I got 5 little yellowcheeks aka
Elopichthys bambusa from Wesley Wong of Rare Fish in California back in Aug 2015 at ~1"-1.5". Tiniest wigglers.
Because they have a simple, straight gut and similar to perch and bass their metabolism is very quick, they require frequent feedings when small, which lessens with age but remains a factor to keep in mind. They have been easy to feed for me from the start. I give them catfish farm pellet (Zeigler Bros) and thawed marine baitfish. When they are relaxed, their appetite is superb but they stress way too easy.
Although they ate well and grew well, I still lost 3 over many months to unknown reasons, eating one day, dead the next. Perhaps I am guessing I lost them to too soft water or unstable pH (my water was largely RO water with a little hardness picked up here and there, KH and GH of a couple degrees). Fixed my water since then.
The two survivors did well in 240 gal and I tried three (!) times to introduce them into 4500 gal.
The first try in 4500 gal was about Nov-Dec 2016, when they were ~16"-17" and they lasted a week in there. They've not eaten while in there and apparently have been harassed around. Eventually I think my two ~14"-16" VATF started biting them badly and I fished them out half-alive with ~all fins damaged, lots of scales missing, and a few deep fleshy wounds near the tail. So I placed them back into their 240 gal. They are shy fish that never answer back, only try to swim away. They stress way too easy. They are exceedingly timid with other fish. They have no teeth, their jaws are aggressively shaped but very smooth.
They healed up well and thickened up a lot in a 240 gal for a few months and added on a few inches, reaching 18"-20", so I gave them a second try in 4500 gal this Feb 2017. The first day my smaller ~1'-1.5' mahseer were giving them hard time (they do it to all new comers by biting their fins, not that they can bite them off, so I am not sure what they are trying to accomplish) joined by a 10" dorado, so I stuck a large fish net in the tank overnight. They all respect the net (or are afraid of the newness it introduces) and stop their aggressive behavior, giving new fish a chance to adjust at the expense of the old population being a tiny bit stressed.
Still for 4-5 days the yellowcheeks have not eaten. The bodily damage was a lot less than the first time, actually tolerable except the tails were getting more tattered bit by bit. Even saw my lonely koi lunge at them. What??
240 Gal was a bit too tight for them already. When they beg for food they do it exceedingly energetically, often hitting the glass lids and splashing water out even with weights on the lids. They are great swimmers and need space. Regrettably, I've got nothing between 240 and 4500 gal for now.
I kept hoping that maybe once they get accustomed and comfortable in 4500 gal, or when they get bigger, they would turn. There still was no big damage to the pair, just the tails were getting more tattered. Then one started feeding and rather well! The other got a good size bite on its flank, and kept showing zero interest in feed. In a few days, despite having at least a 50% success, more or less, I removed both into their 240 gal.
The third attempt has been ongoing for the last couple of weeks, that's May 2017, when they both reached roughly 2' in 240 gal. The scenario has been playing out about the same as the second try - slightly bigger and thicker one was doing much better than the other. In the first week, I missed the point of no return when the weaker one's been harassed too much. Removed it to 240 gal tank but about half a day too late. In one day it died.
Thus, down to my last cheek, which is still swimming in the 4500 gal, coping with aggression ok, eating well. It's a challenge to feed though because it darts from all other more aggressively feeding and snappy tank mates - pima, aros, and pbass.
sunnysjourney
reported about the same observations, with which I concur ~ entirely.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...ys-bambusa-growout.674070/page-6#post-7680476 I was surprised that Sunnys' did well with the GATF for a tank mate. I did note the tail tips of his cheek have been always (?) bitten off. I suppose it's the GATF. My VATF do it to many fish. But if so, it didn't bother Sunnys' yellowcheek enough that it stopped feeding.
Be that as it may, some photos of my cheeks and the post mortum too:
