Odd characin thread

[kruseman]

Alestes longipinnis ( or Brycinus?)

Very nice Nymphea btw.

[Shane]

Yes and several Congo tetras as well. The two big male longipinnis are a solid 4 inches (10 cm) SL.
-Shane

[Mol_PMB]

These may not be the 'oddest' of characins - last night I was taking some pics of my mixed-species shoal of 40 rummy-noses and managed to capture pics of all 3 species in comparable poses. So here they are, Petitella georgiae, Hemigrammus rhodostomus and Hemigrammus bleheri:

Hope it's of interest to some ;)

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[bekateen]

These may not be the 'oddest' of characins - last night I was taking some pics of my mixed-species shoal of 40 rummy-noses and managed to capture pics of all 3 species in comparable poses. So here they are, Petitella georgiae, Hemigrammus rhodostomus and Hemigrammus bleheri

I've always enjoyed rummy-nose tetras (I think P. georgiae is what we get around my town). I think their color patterns - the red nose and the black/white striped tail - make them look like old World War II allied fighter planes painted for D-Day:
http://www.military-art.com/mall/more.php?ProdID=25561

nt1.jpg (40.7 KiB) Viewed 11929 times

(*Note to webmaster: Is it legal for me to post a photo like this from another website, as long as I give credit? If not, I'll delete the photo and just leave the URL link)

[Mol_PMB]

That's a great comparison - thanks for sharing I think of them as little torpedoes!
In the UK, commercially-bred Hemigrammus bleheri are very common in the hobby, the others are rarely seen and then only wild-caught.


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[bekateen]

In the UK, commercially-bred Hemigrammus bleheri are very common in the hobby, the others are rarely seen and then only wild-caught.

Honestly, when we bought our rummy noses, we did not know which species was being sold. But you're right, I just Googled Hemigrammus bleheri and it looks just like what we bought. Are your three photos displayed in the same order as you typed your species names (Petitella georgiae, Hemigrammus rhodostomus and Hemigrammus bleheri)? Based on the prominence of the black/white tail stripes, your first photo looks most like what we used to own, and it most closely resembles the internet shows for H. bleheri when I Google it. But the tail in your third photo, which I presume should be H. bleheri based on order listed, doesn't resemble the tail of the rummy noses we've owned in the past. On the other hand, your first photo has a rather prominent black lateral strip extending anteriorly from the tail, and that was definitely not present on our fish and also I don't see it in the photos of H. bleheri from Google.

[Mol_PMB]

This is the reference I have been using, and I put my pics and species names in the same order as on this page so it's easy to compare.

http://feamane.org/pages/three_rummynose_2.html

The spots (1 or 2) on the caudal peduncle are clearer on the actual fish than they are in my photos.
The caudal fin patterns, the extent of red and the black lateral strip are all quite clear in the pics.

A lot of the online sources I have found use the 'wrong' image for the species being described.


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[bekateen]

Thanks. That website does a great job of itemizing the differences between the spp.

[mummymonkey]

Piabarchus torrenticola - from the Paraguay river

[coelacanth]

These are gorgeous once in spawning trim.

[KungFish]

Marc, how was the temperament of your gnathocharax? I've got a shot at some but know absolutely nothing about them.

Also, are they jumpers? The long angled pectoral fins remind me of hatchetfish, aka 'aquatic rockets' .

[Jools]

Alleykat asked me via PM , as the regulars will know, I think PMs are a poor way to share information as it is only a two way conversation and I don't really have the time for many of those (but always want to help where I can). So...

could you tell me what size yours are? I saw them once quite a while ago in a shop, and was immediately intrigued but didnt get any without some research. I read they can be quite aggressive, do they bother tankmates or mainly each other?

Mine are pretty uniformly 8cm SL. They are not aggressive however I keep ten of them with

Peckoltia brevis

and

Auchenipterichthys coracoideus

neither of whom show any damage from their tank mates.

Hope that helps,

Jools

[alleykat]

hi everybody!

sorry Jools.. the thought crossed my mind, but I was worried about 'contaminating' the mainly pictorial thread.Thank you for your quick reply, and I'll know what to do next time

[Marc van Arc]

Marc, how was the temperament of your gnathocharax? I've got a shot at some but know absolutely nothing about them.
Also, are they jumpers? The long angled pectoral fins remind me of hatchetfish, aka 'aquatic rockets' .

They can and will jump (see pectorals indeed), peaceful despite visible teeth, surface orientated (see shape), easily fed, in one word a briljant little fish. One thing though: despite being with 15 specimens, they didn't shoal in my tank. If you don't object to individual behaviour, this one is highly recommended imo.

[kruseman]

Poecilocharax weitzmanni male ( bycatch to cardinaltetra)

male:


female:

[Mol_PMB]

Nice to see someone else with these. Two of mine sometimes seem to take turns guarding a little cave, but I've never seen anything come of it. Have you managed to breed yours?


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[kruseman]

No, I haven't. And given the fact that my breedingattemps with characins almost always end in failure, chances are slim to none

[Catxel]

I ordered some Slender Chameleon Tetras for the LFS I work at and they will be here friday in the fish shipment. I only found a cpl of articles on them and wondered if anyone here has had any personal experience with them? They seem pretty rare, but sound very cool. Of course, I will be taking a few home with me Cant help customers if I haven't taken them on a test drive myself LOL. Anyone here ever have them?

[Mol_PMB]

Here's one of my less common tetra species: Phenacogrammus aurantiacus sp.lefini
This is an attractive tetra from the Congo. The photo also includes a 'normal' Congo tetra (Phenacogrammus interruptus) for comparison.

[characinkid]

When you say they are Slender tetras, are these Iguanodectes? If so... cool fish..

[Catxel]

Yes, the color changing fish.

[kruseman]

This is an attractive tetra from the Congo

I fully agree. Stunning fish!

[kruseman]

Moenkhausia naponis

[KungFish]

What a funny coincidence!

I will be getting moenkhausia naponis as well in a couple of weeks!

[kruseman]

Seems like we share the same taste.
There are probably not many people around who keep Denticetopsis alongside .M. naponis

[kruseman]

http://youtu.be/MI0GHLilQTM[/youtube]

This link doesn't seem to work maybe this will

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI0GHLi ... xuDWuSDpMQ

[kruseman]

It seems this is an Astyanax festae. Not Moenkhausia naponis

http://condor.depaul.edu/waguirre/fishw ... estae2.jpg

[rupertoooo]

I ordered some Slender Chameleon Tetras for the LFS I work at and they will be here friday in the fish shipment. I only found a cpl of articles on them and wondered if anyone here has had any personal experience with them? They seem pretty rare, but sound very cool. Of course, I will be taking a few home with me Cant help customers if I haven't taken them on a test drive myself LOL. Anyone here ever have them?

Saw this thread so I thought I would jump in and provide some of my personal experiences. Iguanodectes spilurus are fairly uncommon and unless they are wild caught you are probably not going to see them. Awesome medium size characin that is extremely active and can show aggression but directed mainly at conspecifics. If I was to compare this fishes attributes with another tetra it would definitely be the Boehlkea Fredcochui, a.k.a. Knodus Borki (Cochus blue tetra) which is another one of my personal favorite characins. Funny thing about the spilurus, at least in my case is there seems to be a hierarchy. This fish flashes colors of yellow, orange, blue and green within its caudal peduncle which is what makes this fish extra special. As with any fish the home is important 50% weekly water changes, heavily planted, plenty of water movement and quality food will help this fish thrive. Try adding in some Knodus Borki and if you can find them, Danio Jaintianensis for a real treat. Substitute Danio Choprae if Jaintianensis are unavailable.

[rupertoooo]

Some oddball characins. The ultra rare Moenkhausia phaeonota, Hyphessobrycon amapaensis, Iguanodectes spilurus, Hyphessobrycon sp. Rainbow or Bleeding Blue (I do not believe it has been given an official name). I have a few rainbows growing out in the tank as well. Parva, Tabubil and Kamakas.

[bekateen]

That's a really nice looking tank, with colorful fish.

And the background language is colorful too!

Cheers, Eric