hey guys

i was woundering about maybe keeping a couple of these fish together in my 2ftx1ftx1ft tank, having looked at a few online profiles, some suggest i can get away with it but others do not? is it possable?

even if not i do also have an empty 12ol tank they could go in, how much do they actually dig and disturbe the susbtrate?

would they be ok, with wood docrating the tank and making the caves rather then rocks and would they eat the plants that might be in there?

OTP

How many gallons is that? According to this site you need 45 gallons:

www.riftlakes.com

Maybe if you get one pair and keep them in a tank just for them it could work. As far as I know they don't eat plants but they do dig so it could be difficult keeping them in a planted tank. They also want hard water (pH above 8 ) so you would be limited in plant selection.

Their natural habitat is sand and rocks.

The best way to do these fish justice is to keep a small colony in a 45/50 gallon tank so you can observe all their cool behavior. They are VERY protective of their fry (thats why it's difficult to keep them with other fish) and the older fry will help protect the young smaller fry.

*edit* Just had to post this pic i found *edit*



This post has been edited by Snowie: Dec 22 2005, 03:35 PM

From what i have read on many sites they need a min of 15 gal. for about 4. That would give you a good chance for them to pair up and take the extras out. They will need about 1.5 in. of sand in the tank and lots of shells to choose from. I wouldent use plants or wood because wood makes the ph go down and the fish dig alot so they will tear up the plants. well this is what i have read, but i am a bit of a noob with them so if i have said anything false im sorry and please correct me.

I have kept and bred brichardi's. Most of the ones you find at your LFS are not wild caught and have been domestically bred in your local water. So, there is no need to change your water condition to suit them. The tank you mention is good enough for a pair of brichardi. I wouldn't keep anything else besides bushynose plecos or something non-threatening with your brichardi. A pair of brichardi with fry will not tolerate tankmates. Not even other brichardi. I think it would be safe to say that you would need at least a 100 gallon tank for a pair of brichardi to coexist with other fish. Try to find a pair that have bonded when you buy your brichardi. If the selection is too young to have pairs bond, buy at least 6 and chances are you will have a pair out of the 6.

Brichardi's prefer to lay their eggs in caves. A pile of rocks with a cave, a large conch seashell, or anything resembling an enclosed area will work for them. I have had some luck with keeping java moss, java fern and anubias with brichardi. If all the conditions are met your brichardi pair can produce a batch of fry for you every 3 weeks.

Um why not?

They are adapted to live in water with a high pH, wild caught or not.

Two good points here. They are bred in tap water and don't need replicate water of the wild, but realy tap water does happen to be more alkaline then acid (to keep pipes from rusting), and no matter how you look at it the fish do better if the water is more suitable, and the eggs, if breeding is a concern, will fair much better in harder water.

One pair in a two foot tank, with nothing else - even this tanks a bit small.

Hi Snowie

Well, after generations of being bred domestically the brichardi you see at your LFS have adopted to local waters. My water here in Northern Califonia is low pH and soft. I have no problems breeding domestic bred brichardi. However, I did manage to get a pair of wild caught brichari from an African importer in Southern California. For the wild caught pair of brichardi I kept crushed coral substrate to buffer the pH to about 8.0 and it also adds minerals that my tap water lacks. I also dosed the tank water with 2 tblsp/ 10 gallons of Epsom salt.