I recently found what I believe to have been a Monodactylus Kottelati at my LFS-
I was going to post my photo, but I can't figure out how to upload on this forum-
but the photo with the orange dorsal on the page nmonks mentioned:
[URL="http
/www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=59430"]http/www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=59430[/URL]
is a near perfect match to the fish I had. Notice that the besides the orange dorsal,
the anal fin is larger than dorsal fin, and more vertical.
Note that the diagram on:
This black and white drawing of M. Kottelati on the 4th page of the following is accurate:
[URL="ftp/ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/y0770e/y0770e42.pdf"]ftp/ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/y0770e/y0770e42.pdf[/URL]
I cannot confirm that this is a brackish water fish, as my attempt to acclimate close to SG 1.002
had a promising start but a bad outcome.
It may require full strength seawater, or certainly a longer acclimatization than I provided.
I had been looking for this particular variety because I have a smaller tank,
and it has been described as a variety that might not outgrow the tank soon.
The tankmates include an Archerfish (T. Microlepsis), Dwarf Puffer, Swordtail (male), and a Panda
Cory cat. All are very peaceful together, and have been in essentially freshwater for several weeks,
I had been adding about 0.5 TSP/gallon of aquarium salt. The tank was well planted with
varieties of plants that should be able to grow in the low salinity brackish tank.
I have been planning on raising the salt content for the long-term health of the Archerfish.
When the M. Kottelati appeared at the LFS, unfortunately in full strength seawater,
I started to take the steps to slowly increase the salinity in my tank.
I purchased the fish under the mistaken impression that it was a brackish water fish
that could withstand major changes in salinity over a short period of time.
This was most likely a young fish- length only about 1 inch from mouth to base of tail-
and therefore more likely to tolerate low salinity, I thought.
There is alot of information out there- sometimes too much,
as you can find alot of support for any line of reasoning you wish to pursue...
When the M. Kottelati arrived, it was in a small bag at a SG = 1.019.
It seemed unlikely to last more than a day in that bag, though it treaded water very calmly
and seemed to have no problem breathing the entire time it was in the bag.
I decided to complete the acclimatization in 24 hours(!)
I started ramping up the salinity in my small main tank by adding a dose of salt every hour,
and diluting the salinity in the bag in 4 steps, roughly 25% every 6 hours. The actual
SG progressed from 1.019 to 1.016, 1.014, 1.010, 1.005, and finally to the same as the main tank.
The main tank salinity did not rise a quickly as I expected-
I had hoped to reach a salinity of SG=1.004 in the main tank after 24 hours,
but the salinity seemed to be stuck at SG=1.000 for a long time,
as if something were absorbing the salt (plants?). After a day it reached only SG=1.002.
But when the fish was released after a day in the bag, it was vigorous, ate well,
and started bullying the Archerfish, who turned out to be a complete pacifist,
never counter-attacking- despite the fact that Archie was twice as big as Mona!
The bullying did not seem to hurt the archerfish on his fins and scales, if not pride.
After adding some rocks and moving some plants, the two adversaries were settling into a truce,
when 3 days after release, the convulsions started. Odd twitches at first, then the Mono was
briefly seen flat on the bottom. Continued increasing the salinity, but the damage seemed to
have been done. Would seem to be paralyzed- just bob around the tank, but just for a few minutes-
then back to full power, bullying the Archerfish. Five days after release, the drifting spells were
more and more frequent, even at a salinity SG=1.005. Bringing back to SG=1.012 over the
course of 2 hours did not help, and the fish was put out of its misery at that point- returned to the LFS.
I will not attempt this type of acclimatization again.
I will keep looking for an M. Kottelati in fresh water, but I suspect I won't find one.
The Archerfish seems a little livelier at the higher salinity-
or maybe he's just happy to have peace once again.
/www.vergari.com/Acquariofilia/image...s_argenteus.jpg
