Need payara info from a reliable source

[xander]

i want to to make a sticky on the basic rules of keeping and IDing payaras. but having very limited experience, i need your experiences and photos. this will be compiled and organised before i do another thread, in hopes of it being stickied and payara keeping made easy for potential payara keepers

here's what i have come up with so far.

Hydrolyus scomberoid
-max captive size~12"
-fragile, known to die unexpectedly without any reason.
-extremly shy, not very aggressive
-growthrate is slow

Hydrolycus Tatuia(red tail payara)
-max captive size~18"
-not as fragile
-tempermant is fine
-growthrate is slow, 0.5" per month

ID traits:
usually swims at a low angle
medium sized red(usually. sometimes there are black/yellow varients) tail
up turned head
Red/orange adipose fin that matches the colour of it's tail

Hydrolycus Armatus
-max captive size~24"
-not as fragile
-aggressive
-growthrate fast, but i've nvr kept from young, so im not too clear, i've read that it gets up to 2 inches per month.

ID traits:
they normally swim at a leveled position
have much larger tail
broader bodies
down turned head
Red/orange adipose fin
black slash behind gill plate
white edged caudal fin
clear caudal fin base turning to black(but red varients have been coming out as of late.)

quoting JD7.62 from MFK,
"The key to IDing an armatus vs tat is the adipose fin. That is it. The adipose of the armatus is orange. A tats adipose fin can also be orange BUT it will MATCH the color the the tats caudal fin. In other words, if the adipose fin contrasts highly with the color of the caudal fin, it is an armatus."

WHAT I WANT FROM YOU

-past personal experiences
-stories you've read(please link back to original thread or person who you heard it from)

Info on
-max sizes
-growth rates
-temprements
-ID traits
-other useful, specific information
-possible tankmates
-tank footprint
-prefered water conditions, eg: pH/temp/current?
-photos(your own, or with permission)

here are some pics of my own.

please add on and hopefully we get enough info to start a good comprehensive thread.

thanks for your time!

 

[vamptrev]

very good idea. way too many newbies asking the same questions over and over. i think we should deff include rhaphiodon vulpinus and cynodon gibbus.

ill get up some info when i get some time...

 

[xander]

very good idea. way too many newbies asking the same questions over and over. i think we should deff include rhaphiodon vulpinus and cynodon gibbus.

ill get up some info when i get some time...

thanks my friend. definately still have a lot to learn from you. i'm guessing i myself will be suprised by the new things i can learn frm other members.

zero experience with both of the mentioned, i guess it's up to you guys then.

looking forward to that info!

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

about the only thing that i can add is that all 8 of the scombs that i have owned were alot more aggressive than the 2 H tat's that i own. I have seen gold fish that where more aggressive than the tat's that i have. My experience with the H tat is that they are very peaceful and do not move alot unless they are startled. Scombs on the other hand come alive when you walk up to the tank just incase you might have some food. And just incase you are taking up eating habits. My scombs at 3-5 inches all ate about 4-6 feeder guppies at around 1/4''-3/8'' in a 24 hour period. And one of my scombs would eat until there was no more left. He grew quickly and died quickly too. My H tat's on the other hand i have never seen eat or even chase food. even after 1.5 months.

 

[Tigriuns™]

Your fish...seen this picture b4?

 

[xander]

haha COOL! nope nvr. it's a one eyed jack? so it's my current armatus?! hahaha cool man. how old is this fish?

 

[OnceLoyal]

Sorry I will give this a bump since I started a thread after this one...

 

[channarox]

hydrolycus tatauaia
redtail payara
up to 18 inches in captivity
grows slow,0.5 inches per month usually
not too aggressive,but will attack each other sometimes and other silvery fish
best to keep in groups of 3 or more,but i have seen some people keep them in pairs successfully

mine grew much slower because of the fact i was starving it to get it off live foods.
it was not too aggressive,but attacked my temensis regularly without any damage.
i got it eating shrimp after abotu 2 months of starvation.

 

[channarox]

hydrolycus scomberoides
scomb
up to 12 inches in captivity,dies for an unkown cause
grows very very slow
not aggressive and very skittish with tankmates
fine with each other or other fish that do not move too fast

i had over 8 scombs,many died of disease,2 to tankmates,and the rest of unknown causes.i managed to get them off live much easier than my tats.
they ate whitebait mostly,and one even ate turtle pellets.
kept them with each other,a small pike cichlid,a channa bleheri,a gar(which ate two of them),and a few senegal bichirs.

 

[OnceLoyal]

K guys so how about temp. PH, Hardness, and more on their natural environment. Fast moving white water or slower moving rivers/streams, or fast moving murky water lol??