Need Some Advice On Whiptails

[Zante]

I've asked my trusted LFS about three Sturisoma festivum, but he said he can get me Sturisoma aureum instead.
These are going in my discus tank, at 28 degrees celsius.
 
Should I "settle" for the aureum?
I used "settle" in quote marks because I like those too, so I wouldn't mind at all, but I would prefer the smaller festivum. I've never had whiptails, so I don't know what 25cm of aureum is really like and how it compares to 16cm of festivum (or to 12cm of bristlenose with which I am familiar)
 
Also the festivum live in slightly warmer water. The aureum would still be fine, but the festivum would be closer to the middle of their range.
 
Are festivum hard to find?
Should I insist for the trusted shop (it really is trusted) to look harder?

 

[Akasha72]

I've no idea on these fish but what I would say is - if you've set your heart on the festivum then hold out until you can get them. When I got my kerri tetras what I really wanted was the similar palmeri tetra's. I settled for the kerri's because the lfs had got them in but I was never happy with them. They wern't what I really wanted

 

[Zante]

I had the same thought, but if I have to wait for a couple of years because festivum are so rare in the hobby I might as well go for the aureum. I like the aureum too, as I said it would be a "settling" for them in quote marks.
 
I don't know how hard they are to find (and how often other fish are mislabelled as Sturisoma festivum) so basically this is the information I'm looking for. 

 

[Akasha72]

it has to be your decision, I just don't want you to have regrets

 

[BaylorPerez]

The aureum are easier to handle when settling for fish, they dont require much to take care of besides the daily food and weekly gravel/sand cleaning. just make sure you get a small group of them as i keep mine in a group of 2-4 in both my tanks i have 3 in one and im about to add 2 to my other one that will make it more of a community tank rather than just Tetras and danios

 

[Zante]

The aureum are easier to handle when settling for fish, they dont require much to take care of besides the daily food and weekly gravel/sand cleaning. just make sure you get a small group of them as i keep mine in a group of 2-4 in both my tanks i have 3 in one and im about to add 2 to my other one that will make it more of a community tank rather than just Tetras and danios

 
You mean festivum have special requirements compared to aureum? Such as?
Have you had festivum?

 

[BaylorPerez]

Festivum, from what i am told by my LPS, is that they need hardy water to survive, dont exactly know what that means, but i can assume it means the minerals in the water. But the aureum are like the tetras and danios i have, they like any type of water as they are a hardy fish breed. Not sure as to why festivum need hardy water but eh, talk to a specilist to see if its true

 

[Zante]

Hmm... no offence, but I'd rather take the word of someone who has had them over that of a fish shop I don't know.

 

[Byron]

Sturisoma aurem is a cooler water species, which should not be maintained above 26C/78F according to Planet Catfish.  S. festivum tolerates a higher range, though the upper limit is only 28C/82F which is minimum for discus.
 
As for hardness, the habitat of both is in northern Columbia/Venezuela, and the water is often harder than further south, though not excessively except some basins.
 
Byron.

 

[BaylorPerez]

as i thought, but does the hardyness of water mean the minerals in the water? or something else?

 

[Byron]

as i thought, but does the hardyness of water mean the minerals in the water? or something else?

 
If they are talking about "hardness," then yes, that refers to the dissolved mineral salts in the water.  And "salt" is a geological term not to be confused with common salt on the kitchen table.  Calcium and magnesium are the two minerals most commonly present in water and the level of either or both of these determines the hardness.
 
When I first read your other post, I though "hardy" might have been someone's term for water quality or something,  But hardness is as I explain above.