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Eridinus

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Hi guys, made a few of these posts in the past but I think I finally have it sussed what I want!

- Adolfoi Cory x6
- Bronze Cory x6
- Silver Hatchetfish x8
- Neon Dwarf Rainbow x6
- Red Neon Rainbow (Pseudomugil luminatus) x6
- Siamese Algae Eater (True SAE) x1 (or x3 if you think its better/not too overstocked)

My current smaller tanks have a pH of around 6.8.
The water hardness in my area is 16.35 degrees (German) straight out of the tap.

Any suggestions or comments?
 
I would omit the Siamese Algae Eater. This is most likely the species Crossocheilus langei, which is a shoaling fish by nature, and it does best in a group of 6 or more and a distinct hierarchy will be formed within the group. As it attains six inches, this has consequences.

This fish occurs in flowing waters and is intolerant of high nitrates and any build-up of organic waste, requiring clean, well-oxygenated water; it is an active swimmer and thus needs space. It will therefore be best in a river or stream aquascape having a reasonable current from the filter along with a substrate of gravel, sand and pebbles, with larger rocks simulating boulders and some bogwood added. As noted above, it should be kept in a group of 6 or more so that the natural interaction between fish can be enjoyed.

However, your other fish (hatchetfish especially) are not going to fare at all well with strong currents that the SAE must have. Nor will they appreciate its active behaviours (the rainbows may find this annoying too). Another two reasons to omit this species.

For those who like taxonomy...Crossocheilus langei is the species most often encountered in the hobby as the "Siamese Algae Eater" [SAE] and is the best at eating black brush [aka red beard] algae. The "true" SAE is actually Crossocheilus siamensis, a species initially described by H.M. Smith in 1931 as Epalzeorhynchus siamensis and moved by Banarescu into the genus Crossocheilus in 1986, and which has probably never been seen by hobbyists since the holotype [the specimen collected and used for the description] is the only one known. To further confuse, the fish described as C. siamensis by Smith was subsequently determined to be conspecific with a prior described species, Crossocheilus oblongus, so in fact there never was a C. siamensis as a distinct species, and the name now is a synonym for C. oblongus.
 
I would omit the Siamese Algae Eater. This is most likely the species Crossocheilus langei, which is a shoaling fish by nature, and it does best in a group of 6 or more and a distinct hierarchy will be formed within the group. As it attains six inches, this has consequences.

This fish occurs in flowing waters and is intolerant of high nitrates and any build-up of organic waste, requiring clean, well-oxygenated water; it is an active swimmer and thus needs space. It will therefore be best in a river or stream aquascape having a reasonable current from the filter along with a substrate of gravel, sand and pebbles, with larger rocks simulating boulders and some bogwood added. As noted above, it should be kept in a group of 6 or more so that the natural interaction between fish can be enjoyed.

However, your other fish (hatchetfish especially) are not going to fare at all well with strong currents that the SAE must have. Nor will they appreciate its active behaviours (the rainbows may find this annoying too). Another two reasons to omit this species.

For those who like taxonomy...Crossocheilus langei is the species most often encountered in the hobby as the "Siamese Algae Eater" [SAE] and is the best at eating black brush [aka red beard] algae. The "true" SAE is actually Crossocheilus siamensis, a species initially described by H.M. Smith in 1931 as Epalzeorhynchus siamensis and moved by Banarescu into the genus Crossocheilus in 1986, and which has probably never been seen by hobbyists since the holotype [the specimen collected and used for the description] is the only one known. To further confuse, the fish described as C. siamensis by Smith was subsequently determined to be conspecific with a prior described species, Crossocheilus oblongus, so in fact there never was a C. siamensis as a distinct species, and the name now is a synonym for C. oblongus.
Alright, fair points. What's your opinions on keeping them in Trios?

We might be swapping out the Neon Dwarfs (Praecox) for a different rainbow anyway. We saw an amazing one today that I'm gonna ask for ID on here and some other forums.
 
Alright, fair points. What's your opinions on keeping them in Trios?

We might be swapping out the Neon Dwarfs (Praecox) for a different rainbow anyway. We saw an amazing one today that I'm gonna ask for ID on here and some other forums.

The SAE need six. They establish quite a strong hierarchy, and with fewer this is more likely to result in a dominant picking on a weaker fish. And before someone jumps in to say they have 3 or 4...yes, some may risk their fish for this and may think it works--but only the fish know. Ignoring the scientific fact on a species to try an experiment is not my approach, so I always point out what we know works.

Colin is much more up on rainbows than I am, so if he sees this or a photo he will likely be able to ID. He often links a rainbowfish site, you might try that (not sure of the link myself but I have checked it out).
 
8805C8A3-9BAB-443E-85B8-A461E2794D3B.png
Any ideas? And he was on his own and I really would love him for my 55gallon, but he would need to be in a 5 gallon for about 2 or 3 weeks before I could get the tank ready :/
 
The rainbowfish in the picture is Melanotaenia boesemani. It's either a female or juvenile and will grow to about 4 inches. They need hard alkaline water and should not be kept with Pseudomugils or anything small.

Below is the rainbowfish link Byron mentioned :)
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm
 
The rainbowfish in the picture is Melanotaenia boesemani. It's either a female or juvenile and will grow to about 4 inches. They need hard alkaline water and should not be kept with Pseudomugils or anything small.

Below is the rainbowfish link Byron mentioned :)
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm
Really?! I was under the impression that they were more 50/50 vertical, not with white bellies horizontal.

I’ve seen them with pseudomugils many times, is this your own experiences or just common knowledge?
 
male boesemani go yellow and purple/ blue. females and juveniles look like the fish in the picture.

We had a 6ft tank with about 50 cardinal tetras in. The cardinals were about 1 inch long.
We added 20 boesemani that were about 2-3 inches long and 24 hours later, the boesemani herded the cardinals into a corner and ate them. The boesemani split into 2 groups and one group made a wall of fish to keep the cardinals trapped, and the second group went in and attacked them. After a couple of minutes the groups swapped position.

We managed to save about half the cardinals.
 
Any thoughts from either of you of swapping the SAE for a group of Ottos? Do Corys and Ottos get along?
 
Any thoughts from either of you of swapping the SAE for a group of Ottos? Do Corys and Ottos get along?

Cories and otos are fine. Loaches and any similar substrate fish should be avoided with cories, always. But otos are not really substrate as they spend their time on plant leaves and surfaces grazing algae.

Which brings me to another thing about otos...make sure you have some algae in the tank when you acquire otos. These fish are wild caught and arrive nearly starved, and if real algae is not provided they may completely starve before they discover and learn that algae tablets/disks are food. Once settled in the tank and feeding, they usually manage to learn to eat prepared sinking algae or kelp-based foods. Dried leaves can suffice for "algae" as otos will readily graze the surfaces and find nourishment from the infusoria. I raise my Farlowella fry on dried leaves instead of green algae and they do very well.
 
Okay thank you. I was planning on letting the tank establish itself with just the hatchets and corys for a while before adding the SAE's for this exact reason, so will make sure I do the same if I choose to go with Ottos!

Tank is planning to be sand based, but with large pieces of driftwood and larger rocks to simulate a boulder-type feel.

I then have these little clay ball root tab things which I can use for planting plants in the sand.
 

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