growing more purchased babies… too small to go into the destination tank yet…

[Magnum Man59 173]

I guess that’s a curse of sorts, being in the hobby long enough, that your fish are mature, and maybe you want to add to the tank, or move them up to a bigger tank, most purchased fish are typically “babies”, when purchased, and even if a perfect match for a tank, the babies can be overwhelmed by the adult fish, both in cases of same species, or when introducing a new species…

my latest “grow out fish” is Crossocheilus reticulatus, a more uncommon algae eater, with many listed benifits ( they even known to eat cynobacyeria, as well as black beard )… they do get up to 8 inches long, but typically ship at 1.5 inches…

I guess at this point I’m growing out several fish to add to the 250 gallon, once it’s finally set up, but the fragile state a lot of these small fish are in at purchase, they may be great for a 10 gallon tank, but I’ve lost a lot of them even going into a 55 gallon…

Babies I’m growing out right now, are Leporinus granti, which I’ve posted on before, as well as the Crossocheilus reticulatus…

some info on them…

Spot Tail Algae Eater (Crossocheilus reticulatus)

Spot Tail Algae Eater (Crossocheilus reticulatus) for sale from Dans Fish at $9.99 each. Shipped Next Day Air.

dansfish.com

The Reticulated Flying Fox: an underappreciated algae eater from Thailand - AMAZONAS Magazine

The algae-eating Reticulated Flying Fox, Crossocheilus reticulatus, deserves a bit more of the spotlight considering the beautiful adult specimens shown at a Thai fish farm.

www.amazonasmagazine.com

I recently got 3 of these, a couple went in with the silver dollars, and were just overwhelmed by the size and activity of the dollars… I added one to my hillstream tank, and it seems to be doing well ( there are 2 adult traditional flying foxes in this tank ), I’d like to catch out, if I could do so, without destroying the tank… reading on the Crossocheilus reticulatus, sounds like the hillstream tank will be a good tank to raise them in…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

the Leporinus granti, ( 2nd attempt ) seem to have settled in well, in my south American tetra tank, as temporary residents… they would likely eat the smaller tetras at some point, as they grow, at which point, they should be safe to add in with adult silver dollars..

 

[Back in the fold14 11]

I just love those Leporinus ! If I was going to go for an unusual fish they would be my pick .

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

my lil baby Crossocheilus, is doing really well despite the 2 adult flying foxes that like to chase each other around… so I’m going to try to move the foxes ( I’ve tried before, they really like it in this tank, and seem to really hate nets, so I’ve already attempted and given up twice before )… but dang it, I’m tank boss, and I’m putting my foot down… I'll have to enlist the help of Mrs. from the front side to tell me where they are hiding, as I catch them from the back…

I have 6 more baby Crossocheilus, coming… I’ll also add to this tank to grow out… I’m really surprised these aren’t more popular in the hobby???

BTW… the Leporinus granti, are also doing great in the tetra tank, and are already half again bigger than when I added them… they will have to get moved, when they start dominating the tank, and perhaps known as fin nippers, so far all the extended fin fish are nip free, but I’m sure that will be the gage to determine time to move them…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

I got more spot tail algae eaters today… plan was to catch the adult Flying Foxes, and put them in my hillstream tank… the spot tail I added 1st is doing very good… and I mentioned trying to catch the fox’s several times before, with no luck… well I put my foot down, and this has become a total tank makeover… I’ve removed all the hard scape, and most of the lucky bamboo, and still can’t catch them… I’ll keep removing, until I catch them… darn it, they are going into another tank…

 

[Tomsfish16 15]

Lowering the water level always was a big help for me in larger tanks.
Also placing dividers to shrink the footprint of the chase.
I now say and accept what goes in the 180g dies in the 180g.
Good luck FFs are fast~!

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

yep, I went to half tank right away pulling all the rooted lucky bamboo up sure clouded the tank… I had to take a break for a group meeting this evening. so I topped the water off, to make the filters more efficient while I was gone, going to give it a go, for a half hour or so, if that doesn’t work, I’ll gravel vac the water level down to just a couple inches they are one of the hardest catches I’ve done…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

I caught one of the foxes tonight… will get the other tomorrow

 

[ohhfishhh]

I guess that’s a curse of sorts, being in the hobby long enough, that your fish are mature, and maybe you want to add to the tank, or move them up to a bigger tank, most purchased fish are typically “babies”, when purchased, and even if a perfect match for a tank, the babies can be overwhelmed by the adult fish, both in cases of same species, or when introducing a new species…

my latest “grow out fish” is Crossocheilus reticulatus, a more uncommon algae eater, with many listed benifits ( they even known to eat cynobacyeria, as well as black beard )… they do get up to 8 inches long, but typically ship at 1.5 inches…

I guess at this point I’m growing out several fish to add to the 250 gallon, once it’s finally set up, but the fragile state a lot of these small fish are in at purchase, they may be great for a 10 gallon tank, but I’ve lost a lot of them even going into a 55 gallon…

Babies I’m growing out right now, are Leporinus granti, which I’ve posted on before, as well as the Crossocheilus reticulatus…

some info on them…

Spot Tail Algae Eater (Crossocheilus reticulatus)

Spot Tail Algae Eater (Crossocheilus reticulatus) for sale from Dans Fish at $9.99 each. Shipped Next Day Air.

dansfish.com

The Reticulated Flying Fox: an underappreciated algae eater from Thailand - AMAZONAS Magazine

The algae-eating Reticulated Flying Fox, Crossocheilus reticulatus, deserves a bit more of the spotlight considering the beautiful adult specimens shown at a Thai fish farm.

www.amazonasmagazine.com

View attachment 386276

I recently got 3 of these, a couple went in with the silver dollars, and were just overwhelmed by the size and activity of the dollars… I added one to my hillstream tank, and it seems to be doing well ( there are 2 adult traditional flying foxes in this tank ), I’d like to catch out, if I could do so, without destroying the tank… reading on the Crossocheilus reticulatus, sounds like the hillstream tank will be a good tank to raise them in…

Growing them out separately makes a lot of sense, especially when the adults in the destination tank are much larger. Smaller fish can also be more sensitive to transport stress and competition for food. I’d prioritize stable water parameters, plenty of cover, and consistent feeding while they grow. Crossocheilus reticulatus sounds like an interesting choice too, especially for algae control.

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

the Crossocheilus reticulatus, is definitely a schooling fish, at least when they are small, there are now 7 small ones in this tank… the 1st, single was doing fine, but at this size they definitely like the company of their own kind… just hoping they are easier to catch, when I want to spread them around a little, and it won’t require completely destroying the whole tank, to move them…
although this was needed, there were around 50 stalks of lucky bamboo in this tank for the last 3 years, some were growing well, and heavily rooted into the substrate, some were holding their own, and some were dying… I’ll add back the ones growing vigorously, and all of the hard scape… I had to trim back most of the pothos vine roots, so I could net… I left enough, they’ll continue to grow… tanks still bare, and with no background, until the lady fox is caught…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

Ok, the last fox is moved, a tank divider was a big help…

but I’m just sick right now, I pulled that nice potted coffeefola plant out and put it on a hob filter box top ( no, it didn’t fall and break ) but , a lot of the aquatic plant dried out over night… not completely, but looks 1/2 dead now… I put it back in , and am sure it will recover, but am also sure half the foliage is dead…

my most recent picture of it… now half dried up…

but I’m starting to reassemble the tank…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

the coffeefola looks much better than I expected… looks like most of the leaves that looked like they were drying up, have rehydrated… still working on this tank, so the tinted.plexiglass piece I usually put over the top of just this plant to reduce algae growth on it, is not in place yet… hoping I didn’t stunt the plant much, it’s one of my favorites…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

the fingerling school of Crossocheilus reticulatus, all 7 of them doing well… usually stay in a group, but not this tight, suspect they saw me next to the tank, and huddled closer together… they don’t appear afraid of anyone else… the bigger fish Denison barbs Panda Garra, and the kissing gourami don’t pay them any attention as well as the 12-15 assorted hillstream loaches…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

yep, these guys in the south American tetra tank are also growing, and doing well…

 

[Magnum Man59 173]

it’s interesting that while the spot tails are still “babies”, that the largest one has started hanging with the pack of adult denison barbs, more than the main group of spot tails… I can’t tell for sure, but it may have been the original one in this tank, 6 more were added a couple weeks later, so maybe it began hanging with the denison’s, before it got more of it’s species added… also interesting that the denison’s let the much smaller spot tail hang out with them, without excessive dominance, even just being that it’s the smallest…