Archer Fish

[Dany]

hi. im compleatly new to brakish and am looking in to archer fish. cant find anything on the net useful, what i want to know is how big (on average) they grow and what size tank can they be kpt in if i had about 3?

 

[AMS]

There are 6 species of archers in the Toxotidae family. The most common Archers availalbe are Toxotes jaculatrix and Toxotes chatareus. The T. jaculatrix grows up to a foot in the wild, but I am uncertain of its captive size, but I would say about 7-9 inches. The T. chatareus grows up to 16 inches in the wild, in captivity they grow up to 10 inches. For 3 Toxotes chatareus a 75 gallon tank would be minimum, and for Toxotes jaculatrix I would say at least 60 gallons. If you plan of purchaisng them be sure of what species you are getting, they can be hard to identify.

 

[nmonks]

What more do you need than that included in the Brackish FAQ? If it isn't useful, let me know!

As for what size aquarium, given these fish grow 15 to 35 cm depending on the species, obviously the bigger the better. Three specimens is a bad number. Either keep them singly or in large groups (at least 5). They are pretty rough with one another if kept in too small a group.

Cheers,

Neale

hi. im compleatly new to brakish and am looking in to archer fish. cant find anything on the net useful, what i want to know is how big (on average) they grow and what size tank can they be kpt in if i had about 3?

 

[AMS]

nmonks, just read the brackish FAQ, all I can say is that you have done an awesome job . You have covered just about all aspects of brackish aquaria, why havent I seen this before!

 

[Dany]

thanks for that ... seeing that Toxotes microlepis rarely exeeds 12 cm, thats about 4.5" right,,, could i keep about 5 in the tank on their own. the tank is 55 gallons (ish) its the fluval duo deep 1200, thats 55 gallons without the water line dropped about 6" for them to "spit and jump"...
???

 

[AMS]

I dont see why it couldnt work. The only problem would be actually getting Toxotes microlepis. Toxotes jaculatrix and Toxotes microlepis are almost identical in apperance. In my own experience the only way to tell the species apart is the spines in the dorsal. Toxotes microlepis has 4 to 5, T. jaculatrix has 4.

Im sure if you ask nmonks how to identify the two species he would know. I know little about telling the two species apart.

 

[Dany]

thanks!

 

[nmonks]

Five 12-cm fish in a 55 gallon tank sounds fine. Archers don't move about as much as, say, monos, but they do need a bit of space. They're about the same as the average cichlid, like a firemouth for example.

The tricky bit is identifying them. I get them muddled up all the time. You need to look at the colour markings on the fish and count the dorsal spines. And even then, you can still go wrong. Read this thread from a while back.

The spitting thing is very cool, but I only bothered doing it when making water changes. Half empty the tank, leave the filter running, and then feed the archers with the prawn-on-the-glass trick. That way, water changes becoming something fun, and the rest of the time, the fish get the full benefit of maximum water volume.

Cheers,

Neale

AMS -- thanks for the kind comment on the FAQ. It's snowballed over the last 10 years I've been writing it, but I have to state up front it's a collection of information from other aquarists I trust as much as my own work. There have turned out to be some topics, like glassfish and bumblebee gobies where the books are completely wrong, and you need to rely on scientists and experienced collectors/breeders.

thanks for that ... seeing that Toxotes microlepis rarely exeeds 12 cm, thats about 4.5" right,,, could i keep about 5 in the tank on their own. the tank is 55 gallons (ish) its the fluval duo deep 1200, thats 55 gallons without the water line dropped about 6" for them to "spit and jump"...
???

 

[Dave Legacy]

I dont see why it couldnt work. The only problem would be actually getting Toxotes microlepis. Toxotes jaculatrix and Toxotes microlepis are almost identical in apperance. In my own experience the only way to tell the species apart is the spines in the dorsal. Toxotes microlepis has 4 to 5, T. jaculatrix has 4.

I find this not to be true. T. Jaculatrix often times has yellow coloration on the anal fin and tail and a black band connects with dorsal fin. I ultimately figured out that I do indeed have true T. Jaculatrix which are now in 1.016SG at the moment and doing great! T. Microlepis might be dead at that SG.

Anyway, I have yet to see an archer of any species sold and labelled as anything other than Jaculatrix. If you remember what I told you there wont be an issue. I have found it very difficult to find True Jaculatrix and find Microlepis at least 95% of the time.