I Need A Beginers Guide To Monos & Scats

[The-Wolf]

treat me like an idiot and tell me everything,equipment, tank size (min) etc.
can I keep both together happily (internet conflicts on this)
other brackish fish that will be ok with both of them (annaleps?)

This will be my first brackish tank, so I need to know the ins and outs.

 

[ac106]

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/brackfaqpart1.html

 

[nmonks]

Thanks!

I won't bother to repeat the stuff that's there, but I will say that Anableps is possibly the most difficult brackish water fish to keep, and I'd suggest holding off until you have some experience. It isn't actually difficult to keep alive over the short term, but it is very demanding for space, and needs a very particular kind of aquarium with a "deep end" and a "shallow end".

Monos are easy to keep, and very lively. Get the biggest tank you can. There are three species. If you can find M. kottelati, the smallest species, you're laughing. That species should be fine even in a ~200 litre tank. The other species are twice the size, and need a much bigger tank. I kept three in a 900 litre tank, and they would rocket around it! They are possibly the fastest aquarium fish we keep?

Cheers,

Neale

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/brackfaqpart1.html

 

[The-Wolf]

thanks AC
I've added that to my fav pages

EDIT
thanks Neale
I'll take you word on the annaleps and hold off.
900 ltr! I wasn't planning on a tank that big,
but with my new job and trade prices, I'll see what I can work out. :')

looks like I'll be starting with scats then.

 

[AMS]

The tank size depends on the number of scats and monos. As you probably already know, these are schooling fish and require groups of at least four (some say at least 3, but really 4 is more realisitic). 4 monos, require at least 75 US gallons, and 4 scats require at least 75 US gallons, so at bare minimum youre looking towards at least 150 gallons.

Filtration must be very good as these fish are quite hearty eaters, espically the scats. Its amazing how much food they will eat! Since it would be impossible to plant this tank, I highly reccomended a wet/dry. And since algae grows like weeds in brackish tanks, some mangroves in the sump would be helpful.

I doubt there would be any problem housing these two species together, the big problem that many people dont understand with brackish is their salt tolerance. Just because as fish is labeled as "brackish" doesnt mean that any SG will be fine. For instance, bumble bee gobies, knight gobies, archer fish, scats and glass fish are considered brackish fishes. Just because they are all brackish doesnt mean they can live together. Bumble bee gobies, knights, and glass fish like their SG's 1.005 and under (lightly brackish), which is hardly "brackish" as this is a very small amount of salt. Scats, archers, and monos like their SG's at least 1.010, which is a much larger amount of salt. The jump between 1.005-1.010 may not seem like a lot but it is. The .005 difference means life or death for these fish. Every brackish species tolerance to salt is different, some like a lot, some tolerate little. The most important factor when considering brackish fish is their salt requirements. So read up before buying!

Archers seem to be ideal tank mates for scats and monos, but may be outcompeted for food. Finding suitable tankmates may be hard because like I said, every brackish fish's tolerance to salt is much different. The only other fish that I can think of off the top of my head requiring the same salt needs as scats and monos are green spotted puffers, but they may not be a good option with their aggression and other not so ideal tankmate traits. There are some marine fish that will tolerate the lower salt levels also.

 

[nmonks]

I won't add much to AMS' excellent comments, except to say scats and monos get along very well. In addition, you might find a pair of monos and a single scat a viable option. Though they are schooling fish, in captivity they seem to do fine in mixed groups, and monos in particular can become aggressive towards one another.

Public aquaria routinely maintain monos, scats, archers, and green chromides in community tanks at SG 1.010, and that's probably the way to go in home aquaria. What size tank are you working with? If 200 litres or less, I'd perhaps steer away from scats and archers, and hold out for some Monodactylus kottelati. While not sold deliberately, they are traded fairly commonly, you just need to know what you're looking for. They have anal and dorsal fins of different heights, and orange not yellow on the fins. This species could be mixed nicely with orange chromides and black or sailfin mollies, for example.

Cheers,

Neale

PS: Archers are usually fine with scats and monos, because you can train the archers to take floating pellets, with the scats and monos aren't so fond of. Mind you, when I kept them, my scat would follow the archer around, and steal the bits of food the archer had spat off the glass (bits of prawn and such). Quite funny.

 

[AMS]

Thats a great idea nmnoks! Sticking bits of food onto the glass to get the archers to "spit". Ive seen many people try many different ideas to get their archers to spit without taking the time to simply realize you could just stick it right on the glass

One thing I hate to watch is people putting crickets on floating leaves, they look so helpless