with other tank mates?

Wyckii is territorial indeed. Take a look at justarn reports on it he had videos of his which grew to around 19" in a community. I tried it as well, my wyckii was more so only territorial over its hide rather than the area. It kept starting fights with a slightly larger wolf. Mine only lasted a few months grew from 9-10" to 13-14" TL I believe, then I almost lost my fish after doing a waterchange. The wyckii didn't make it.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I do think so as well. I'm not sure around you, but where I am I haven't seen a single short body for sell. I assumed they only did that in third world countries.

The Wyckii looks sweet but I read it is aggressive. Does this mean it doesn't go well with other tank mates?

I wish people were more forthcoming with specifying their location on the world map in their stats to eliminate easily avoidable guesswork ... but it's a free forum.

I agree - the marketing of the SB fish is a specialty niche for now, thank goodness, but one can see these deformed fish on the fish lists of online USA vendors rather regularly. This means there is a regular demand. I just shudder and convulse when I think it can start gaining more momentum. Just a decade or two ago, there apparently was nothing of this kind offered. So there is some dynamics to this process.

My very vague impression is that the principal driver for the color mutant production is Asia Pacific region and the richer Japan in particular, which is no third world country. It is likely these regions too have a tendency to demand disfigured fish.

Again, I know some proponents of this issue and some I sincerely consider good friends and I am not trying to change anybody. I am only openly speaking my mind on an open forum and staying with the Terms and Conditions. Anyone is welcome to openly disagree and voice their opinion or point out holes in my thoughts or my ignorance. I love to learn, especially in a constructive environment. Without the name calling and in a friendly atmosphere.

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Wyckii is a valid contender for the world's most aggressive freshwater fish or just fish. Territorially (not speaking of predation, hierarchy, or breeding / parental care). It doesn't tolerate any fish in its quarters. If someone is able to co-hab a wyckii, it is when they are young and for a short while in a large tank where the tank mates have a chance to distance themselves from the aesthetically-pleasing horror, like in the Justarn's 2-3 year-long experiment in a 300 gal.

In 3000 gal, one might be more successful. On paper. Anyone knows a fact or two? Can't speak for the wyckii. I've only had its equally terrorizing cousine ARTC in a 4500 gal for a couple of years now and it's been fine so far. Currently at 2.5'. When it was in 240 gal at 12"-16", it had to be housed alone.

 

[moe214]

Arapaimag said in his big tank, the wyckii kept to itself and just picked off the smaller fish as food. But he also said he wouldn't see it for months at a time.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Arapaimag said in his big tank, the wyckii kept to itself and just picked off the smaller fish as food. But he also said he wouldn't see it for months at a time.

Good to know. It sounds more or less consistent with what I see with our ARTC. Arapaimag's tank was not viewer friendly when it came to the bottom dwellers as only top 5' out of the total 9' were glassed. I wonder what happened to him. He went completely off the grid here.

 

[coolcomfort]

Any other catfish similar to RTC? Looking for smaller or bigger.

 

[blackbullhead]

When you say "similar" do you mean in terms of shape or color? Or both? There are over 4000 species of catfish, so it helps to narrow it down...

 

[coolcomfort]

When you say "similar" do you mean in terms of shape or color? Or both? There are over 4000 species of catfish, so it helps to narrow it down...

Shape mainly. I like interesting colored catfish but there's not many like the RTC. So now i'm looking more at shape and characteristics.

 

[blackbullhead]

American bullheads are similarly shaped, although they aren't too common outside of the US.
Most members of the family Pseudopimelodidae have that general shape as well, and some have some pretty cool (albeit less flashy) color patterns.
Aguarunichthys (bolt catfish) and Brachyplatystoma juruense are in the same family as the RTC and have some similar characteristics as well, though both are a bit sleeker...