# What to feed a redtail shovelnose catfish?



## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

hey people do these catfish eat feeder guppies , tubifex worms (live), and dried shrimp??


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## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

When they're very young, yes. It will quickly need larger foods, though, as it can reach about a foot and a half in the first year, and end up at 6'+ as an adult. You will have to scale up the food as it grows. What size tank do you have?


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## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

DarwinAhoy said:


> When they're very young, yes. It will quickly need larger foods, though, as it can reach about a foot and a half in the first year, and end up at 6'+ as an adult. You will have to scale up the food as it grows. What size tank do you have?


Hes currently in 20 gallons (for now) , yea and ill setup the 100 gallons when i come home on saturday ( ill be away on sunday), and returning on saturday so yea , Will he eat those stuff above i wrote?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

actually darwin did answer your question...you have about a year before you will need to start setting up a new home for it...something in the range of 1500-2000 gallons...
personally i don't like the cross breeds..they don't do it in nature..like i always say..
" it's like crossing a human with a warthog "....how would you like to have one of those hittin on you....lol


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## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

lohachata said:


> actually darwin did answer your question...you have about a year before you will need to start setting up a new home for it...something in the range of 1500-2000 gallons...
> personally i don't like the cross breeds..they don't do it in nature..like i always say..
> " it's like crossing a human with a warthog "....how would you like to have one of those hittin on you....lol


I know the guy who asked me to trade a red eared slider for a "redtail"catfish, and yeah when i saw it , i told him it wasnt a red tail catfish was a redtail shovelnose , so yeah i dont have a choice but to keep him , and gave him in a 20 gal atm he is 3-4 inches only , when i come back ill transfer him two a 100 gal tank.... Yea and he ate a feeder swordtail which i placed ... I have to keep him alive!! are gravels ok for them? (sand)


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

purina catfish chow?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

maybe i should start selling some of the larger sized foods for the folks that keep bigger fish...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I had a bag of trout chow once. Fed it to big cicchlids. Put in coffee cans in the freezer, sold it in fish club auctions, fed the bluegills in the lake on nightly walks and it still lasted for years. 

You'll go broke feeding a growing-machine like that feeders, you've got to get in on something cheap. There was big cichlid keeper in my club that fed an expensive HQ dog pellet to his fish. The ingredients were pretty similar to fish food.


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## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

He will quickly accept krill, which you may be able to source cheaply. As it gets larger, get on the good side of a local market, and get good deals on seafood close to the expiration date, then buy it and freeze. Freshwater source fish are preferable to saltwater ones, if you can swing it, and whole fish are best.


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## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

He still havent ate the feeder guppy , tubifex worms ..... I tried giving him dried freshwater shrimps but it keeps floating , What should i do to sink the dried freshwater shrimps?? do they accept floating shrimps , if not how to sink it...
I gave him live ghost shrimp still no chance of eating -.- , whats wrong im worried cause ill be away tomorrow till saturday!!! And our caretaker can feed it ... Why wont he eat!! is he still adapting?
Here's a pic of him:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8685152578/in/photostream


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

2 days of going hungry won't kill him. don't have anyone feed him who can't stick around to remove uneaten food. Just let him go hungry, maybe he'll be less picky when you return. Ask the previous owner what he ate.


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## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

emc7 said:


> 2 days of going hungry won't kill him. don't have anyone feed him who can't stick around to remove uneaten food. Just let him go hungry, maybe he'll be less picky when you return. Ask the previous owner what he ate.


Its brand new and he dont also know what it previously ate cause it was newly delivered :/ btw ill be away for 5 days


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## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

It can likely go a couple weeks without food. Frozen krill is usually accepted better than the freeze dried stuff.


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## jeromeetabuzo (Nov 1, 2012)

DarwinAhoy said:


> It can likely go a couple weeks without food. Frozen krill is usually accepted better than the freeze dried stuff.


oh ok ill try it


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