Channels get close to the size of both the fish I mentioned also rasing one of them is an investment since any lfs will trade alot of credit for either any good sized exotic cat the last red tail I raised to 15"+ got me 150.00 store credit much better than a channel will ever do. Also they will live w/ africans no problem either of the fish I mentioned is very hardy and can live in almost any tank in my experences having keept them w/ africans & Americans. Not that my method is better than your just works better for me.