Twig catfish with Spotted Headstanders

[gedtranter]

Has anybody kept Spotted Headstanders (Chilodus Punctatus) before? The question is whether you think a small group of these would go together with my twig catfish in my 4 foot tank.

The twigs get fed at night, I doubt the Headstanders would be out and about at that time but you never know, they are diurnal from what I gather. I hear they are partial to the odd bit of greenery which is fine, but I don’t want them competing with the twigs for the algae wafers and veggies.

Anybody have any experience with them?

[Marc van Arc]

Not an answer to your question, but a remark: largest problem with headstanders is that they tend to be nippy , so you certainly don't want to combine them with fragile and/or defenseless catfishes.

Ime this is certainly the case with Anostomus and Leporinus; perhaps Chilodus behave differently?

[Richard B]

Not an answer to your question, but a remark: largest problem with headstanders is that they tend to be nippy , so you certainly don't want to combine them with fragile and/or defenseless catfishes.

Ime this is certainly the case with Anostomus and Leporinus; perhaps Chilodus behave differently?

Marc is right about Leporinus & Anostomus - they can be the worst of fin nippers.

Chilodus should be ok as they are a much smaller fish & i have kept them in standard community tanks with no problems. I'd like another coupla opinions to confirm this as i never had sturisoma or farlowella with mine. I found mine to act like fat hockey-stick pencilfish.

It is surprising which fish can be a bit "nippy" & always advisable to ask.

[gedtranter]

Thanks, a few things to think about there. I like that fact that they are a little unusual in ther habits, headstanding that is, not nipping.

Any more experiences from anyone?

[apistomaster]

I kept Chilodus punctatus together with Sturisoma for a couple years and they lived together just fine. They are not a nippy species.
It is the Abramites, Leporinus and Anostomus spp that are fin nippers. Chilodus punctatus are great at cleaning algae off the leaves of plants and even the sides of the aquarium. Unlike the aforementioned genera, Chilodus are good to keep in planted tanks.
I rate Chilodus punctatus very highly as an aquarium fish. So much so that I recommend everyone should try them at some point in their fish keeping career. They do behave much more like a Pencilfish, a rather large Pencilfish except they point their heads in the "wrong" direction. Don't keep just one. Try 4 or more. They have mock fights like Pencilfish but no harm is done. They usually keep some distance from each other but there are times when they display to each other. Here are a couple doing just that.

[gedtranter]

Thanks Apistomaster. A few more questions for you if I may. How and what were you feeding yours? What size did they max out at? They would be ok with Farlowella vittata then?

[apistomaster]

My Chilodus punctatus grew to about 3-1/2 inches.
I might have reservations about keeping them with Farlowella but only because they would be competing for the same available algae like that growing on plants or the sides of the aquarium more efficiently than the Farlowella.
I probably would not keep them together but since I have never tried it I can't say for sure that it would not work. Farlowella aren't nearly as assertive as the Sturisoma I kept my Chilodus with. In my case, they were evenly matched and the Sturisoma also readily feed on a greater variety of foods so there was no way they would starve. In fact, my Sturisoma regularly spawned in the tank they shared with Chilodus.

[gedtranter]

Yeah I would conclude the same thing, thanks for your thoughts -that's what the forum is for. No go on the Headstanders.