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I'm getting a group of these soon and am thinking of putting them on "Tahitian Moon Sand" (the black stuff). The tank currently has natural sand that is tan. My goal is to breed but to also showcase their great colors.

What color do you think they will change on black sand?
Do you think the "TMS" will irritate them. Is it going to be too sharp?

It would be great to hear your thoughts.
Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff,
If you want you can use black sand for aesthetic reasons, but it is something these fishes would never encounter in the wild. I have not used TMS. Is it volcanic in origin? I would feel it carefully to make sure it is not sharp. A good mix that would be more natural would be about 80% sand, 15% medium gravel, and a few handfuls of larger gravel. Over this you could scatter some driftwood pieces to simulate fallen branches as well as handfulls of leaves.
-Shane

I wouldn't use it, to me it's too sharp. These fish spend a lot of time burying themselves and sifting sand while eating. The sharp edges of TMS can't be a good thing for an animal that spends so much time direct contact with the substrate. I use Zoomed's riverbed sand (reddish color) with one group and a locally collected olivine (green sand) with another and both groups display their colors nicely.

Hi Jeff,

Shane wrote:A good mix that would be more natural would be about 80% sand, 15% medium gravel, and a few handfuls of larger gravel. Over this you could scatter some driftwood pieces to simulate fallen branches as well as handfulls of leaves.

Shanes tip is very well. Just the leafs I would ignore. Pseudohemiodon species likes current, and leafs are just falling to the ground where the current is very low.
Don't spend too much bright light und give some large driftwood for hiding, so you will get a very nice high-contrast coloration.

Norman

Thanks for the advice guys. I figured the TMS might be too sharp. The tank they're going in is setup perfect as is, natural sand, wood, heavy current and low light.

Will post pics when there in.

Strong current? From what I've read and witnessed, these fish are more comfortable in calm water.

zipper wrote:Strong current? From what I've read and witnessed, these fish are more comfortable in calm water.

Definately not!
I breed 4 Pseudohemiodon and 2 Crossoloricaria species, so got a lot of experience with members of the whole Pseudohemiodon-Group.
All the species I kept until now likes laying in strong current! Low current will be no problem, but they prefer a strong.

regards
Norman

Regarding current, I found mine preferred areas of higher flow in the tank, but obviously the flow can't be too strong otherwise the sand would be washed away.

As Shane alluded to, if you mix sand and pea gravel, you can areas of stronger flow where the sand is washed away, but the gravel remains.

I think a good turnover providing well oxygenated water and a clean substrate are most important.

P. apithanos is the only Pseudohemiodon I have ever kept so I can only speak to what I've observed. My fish (I have 6 breeding adults, 4 semiadults at about 4", and 40 fry ranging from about .5" to 2" from three different spawns. I notice that my fish always position themselves behind driftwood where the current is being deflected. they also congregate on the calmer side of the tank. My tanks are filtered with a single cannister filter (250 gph) and have noticed that my fish are a lot more active now than before when I also included a couple powerheads for circulation.

Many years ago, I saw a Japanese magazine that had some pictures of people collecting P apithanos. The river (if you even wanna call it that looked very still.

Either way, if you guys are successful with your fish in current, then good for you (and the fish!) My setup seems to be working so I don't plan on upping the current anytime soon.

Norman wrote:

zipper wrote:Strong current? From what I've read and witnessed, these fish are more comfortable in calm water.

Definately not!
I breed 4 Pseudohemiodon and 2 Crossoloricaria species, so got a lot of experience with members of the whole Pseudohemiodon-Group.
All the species I kept until now likes laying in strong current! Low current will be no problem, but they prefer a strong.

regards
Norman

Just the leafs I would ignore. Pseudohemiodon species likes current, and leafs are just falling to the ground where the current is very low.

I'll have to look around, but I have an article about collecting these that was posted in the US Catfish Assoc magazine (now defunct). I thought I remembered the author making reference to leaves, but I could be mixing things up.
-Shane

They came in today. Just kinda sitting there. Had the lights off for the first 4 or so hours. No feeding or rummaging around the sand yet.

Cool. Nice group.

You will get a lot of enjoyment from them.

Post some more pictures of them and the whole set-up........

Hi everyone!
I am also preparing myself for keeping pseudohemiodon apithanos. Do you think petco sand might be too sharp? I think it's good when I feel it with my hand but who knows how it will be like for the fish. I think petco carries only one type of sand in two colors: black and white. I got 3 bags of the white one. Also, might the white sand be too bright? Should I mix some black sand in or use regular sandbox sand?
Thanks for the help!

I prefer the sand box play sand available at Toys R Us. Nice color, prewashed and cost like $10 for 20 lbs.
-Shane

What's really become popular around here is Granusil industrial sand. We can purchase it from Menards (I am pretty sure they are not in NJ). It's about $5-$10 a 50 lb bag and has a very fine grain and a nice white color. Some of the local cory breeders turned me on to it and I really like the color and fine aspect. I use it with cories and with my Planiloricaria and they love it. If you search for Granusil you might be able to find it locally.

Andy

Shane, do you think you might still have that article from the US Catfish Assoc magazine laying around?
I would love to see how pseudohemiodon apithanos is collected.
Thanks!

Found it! Oliver Lucanus published it in the Sept 2001 issue of the UK's Cat Chat.

-Shane

Hi Shane,

Do you think you can pm the article to me somehow?
Just pictures of the pages would be great!
Thanks!

I must ask Oliver if he would share it...

Jools

I hope he does Jools!

Thanks!