Mary Allen
This fish got its name because its tail fin secretes a red secretion that turns your hands red when you touch the fish.
Characteristics
What does a redfin catfish look like?
Redfin catfish belong to the Pimelodidae family of catfish. They are large powerful fish and can grow to over a meter in length. The largest specimen ever caught was 134 centimeters long and weighed 44 kilograms.
The three pairs of long appendages on the mouth, the so-called barbels, are typical. These are fairly long and forward-facing. They, therefore, look a bit like antennae – hence the name of this fish family. With these barbels, the fish can feel and taste. The body of the redfin catfish is not flattened at the sides like much other fish, but rather broad. Your stomach is flat.
The mouth is inferior. That is, it is not in the center front, but at the bottom front of the head. This is a typical feature of fish that mainly live on the bottom of the water. Redfin catfish are colored dark brown on the back. The belly is light beige. Another typical feature is the reddish caudal fin, which releases a red secretion when touched. Males and females can hardly be distinguished from each other.
Where do redfin catfish live?
Redfin catfish are at home in South America. You can find them in the big rivers like the Amazon, the Orinoco, or the Paraná. Redfin catfish live exclusively in large freshwater rivers and their tributaries. There they stay mainly in the lower water layer and on the bottom of the water body.
What types are there?
Only the redfin catfish belongs to the genus Phractocephalus. The thread catfish, bumblebee catfish, and spatula catfish also belong to the family of antennae catfish. They are all also at home in South America.
How old are the fish?
Because redfin catfish have not been researched that well, it is not yet known exactly how old they can get.
Behave
How do redfin catfish live?
Redfin catfish are real predatory fish. Therefore, in large zoo aquariums, they cannot be kept with small fish, but only with other large fish.
Redfin catfish are loners. They are mainly active at night. Then they come out of their hiding places and the deep water and swim towards the shallower shore regions. There they hunt for sleeping fish. Every year, when other fish migrate to their spawning grounds in large swarms at the beginning of the rainy season, it is a festival time for the catfish: They move with the schools of fish and make rich booty.
However, the older redfin catfish get, the more sluggish and lazy they become. Most of the time they just quietly lurk in their hiding places for prey. Although they are true predators in the wild, captive redfin catfish can become very tame. They even eat out of the hands of their carers.
Once they have become trusting, you can keep them in the tank with other large fish because they are less aggressive then. When threatened, the redfin catfish emit a red secretion via the caudal fin. Although this secretion is not poisonous, it confuses the pursuer because it turns them red. However, it is known that other catfish secrete secretions that are even poisonous.
Friends and foes of redfin catfish
Apart from humans, adult redfin catfish hardly have any enemies. In some regions of South America, however, fishermen like to catch, sell and even export the fish. However, sometimes the flesh of the fish is considered poisonous. In addition, redfin catfish are increasingly being sold to aquarium enthusiasts: however, many of the animals are often weak and sick after the long journey.
How do redfin catfish breed?
After redfin catfish have moved to their spawning grounds with their prey, they are so full that the females can develop copious amounts of eggs – called spawn – and the male’s copious sperm – called milk.
They then spawn and after some time the young hatch, which is predatory from the start. They find plenty of food among the juveniles of the prey fish.
Care
What do redfin catfish eat?
Redfin catfish feed on everything that swims in front of their voracious mouth: This includes above all fish, worms, and crustaceans. When ripe fruits and large seeds from palm trees fall into the water, they eat them too. In captivity, the animals are usually fed fish. But they must not be overfed. Depending on the size of the catfish, half a trout per week is sufficient. They also get ready-made food tablets as vegetable food.
Keeping redfin catfish
Since redfin catfish grow very large, they cannot be kept in normal aquariums. They require a very large tank, such as those found in zoos or show aquariums. There they have enough space to swim around. They also need large burrows to hide in.
Since the fish come from rivers with very soft, lime-free, and slightly acidic water, it is important to ensure that the water in the tank is of the same quality. The tank must be stocked with large, vigorous aquatic plants. Smaller plants dig up the fish. The water temperature must be between 20 and 26 °C.
This is how you care for redfin catfish
Because the large redfin catfish shed a lot of feces, half to two-thirds of the water in the tank has to be changed every two weeks.