Ctenopoma Acutirostre

[loubega]

hi all,

have been looking at something different for my rio125, i had settled on exodons...however due to lack of stock i cant seem to get any in, have tried wildwoods and trimar..both said they would ring me when they hear of anything.....

however in the mean time i have been in to my lfs and seen they have juvi Ctenopoma acutirostre...i really like the look of these and from research have seen they would be fine in my 125l tank..approx 29gallons.

I was wondering what combination to get? either 2 or 3? the tank is heavily planted with amazon sword, java fern, vallis, anubius, water lilies etc...and floating amazon frogbit....there is also plenty of bogwood and slate caves...i have read that this is ideal environment for them....the only concern is the other fish i have in the tank....approx 14 harlequins, 6 pristella tetra, 1 adult BN, 1 SAE, 1 curvicep dwarf cihclid

would it be suitable to intriduce 2 or 3 young spotted climbing perch?

thanks

 

[Davo86]

2 should be fine, but be warned as they grow the harlequinns and pristella numbers may start to drop,

Ctenopoma are quite shy and retiring fish so as long as there is nothing that is going to harass or stress them they should be ok (whats the temperament of the curviceps like?)

 

[dave_oddballs]

i have a leopard bush fish (spotted climbing perch) i wouldn't call mine shy and retiring it is always out and about, comes to the front when i go near the tank and takes food from my hand. Mine is about 5'' and growing. It would definately eat your harlequins and tetras! Nn problem at all! Mine eats whole lance fish which are about 3'' and quite bulky! And you couldn't keep exodons with any of these fish, or almost any fish at all! Bar a shoal of red bellied piranhas!
I personally think that 125 litre is too small for the bush fish anyway, mine is in a 240 litre and can't help thinking it would like more room!

David

 

[loubega]

was never going to keep anything with the exodons, was gonna be species tank,....but due to their fercious nature they are quite rare to get in,

hmmmmm, i may get 2 but worried that my harlequins may get eaten...they are fully grown however,

the curvicep is friendly, he sits in the plants untill feeding time and doesnt harass any of the main shoal (harles and pristella)
i dont have anything under an inch and half.....but as you said if they can eat lane fish at 3" i may have problems....

 

[simonas]

as the above have said

I kept one many years ago and they are lovely fish to keep peaceful and undemanding however they have telescopic style jaws that do a good job of eating small fish so I'd be wary of fish being eaten

 

[Davo86]

how young would you be getting them? at work we sell them at about 0.5 - 1inch in size, so absolutely tiny and at this size they are definitely shy fish.

 

[loubega]

how young would you be getting them? at work we sell them at about 0.5 - 1inch in size, so absolutely tiny and at this size they are definitely shy fish.

my lfs are ordering them in for me for fri/sat...he said they were small...so presume 1 inch? if they are intorduced at a young age to a community tank do you think they would be ok?

can remove the curvicep and re home him in my other tank if necessary

 

[Davo86]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

 

[loubega]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

ok should i get 2 or 3? i plan to feed them bloodworm, daphina, brine shrimp etc...hopefully flake as well

 

[loubega]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

when you say feeding them will be a problem? what do you mean? that they are fussy? or just very shy so rarely come to surface etc...?

what fish would be ok to keep with them? the 6 pristella i have are quite large...almost 2" each and the harlequins range from 1.5" to 2"

if as you say they have telescopic mouths i presume most of the harles may become lunch....is there a decent sized tetra that shoals and will not become a snack for the perch...whilst still able to fit in my tank

 

[simonas]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

when you say feeding them will be a problem? what do you mean? that they are fussy? or just very shy so rarely come to surface etc...?

what fish would be ok to keep with them? the 6 pristella i have are quite large...almost 2" each and the harlequins range from 1.5" to 2"

if as you say they have telescopic mouths i presume most of the harles may become lunch....is there a decent sized tetra that shoals and will not become a snack for the perch...whilst still able to fit in my tank

when I kept mine it used to take lancefish and would swallow a huge fish intended for a bichir I had at that time. the lancefish it would fit in its mouth would be so big so that the bush fish couldn't swallow it but it woud sit there with fish sticking out of its mouth until it could manage to eat it, now that lancefish was bigger than harlequins and my bush fish was smaller than one I have seen in a shop recently

 

[loubega]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

when you say feeding them will be a problem? what do you mean? that they are fussy? or just very shy so rarely come to surface etc...?

what fish would be ok to keep with them? the 6 pristella i have are quite large...almost 2" each and the harlequins range from 1.5" to 2"

if as you say they have telescopic mouths i presume most of the harles may become lunch....is there a decent sized tetra that shoals and will not become a snack for the perch...whilst still able to fit in my tank

when I kept mine it used to take lancefish and would swallow a huge fish intended for a bichir I had at that time. the lancefish it would fit in its mouth would be so big so that the bush fish couldn't swallow it but it woud sit there with fish sticking out of its mouth until it could manage to eat it, now that lancefish was bigger than harlequins and my bush fish was smaller than one I have seen in a shop recently

hmmmmm...then maybe i should watch my shoal lol

i can exchange my shoal (harles and prsitella) for congo tetra, but i fear they may get to big for my 125l tank.....

from speaking to nmonks...who knows a lot on this species he says that they go for long thin fish and it is often the depth of the fish that counts....so may get a a larger/fatter shoaling fish....maybe a bleeding heart tetra shoal

any other fish that may be well suited to go with the perch but will still be able to fit in my 125l tank?

 

[loubega]

If it is densely planted they should be ok and i doubt you will see them for the first week or so,
Even if introduced at a young age once they get big enough they will still be a huge threat to the other fish.

Feeding them will also be a big problem when they are this small, so you will need to make sure they get their fair share

when you say feeding them will be a problem? what do you mean? that they are fussy? or just very shy so rarely come to surface etc...?

what fish would be ok to keep with them? the 6 pristella i have are quite large...almost 2" each and the harlequins range from 1.5" to 2"

if as you say they have telescopic mouths i presume most of the harles may become lunch....is there a decent sized tetra that shoals and will not become a snack for the perch...whilst still able to fit in my tank

when I kept mine it used to take lancefish and would swallow a huge fish intended for a bichir I had at that time. the lancefish it would fit in its mouth would be so big so that the bush fish couldn't swallow it but it woud sit there with fish sticking out of its mouth until it could manage to eat it, now that lancefish was bigger than harlequins and my bush fish was smaller than one I have seen in a shop recently

hmmmmm...then maybe i should watch my shoal lol

i can exchange my shoal (harles and prsitella) for congo tetra, but i fear they may get to big for my 125l tank.....

from speaking to nmonks...who knows a lot on this species he says that they go for long thin fish and it is often the depth of the fish that counts....so may get a a larger/fatter shoaling fish....maybe a bleeding heart tetra shoal

any other fish that may be well suited to go with the perch but will still be able to fit in my 125l tank?

bump

 

[Davo86]

The best thing would be to stick to species that are 3-4 inches minimum,
try a shoal of smaller rainbows or some of the more peaceful Gouramis like Pearls

 

[loubega]

The best thing would be to stick to species that are 3-4 inches minimum,
try a shoal of smaller rainbows or some of the more peaceful Gouramis like Pearls

trying to stick to african species, thats why i though congos would be ok, would get them at about 2 "....and a shoal of 6-8...other african tetras as well such as the red eye tetra...would thes ebe ok?

remember i have a 125l tank...approx 30 gallons!

also would a featherfin syno be ok?

going to start a new thread about my african biotope