Few videos of the 150g

Gourami Swami

MFK Moderators
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2006
7,069
8,401
753
NJ
Fish all look great man! especially like the robertsoni and rostratus. Hope your pasionis breed soon as well.
How big are those Astyanax? they look huge
 

Stanzzzz7

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 26, 2015
5,223
7,650
1,433
51
Uk
Excellent, then once the weather clears, I’m going searching. I have read oak is one of the best. Is there anything I need to prepare the wood for the tank?
Oak is one of the best,it last for years. It does release more tannins than beech though. Beech is also excellent if you can get some.
For preparing the branches I strip all the bark off,give it a good scrubbing and poor boiling water over it.
The branches will float for some time until completely waterlogged.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toiletcar

Toiletcar

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
1,471
1,923
179
USA
Oak is one of the best,it last for years. It does release more tannins than beech though. Beech is also excellent if you can get some.
For preparing the branches I strip all the bark off,give it a good scrubbing and poor boiling water over it.
The branches will float for some time until completely waterlogged.
Thanks for the info Darren. Can’t wait to get started. I think I will also buy some rocks like. Unfortunately the rocks in my area are shale and quartz. Neither look nice and quartz often contains “fools gold”, which can be toxic to fish from what I understand.

Fish all look great man! especially like the robertsoni and rostratus. Hope your pasionis breed soon as well.
How big are those Astyanax? they look huge
Thanks!

The biggest astyanax is probably 6-7”. That is a female. The smallest is probably 4”.
The biggest problem w/ these is they are scale eaters and mostly go after fins. You can see they go after the deppi most.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gourami Swami

Gourami Swami

MFK Moderators
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2006
7,069
8,401
753
NJ
Thanks for the info Darren. Can’t wait to get started. I think I will also buy some rocks like. Unfortunately the rocks in my area are shale and quartz. Neither look nice and quartz often contains “fools gold”, which can be toxic to fish from what I understand.



Thanks!

The biggest astyanax is probably 6-7”. That is a female. The smallest is probably 4”.
The biggest problem w/ these is they are scale eaters and mostly go after fins. You can see they go after the deppi most.
I was not aware they got quite that big! Biggest I have seen is 4". That's awesome, I can imagine a school of 5-7"ers as dithers for a monster cichlid would look amazing in a big tank. New dream setup hah.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toiletcar

Toiletcar

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
1,471
1,923
179
USA
I was not aware they got quite that big! Biggest I have seen is 4". That's awesome, I can imagine a school of 5-7"ers as dithers for a monster cichlid would look amazing in a big tank. New dream setup hah.
Thanks, at this point the cichlids are the dithers lol. They definitely are rough on one another too. I found if you don’t keep them in even numbers one will get killed by the others. A bigger tank would help for sure, and I wouldn’t recommend these guys in anything smaller than a 6’ tank. Also good with large cichlids, but that depends. More peaceful fish will get picked on and cichlids too aggressive might be too much for the tetras. A loisellei I had almost killed the biggest one. I think the loisellei punctured the swim bladder. The tetra was having a hard time swimming, and upside down. I put her in a hospital tank, and in a month the fish was back to normal. No meds. They also are very tolerant of temps and water conditions.
The one thing I don’t like is they are not geographically correct. They are found Panama and throughout all of SA.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gourami Swami

Gourami Swami

MFK Moderators
Staff member
Moderator
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2006
7,069
8,401
753
NJ
The one thing I don’t like is they are not geographically correct. They are found Panama and throughout all of SA.
Ehh, would be close enough for me. Specific location-based biotopes are awesome, but I personally just stick with CA or SA. Panama is CA technically, you are good!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toiletcar

cjdesmit

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 16, 2010
522
218
61
USA, Indiana
Looking good! I agree with Stan, definitely could add in some more structure to help induce spawning. Large boulders, a few flat stones for egg laying and branches should not only look good but make them feel more comfortable. If all else fails, clay pots seem to work every time.

Just to add in my 2 cents about collecting wood... I almost always use Oak. Beech works great as well, I just don't have any Beech trees in my yard! I use to strip the bark off the branches however I haven't in a while. The fish seem to really enjoy picking at it and eating it, especially once some algae grows on it. I just give them a quick rinse and in they go. Just be sure the branches aren't green still.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toiletcar

Toiletcar

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
1,471
1,923
179
USA
Ehh, would be close enough for me. Specific location-based biotopes are awesome, but I personally just stick with CA or SA. Panama is CA technically, you are good!
Yeah that was thinking. Also can tollorate the same ph. I think I bought them in 2012, which were already at 3”. It was a LFS, and I picked them up because it’s not often you find any kind of astyanax spp. The main way to ID these is they have a spot near the gills and the classic tail spot. This is why they are often called “two spot astyanax”.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gourami Swami
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store