Toxotes Blythii

[demonmagus]

Hi, just want to know how many of these guys could go in a 4 by 2 by 2 (feet duh) tank. Also, what would be a good choice of tankmates for these guys?

Another thing is how available are they in this country?

thanks

 

[nmonks]

I don't think anyone knows the maximum size of T. blythii, but like the other freshwater species, which seem smaller than the brackish ones, I'd expect around 15 cm. So plan for these as if you were keeping some medium-sized cichlid. Bear in mind archers tend to be a bit territorial among their own kind, and often work best singly or in a reasonably large group (5 or more).

Anyway, T. blythii are not traded yet. Wildwoods haven't been able to get any, but it's worth e-mailing them and other "serious" shops like them, Britain's Aquatic Superstore, Tom Halvorsen, and so on. These places are usually at the leading edge when it comes to importing stuff. Only once they know there's a demand, will they bring them in.

That said, apparently none of this species has been exported, and the exporter who got the specimens I mentioned a few months ago decided to keep them himself. They're apparently still alive, but it's a bit of a odd situation when the exporter likes a fish so much he keeps it!

Cheers,

Neale

Hi, just want to know how many of these guys could go in a 4 by 2 by 2 (feet duh) tank. Also, what would be a good choice of tankmates for these guys?

Another thing is how available are they in this country?

 

[demonmagus]

damn that's annoying. I'll have to wait then

or I may get the Toxotes microlepis instead but I really want the blythii lol

 

[nmonks]

There are actually several "true" freshwater archers --

Toxotes blythii
Toxotes lorentzi
Toxotes oligolepis
Toxotes kimberleyensis

In addition to Toxotes microlepis, which is a brackish-tolerant freshwater fish and will do well in hard, alkaline freshwater. In fact, only two species of archerfish are brackish water fish, Toxotes jaculatrix and Toxotes chatareus. It just happens that these are the most common species (and the most commonly traded) which tends to make people think all archerfish are brackish water. They're not.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[demonmagus]

would I have a better chance at the blythii or are all of the true freshwater archers equally 'rare'?

 

[nmonks]

Toxotes microlepis is actually quite common. In the UK, Wildwoods, for example, seems to get them quite regularly. In the US, according to Frank Schaefer (in the Aqualog brackish book), Toxotes microlepis is even more common than Toxotes jaculatrix. So basically it isn't difficult to find, you just need to be able to recognise it. Besides doing well in freshwater, it is also much smaller (around 12 cm being the average in home aquaria).

Cheers,

Neale

would I have a better chance at the blythii or are all of the true freshwater archers equally 'rare'?

 

[demonmagus]

Don't think I have any chance at the blythii, I noticed the microlepis is on there import page

this is the email I got when asking about the blythii

Hi,



They are a species I would love to get hold of but as my shipper has only seen two in 20 years (they are now in his private collection) I think that you may be searching a while longer yet.



Regards



Keith Lambert



Livestock Manager

Wildwoods Water Gardens Ltd.



damn lol

also, what water should microlepis be kept in? what gh and pH

thanks

 

[nmonks]

T. microlepis should be kept in either hard/alkaline (pH 7.5) water or in slightly brackish up to 1.005. Beyond that they are, like archerfish generally, adaptable.

I'm sure T. blythii will appear in the shops eventually; Burmese freshwater fish generally used to be very rare but are steadily turning up. Consider hump-head glassfish and all those new danios, for example.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[demonmagus]

hmm. Can 2 different species of archer live in the same tank? for example I buy a microlepis but then the blythii turns up e.t.c.

 

[nmonks]

I've not personally mixed archer species, but they are sometimes aggressive when kept in small groups, so I'd be cautious about, say, keeping one now and adding another a year down the road.

Cheers,

Neale

hmm. Can 2 different species of archer live in the same tank? for example I buy a microlepis but then the blythii turns up et cetera.

 

[demonmagus]

Hmmm. I was doing some googling on the other species and a website said this

Though they don't like sharing their open water space with other species, archerfishes are abidingly tolerant toward members of their own species. I've collected Toxotes jaculatrix and T. chatereus in the same net trawl in good numbers in backwaters of Cairns, Australia. Likewise they're displayed together in public aquariums around the world, and crowded in single and mixed species groups at pet-fish wholesalers and retailers. In fact, these fishes are almost always found in groups and are best displayed as such.

 

[nmonks]

You'll note that I said "sometimes" and "small groups". They are schooling fish, that is true. But when kept in 2s and 3s, bullying sometimes occurs. In the same way as barbs and tetras behave differently when kept in 2s and 3s compared with how they behaved in schools of 6 or more. Some people have kept small groups without problems, but others have found the juvenile fish become increasingly intolerant as they age. Invariably, archerfish do best when kept all of the same size, rather than different sizes.

Cheers,

Neale