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Encyclopedia / Catfish & Plecos / Red tail catfish
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Variations

1 kinds · tap one for a closer look

Red tail catfish

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus · Redtail catfish, Rtc, Red tail

Swallows tankmates whole; needs a pond-sized aquarium.

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130 cmAdult size ✓
21–26 °CTemperature ✓
6–7.5pH ✓
10368 LSmallest tank ✓
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Tank mates
Check your own mix →
Not recommended
  • Red tail catfish eats animals up to about 40 cm. Neon tetra only grows to 2.5 cm.
Not recommended
  • Red tail catfish eats animals up to about 40 cm. Cardinal tetra only grows to 3 cm.
Not recommended
  • Red tail catfish eats animals up to about 40 cm. Black neon tetra only grows to 3.2 cm.
With conditions
  • Only a narrow temperature range suits both: 21–22 °C.
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible

43 species in our list are a good match.

Facts checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026. ✓ means a source backs it; ? means no reliable source yet. See sources

Care and water

Hardness ✓2–12 dGH
Group size ✓Can live alone
Temperament ✓Semi-aggressive
Swims at ✓Bottom
Care level ✓Hard
Diet Carnivore
Lifespan ?Unknown
Size in shops 5–10 cm
Growth Very fast

Behavior

Swallows tankmates whole; needs a pond-sized aquarium.

Not for home aquariums. This fish grows far too big for any home tank. It needs a pond-sized system of thousands of litres, so please don't buy one as a baby.

Good to know: Grows to over 1 metre. Very few home aquariums can house an adult; public aquariums rarely accept unwanted ones.

Food

Sinking carnivore pellets, fish fillets, prawns.

Tap a food to see what it is.

Male or female

MaleNot visible
FemaleNot visible
TipCannot be sexed by sight
How hard to tellHard

Health

Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.

Breeding

Rarely bred in captivity ·

Not thought to have been bred in the hobby. Fish in the trade are wild-caught or farm-produced; farms in the Far East also produce red-tail x shovelnose hybrids for food.

Pairing

Adults need huge ponds. Farms use big groups and hormones.

Setup

Large outdoor ponds of thousands of litres. Not suited to a home tank.

What starts it

Hormone injection on farms; natural spawning with the wet season in the wild.

Eggs

Very many eggs per spawn on farms. Hatch in about 2-3 days.

Raising the fry

Larvae eat live food at first, then chopped fish and pellets. Fry can be cannibalistic.

Common mistakes
  • Buying one with no space for 1 m+ adult size
  • Mixing sizes that lead to cannibalism
  • Trying to breed without a pond
Full breeding guide, day-by-day plan and simulator →

Where it lives in the wild

RegionAmazon and Orinoco basins – Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia
Rivers and lakesAmazon and Orinoco rivers
HabitatLarge rivers and flooded forest
Native rangeAbout 2,000 km across
See it on the world map

The story of the red tail catfish

A giant Amazon and Orinoco catfish: the largest recorded specimen was 134 cm and over 40 kg (FishBase maximum published weight 44.2 kg). Cheap juveniles are often dumped, and introduced fish have been found in the USA (FishBase: introduced but not established in Florida).

Marcus Bloch and Johann Schneider described the redtail catfish in 1801. Small juveniles are often sold cheaply, but they grow very fast and can exceed 1 m. Public aquariums are frequently offered unwanted adults, so it suits only very large setups.

First described by Marcus E. Bloch & Johann G. Schneider in 1801.

  • It can grow longer than 1 m.
  • It is the only living species in its genus.
  • It will swallow almost anything that fits in its mouth.

Sources

15 facts checked with sources