I went to a local fish store and was looking for (an) aggressive fish(es). I picked up a freshwater barracuda (i believe its called a dog tetra) ... he's a mean looking mother. I set up a 20 gallon tank for him, and was wondering if anyone knew anything about him. I picked up a bunch of rosy feeder fish and was told to feed him two a day. any feedback on this advice or more advice is appreciated.

mat

I do hope you're prepared to look after such a challenging fish - and that you will be setting up a much larger tank in future. Have a read of this article is you want to know what I mean.

That artical is written about a totally different fish but none the less the dog characin AKA FW baracuda ( Acestrorynchus falcirostris) is still a difficult fish to keep. I have kept one for a short while but had to return it when my mrs realised that it would be difficult if not impossible to wean the fish off live feeder fish and threatened it was either her or the fish .

Feeding 2 feeders a day is not good advice!!! Piscavors should only be fed a large meal twice a week at most as they will need time to digest a meal of 2 or 3 small fish, also they produce a lot more waste than than "normal" fish and even a large filter would struggle to cope with that much waste. If disturbed after feeding large piscavors may regurgitate their meal and stomach acids can wipe out colonies of bacteria in the filter and substrate.

I hope you know what you have let yourself in for? This fish will grow large (16"+) and will need a large tank (100gallons minimum), they are highly aggressive and will not hesitate to bite the hand of the owner, only heavily armoured catfish like doradids and plecos will survive as tank mates and even they will be at risk if the dog characin can get underneath them where their soft bellies are.

Other than that NICE FIND!!!! I have been looking for another for a long time but have been unable to find one (i now have the mrs trained to be more understanding about the eating habits of some of the fish i keep )

thanks for the advice. in May i am going to get a 120 gallon and let this guy grow. this fish is awesome

o well great job mat Conjrats on the Great find

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