38 replies to this topic

[Jupz]

Yeah I have kept red devils with plecos before and it was fine. It just depends on the nature of the RD and the size of the plecos.

Also a GT could work if its nice natured.

[Bowdy]

I don't doubt that has happened befor but stating that's what will happen I think is a bit misleading mate.

Edit. Intended as a reply to last post on first page cheers.

[alex101]

ok wateva fine

[smellsfishy]

went to my local lfs, i can get them for $22 each, which is good means i dont have to go to perth for them.

[Peckoltia]

hey guys, seeing as my 3 year old fronnies died:/ im thinking of starting new.
im going to get a 6x2x2 one day, and right now i have 3 plecos which are my pride and joy.
so im looking for a big flashy fish to be the centre of attention only tank mates will be the 3 plecos.
i want this fish to be great like greeting me at the front of the tank and getting excited when food is coming.
as he will be the centre of attention i want him to grow pretty big. i would love a mangrove jack, but they seem to go for $500 + for a small one?
i want to be able to get it small like 5cm to grow up.
got any suggestions?
p.s not a fan of oscars...

$500 is far too much for a mangrove jack. I'm sure with a bit of asking around you can find one considerably cheaper.

I think your best bet would be go down to some of the sponsors stores. Have a walk around and see what grabs YOUR interest. Then do some research on what you like.

Archers are nice fish, I have had no problems keeping them in full FW before. If you like them you could go a semi-native tank by adding some scats, which can be seen as nice large flashy fish.

arowana are the asian type of saratogas yeah? arent they a heap more to, how easy/hard are sartogas to keep?
i was looking at a archer fish the other day, they are quite fascinating.

Saratogas/arowana are and easy fish to keep, once you have an appropriate sized aquarium. A 6x2x2 would be OK for a Jardini/leichardti/Asian. However it would be too small for a silver (south american arowana).

will my plecos like the brackish water? ive been told that archer fish like cichlid conditions?

Plecos can tolerate small amounts of salt. I would not recommened keeping plecos in saline water for long periods of time.

cichlids like to flip over plecos and kill them also they like to bite out there eyes so caution should be taken when mixing these two fish

I have kept many species of plecos with cichlids over the years. From Tangs to large Central americans. I have never once seen a cichlid flip over a pleco and attack it. I have also never had a problem with them eating plecos eyes. It is possible that you have seen plecos in cichlid tanks dead with no eyes, this usually happens after the fish has died, the eyes and stomach and generally the easiest areas for cichlids to pillage! Plecos, in particularly common plecos, gibbis and gold spots make great additions to robust cichlid tanks. I tend to find that cichlids don't see them as a threat and will generally leave them alone. Subsrate spawning cichlids, with eggs or fry are a different story though.

In my opinion the info you have given in this thread is pretty substandard. I know some people 'just like to help', but often the best help you can give is none at all, if you don't have ample knowledge in the area.

[smellsfishy]

can some one specify brackish water for me please?
ive been googleing but there all to wordy. most importantly how do i make tap water brackish water and how do i check its brackish water?
so peckoltia your saying i shouldnt keep plecos in brackish water?

[Peckoltia]

Brackish - is more salty than pure freshwater, less salty than seawater/marine. Brackish is generally from 1 - 30 ppt (parts per thousand).

[smellsfishy]

so how do i make it from fresh water, is there something i can put in the water to make it help out making it saltier?

[Peckoltia]

so how do i make it from fresh water, is there something i can put in the water to make it help out making it saltier?

I'll state the obvious here: Salt.

It depends how salty you want to make your tank water. Salt in water (salinity) is usually measured as PPT: Parts per thousand.

- this means that adding 1g of salt to every liter of aquarium water will give you 1ppt. Similarly adding 5g of salt for every liter of water will give you 5ppt.

Remember, when keeping a brackish/SW aquarium that water evaporates, salt does not. If imbetween water changes there is noticable evaporation then the fish tank will need to be topped up to compensate for this. Otherwise you will have an increase in salinity as there is the same amount of salt, in less water.

[smellsfishy]

i was told, that archers like there water like cichlids? the high ph?

[ice]

Yeah $500 for a jack is insane. I paid 200 for mine and i had to get it flown over from Sydney. Even that was bloody expensive. The bad thing about jacks is they will kill everything you put in with them eventually. Mine is in with a Barramundi, L104 and 6 red scats.

Everything cops a bit of a flogging but the barra is getting sold at the moment because he cops it the worst. The cattys get left alone most of the time and I'm pretty sure the scats taste bad, that and they have really thick skin and not much bothers them. Jacks are pretty hard to find till they have had lots of rain up north and they start to breed. That or you might be able to find a farmed batch somewhere if your lucky.

[smellsfishy]

im kind of on the idea of archers now, i just want to know if i can keep archers in cichlid conitions?

[Peckoltia]

can some one specify brackish water for me please?
ive been googleing but there all to wordy. most importantly how do i make tap water brackish water and how do i check its brackish water?
so peckoltia your saying i shouldnt keep plecos in brackish water?

Plecos can tolerate salt. I personally wouldn't advise keeping plecos in brackish water for extended periods of time. If you are going to give it a crack, do it slowly. Over the space of months.

i was told, that archers like there water like cichlids? the high ph?

I used to keep my archers in straight dechlorinated tap water, which for me is usually around pH 7.5. I would go with anything from 7.0 - 8.0. By cichlids, I'm assuming you mean African rift lake species. As alot of cichlid species need soft/acidic water.

im kind of on the idea of archers now, i just want to know if i can keep archers in cichlid conitions?

Again. I have to assume that you mean African rift lake conditions. Eg: malawis/tangs. Yes the pH requirements are quite similar. If you are going to make it a brackish tank, then no the water requirements do not suit each other. The biggest concern would be aggression. Cichlids can be quite boisterous at times. Archer fish generally don't have much attitude to them, especially when small.

I think it could be very achievable if you were keeping the archers with fairly placid species: peacocks, electric yellows etc. Probably wouldn't be the best move with nippy mbuna or larger malawi haps.

[smellsfishy]

cheers mate youve been a big help, im going to keep the archers by the selves in with the plecos but in cichlid conditions because it is easier for me to achieve, instead of play sand i might just put crushed limestone sand in and that should get my ph to 7.5

[smellsfishy]

hey guys one more question lol.
im going to feed them crickets as a treat and im going to breed glass shrimp for a little hunting for them, what should they manly eat?

[alex101]

i started mine with crickets glass shrimkp should be good if you can get him to go down to the bottom of the tank but get him to go to flakes(high in protien and sh*t) he might have to be starved a little but it will save you a lot of money!

[smellsfishy]

cheers, what flake do you suggest, is their spectrum flake ?
post some picks of your hard to find spiny eel man.

[alex101]

pics are posted i feed him hbh 8 vegie flakes and some other meaty flakes

[ice]

Feed it sera flora or NSL Pellets, it all depends really what he was fed on prior to you getting him. Find out and adjust the feed accordingly, if you have a preference of food you can introduce it to the fish slowly so it gets used to it. In my experience you should try to keep the live feeding as more of a treat rather then a constant thing, the archers will tend to go off pellets and flakes if they are too spoiled.

If you're getting more than one you should to try to get them all the same size and small, they tend to get a bit of a pecking order happening and once you have a bigger more dominant fish it will cause problems unless you have a school, in which case they can team up on the big one. I found i saw most aggression in mine when live feeding as they compete for the same food, so if you can give them lots all at once so they don't fight over crickets.

Hope you enjoy them mate, they are cool fish to keep.