Archer Tankmates

[smashtime105]

Hey I have a 50 gal brackish tank currently at 1.007 sg. My archer is due to come in this weekend and was wondering what other tankmates I might be able to put in with it. It should be fairly small. The species I ordered is T. Microlepis but I will further identify once I get it. Thanks in advance

 

[nmonks]

Archers are good community fish. While they squabble with one another, they basically ignore everything too big to be eaten. Sailfin mollies, dwarf cichlids such as orange chromides and knight gobies would all be ideal tankmates for T. microlepis, having similar (relatively low) salt requirements.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Fella]

I agree with neale as well. if you had a bigger tank you could mix them with Scats and Monos as well. But if you are going to keep an archer with mollies make sure they are of considerable size.

 

[nmonks]

I personally wouldn't recommend T. microlepis for the mid-salinity tanks scats and monos need to be kept in. Toxotes microlepis is a freshwater, low-end brackish fish and seem to be an unhappy beastie when kept at or about SG 1.010.

Fella is quite right about the mollies. I was specifically thinking of sailfin mollies, especially giant sailfins, which are bigger than T. microlepis when mature. Archers have HUGE mouths, and will swallow fish up to about one-third their size.

Cheers, Neale

I agree with neale as well. if you had a bigger tank you could mix them with Scats and Monos as well. But if you are going to keep an archer with mollies make sure they are of considerable size.

 

[smashtime105]

thanks guys. I think I will look into finding a big gobie species, I don't think my archer will be very big seeing as I ordered a juvenile. However, it should get very large eventually. If I can't find any gobies that will work, I will look into some mollies, or perhaps a chromide. Do you know of where I could get these "giant" sailfin mollies? I guess what I'm asking is if they are commonly available. Thanks again guys.

 

[nmonks]

Regular sailfin mollies are, well, mollies with sailfins. You either see the fancy sort for sale (orange, brown, white, etc.) or the regular sort (green with silver and orange flecks). One male and a couple females works well, and the males are super active and always fun to watch. The females look nice, just don't have the big fin. Together, they take care of algae to some degree, too. In theory these are Poecilia latipinna but they're more than likely hybrids. Maximum size in the wild is around 15 cm, though 10-12 is more typical. They're chunky though, and at no risk of being eaten.

Giant sailfins are Poecilia velifera. Males can get to 15 cm, females 18 cm, rarely 20 cm. These are BIG fish: imagine a molly the size of your hand. Wild-caught males have gigantic sail fins; tank-bred males stunt very easily, so the fin is sometimes not so big. They aren't at all common in the trade, unfortunately, but you may be able to get through mail-order distributors such as Sachs Aquaculture who ship wild-caught fish across the US for labs, schools and the like.

Cheers, Neale