I have a small RTC and would like to build him a permenant home for when he gets big and wanted to knew if a indoor pond 8'x3'x30" would be big enough or what do you all sugest.
Thanks
Thanks
RTC housing
- Thread starter magdrive
- Start date
Much bigger. Much much bigger.
Assume that it will get at least 5 feet in length, so your tank will need to be that wide at minimum, and twice as long. Thats the bare minimum in my mind. So really you're looking at more like 1200 gallons.
Assume that it will get at least 5 feet in length, so your tank will need to be that wide at minimum, and twice as long. Thats the bare minimum in my mind. So really you're looking at more like 1200 gallons.
This sounds pretty good. I always feel the width of the tank should be the length of the largest fish.Thalan;3728716; said:
Your measurements come out to 450g - I believe this would hold the fish for quite some time, but most likely not for life. Go as big as you can now to save yourself from the headache later.
These cats are big, active bulldozers. They don't turn well, and easily get to 3' with a 2-3 years. I moved my big cats (tiger shovelnose, red tailed cat x tiger shovelnose, etc.) into my 600 gallon tank that is 8'x4'x30" about a month and a half ago. They are 25+ inches, are 18 months old. They are still growing like crazy, and I am hoping this tank holds them for another year or so, but I'm not sure. Then, they will need to go into something that's a minimum of 12'x8'x3.5'. These are super active fish that are beefy, so turning sharply is hard for them.
I would increase the size to attain at least 1,000 gallons, and double the width, at the very least. It's not all about swimming room. You have to provide ample volume to dilute the fish's waste. Otherwise, you're going to be doing daily water changes in order to keep Nitrate at acceptable levels and keep him healthy. These fish eat a lot, and mine, even at his size (he's just over two feet) eats plenty every three days, and is always looking for more.
There's a lot of waste to manage, and the only way to do that is with a large volume of water, frequent water changes, and massive filtration with a high rate of flow. This is all relative to water quality, which is the number one factor in fish health.
There's a lot of waste to manage, and the only way to do that is with a large volume of water, frequent water changes, and massive filtration with a high rate of flow. This is all relative to water quality, which is the number one factor in fish health.
What she said x's 2. ^^^ I failed to mention that I have above ground pool filtration and 3600 gph turn over on my 600 gallon tank along with 100 gallon sump filled with filter socks and filter pads. I can't bear the 250+ gallon water changes every 2 weeks, so I'm working on putting together a planted refugium (carefully managed mini ecosystem) to go on this and hope to bring the changes down to about 100 gallons every two weeks. Not that I don't enjoy it though.justonemoretank;3730683; said:
Thalan;3728716; said:
A RTC will NEVER reach 5' in a home built pond regardless of its size ,but going a little wider than 3' would be good. Large RTC's are not very active and dont need as much room as people think. Good filtration and water quality are the most important. 8'x4'x30" would be good FOREVER.
jmo......
bob
My RTC is just over two feet, and he's very active. He uses every inch of the space that he has, and often swims midlevel in the pond. However, my Nitrate is always under 20, and there is a 1200 gallon per hour flow that creates a waterfall, so the pond is very adequately aerated. Fish really shine when they are kept in the best conditions that you can provide. This is what we should be striving for -- it's more rewarding for the fishkeeper, and better for the fish.
I agree that five feet is a stretch as far as max. size in captivity goes.
Water quality is directly related to volume. The dimensions of 8ftx4ftx30in only comes out to six hundred gallons, and that is less than I would consider adequate for a fish with such a large bioload. Also, there is the issue that most folks are going to want more than one fish in the tank/pond, and a few hundred extra gallons allows for a tank mate or two.
I agree that five feet is a stretch as far as max. size in captivity goes.
Water quality is directly related to volume. The dimensions of 8ftx4ftx30in only comes out to six hundred gallons, and that is less than I would consider adequate for a fish with such a large bioload. Also, there is the issue that most folks are going to want more than one fish in the tank/pond, and a few hundred extra gallons allows for a tank mate or two.
triple your length and width dimensions and thatd be an appropriate size. maybe deeper too if u canmagdrive;3727867; said:
