where to get more info on Sturisoma

[autumnspecial]

hi to all friends, can any one help me where can i get more info on Sturisoma .thanks.

[Dave Rinaldo]

Welcome!

Have you read through the entries in the Cat-eLog?

Sturisoma aureum

[autumnspecial]

just got the full name so will be reading them soon thanks.

[MatsP]

As a general rule, if you know the genus of the fish, you can find info in the Cat-eLog based on the genus. For most species, the genus is pretty well determining the behaviour, feeding and quite often also the size.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

As one who breeds Sturisoma aureum the one area I have to disagree with most is that they are more carnivorous than herbivorous.
I use earth worm sticks both for conditioning the breeders and raising the fry. Here are some 3-1/2 inch juveniles eating earth worm sticks and frozen blood worms. Notice how fat they are? They must be kept well fed at all times or the losses will be very high. That first month's care will determine whether they will grow to adult size. The other fish are two month old Apistogramma cacatuoides. Warning: Never use Fluorish Excel in a Sturisoma fry tank. It can kill them within minutes. A very competent pleco breeder lost all of those she bought from me after using Excel. It may reduce dissolved oxgen levels below what Sturisoma require. They breed in fast moving shallow small streams in the wild. Some breeding reports state they will not move to food. This is not true if you feed them the right foods. They won't travel for veggies but they sure will for meat. See second photo.

[Barbie]

I dunno how competent I am if I managed to kill a dozen fry I was REALLY happy to get . Talk about a bummer!

The 4 fry I had in the other tank are still thriving and growing like weeds. They get a varied diet but they do definitely eat their fair share of higher protein foods, when given the choice.

Is this a bad time to mention I did manage to get a few adults? So maybe in a few months I can return the favor and sell you some fry to broaden your gene pool, hehe.

Barbie

[apistomaster]

I'm glad to hear you got the adult fish and that some of the fry were not in the affected batch, Barbie. Now it will be interesting which will breed first. The young grow so much faster now that they eat adult live foods and I can see where the possibility exists that they may begin breeding at about 14 months old. My wild fish took just over one year in captivity before they spawned.
If not a competent breeder I would settle for being an extremely fortunate one. I'm not too picky about how I get my fish to breed.

[CoryWally]

Larry,
Very interested to hear your account of Sturisoma prefering meaty foods. I was worried with the obvious preference my two adults show for whiteworm, bloodworm and earthworms. I rarely see them touch the peas, potato, courgette etc offered. They really do get excited (for a Sturisoma) when whiteworm enters the tank.

I have been expecting to enter the fish house one day and find them bloated but they seem to know what's good for them! If I get any spawning success I'll follow your advice and continue to offer a range of food.

Cheers,
Mark.