Tatia perugia

[Phyllonemus]

Hello all,
Is it possible to keep Tatia perugia in a 60cm / 55 liter tank ?
If yes, should they kept alone or in a pair ?

Can they be kept with Paracheirodon axelrodi for instance ?

[MatsP]

A small group should be fine in a 60 liter tank. My

Centromochlus romani

which are close relatives to

Centromochlus perugiae

are not at all aggressive/unfriendly towards each other.

And I don't think keeping them with small tetras will be any problem - the tetras sleep at the bottom, and these are surface feeding fish.

I also moved the post, as it's not about Callichthyidae, but belongs in "Other South American catfishes..."


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Mats

[J Bluto]

I have about 10 of these guys both males and females from 2 different sources. One group are bottom feeders and the other group are surface feeders.They eat frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, and freeze dried bloodworms they rarely touch live blackworms. i recently read here that they will eat fruitflys and have tried those as well
i am wondering why they are so different in their eating habits?? Strange....
Jay

[Marc van Arc]

I have about 10 of these guys both males and females from 2 different sources. One group are bottom feeders and the other group are surface feeders. I am wondering why they are so different in their eating habits?? Strange....

Are you sure they actually are one species? Your comment makes me think it could be possible one group is

Centromochlus perugiae

and the other is

Centromochlus reticulatus

[apistomaster]

Maybe you do have 2 different but similar appearing species but I suspect the differences you noticed in their feeding habits are most likely a matter of conditioning because surface feeding seems to be their default feeding mode. I think the differences will fade over time.
I would recommend feeding them when you turn out the lights just to be sure they both are getting enough to eat.
I don't think these smaller Centromochlus spp. are prone to eating Tetras. They seem to be quite specialized at surface feed primarily for emergent aquatic insects, especially Chironomidae, the non-biting Gnats. These are the common blood worms which are their benthic larval form. When the larvae pupate, they form a thin layer of gas between the pupae and adult skins which makes them buoyant and then there is a delay before emergence of the adult. This always occurs in vast numbers at dusk. That concentrates and makes them very vulnerable to predation at the water's miniscus.
Even in the temperate zones, their numbers are so high, despite their small size, that they often make up more than 40% of the diet of trout in still waters. The Chironomidae are among the most important aquatic insect foods of fish throughout the world.
I tie a mean Chironomid pupae fly imitation on size #20 to #16 hooks and have caught trout as large as 7 lbs on them. You fish them still with a slight twitch periodically then tighten up the instant you notice the leader is beginning to move. That can only mean a fish has picked it up. It is about as close to bait fishing techniques as a fly fisherman will every use.

[J Bluto]

I am fairly certain that both groups are Centromochlus perugiae.Thanks for the photo references that made it quick and easy to use for identification.
I will try to take some photos tonight when i feed them.
i have a few gravid females, any advice on what to do to trigger an egg laying?
i have pvc tubes both open ended and capped along with some pl*co caves to lay some eggs in
Jay

[Suckermouth]

J Bluto, what's the flow on your tank like? Increasing the flow (ie. adding a powerhead) may help trigger spawning.