Chaestoma Sp.

fishguyeric · Post by **fishguyeric** » 19 Dec 2004, 14:40

I have not gotten a good pic of these yet, but to me they look like L187A. I bought 5 from the LFS for $4 apiece and I think I am going to go back and buy the rest today.

For now they are in a 10g quarantine tank temp 78 moderatly hard water, no nitrates, ammonia etc.

Is there anything special I should know about them?

How would I go about breeding them?

Post by **Silurus** » 19 Dec 2004, 14:44

They require cool water (I would go lower than 78 to somewhere in the low 70s) and prefer a current. Check out the CotM article on this fish.

fishguyeric · Post by **fishguyeric** » 19 Dec 2004, 15:05

The fish in the COTM article does not look like mine that much, I must have been wrong on ID, mine are greyer and have huge mouths.

It looks more like the 2nd pic in the article.

Post by **Silurus** » 19 Dec 2004, 15:10

The requirements should be the same, regardless of species. If you are going to keep that many in the same tank, make sure there is enough space and hiding places, as they are territorial.

fishguyeric · Post by **fishguyeric** » 19 Dec 2004, 15:58

Thanks

Post by **Silurus** » 19 Dec 2004, 21:37

How would I go about breeding them?

This and this might help.

saradora · Post by **saradora** » 19 Dec 2004, 21:42

Just wanted to say that Silurus has given me a lot of advice about chaetostoma; I took it, and it worked. I think that being held in a shop at temps between 78-80 is very stressful for rubbernoses, so be prepared that you might have problems even if you do everything you can for them. It seems to me that they are terribly intolerant of high temps, even for short time periods. I had one live for close to a month then it died when summer temps in my basement reached 78 for a couple days. (My average basement temp in the summer is 75.) I have 3 that have been alive for 5 months, 1 for 7. I keep them at 71-72F. They are all under 3" and in a 10 gallon tank with a ludicrously large filter that makes a strong current in the tank. I also run a large airstone as they have very high oxygen requirements. The current isn't as important as the oxygen. Also, if you don't know this already, they want nothing to do with driftwood. They like large, smooth stones (like big river pebbles). I tried to put caves in for them, but they usually just dig in the substrate to get partially under the large stones.
Sorry for the length, hope this helps! I have 12 plecos, and my 4 chaetostoma species were the most challenging, by far.

Chaestoma Sp.

Chaestoma Sp.

Re: Chaestoma Sp.