Chaetostoma sp. L457 - any tips? Pix & vids....

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

I'm keeping a group of ten Chaetostoma sp. L457, semi adult to adult I guess since they are all 6-8 cm in size and hopefully both sexes.

I was hoping other Chaetostoma owners could enlighten me a little when it comes to feeding, seems to eat my Novo Pleco and such, but what is the optimal food for these?

As for breeding, any tips on triggering this?

I keep them alone in a 115l tank, sand bottom, caves, wood etc, ph ca 7 and 25 degrees celsius. 10-15% daily water changes.

All input are welcome!

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

…and three more photos of them...

[nvcichlids, posts: 1560]

Those pictures could possibly be used for the catelog! Beautiful fish!

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

Thanx, the photos have already been submitted so who knows when and if they gets added to the profile.

Anyway, after a few more days in the tank they are becoming more and more active during the day. They are all over the tank except the biggest male which keep stand in his slate cave.

[Shane]

Lars,
Let me qualify what I am about to write by stating up front that I have not collected nor maintained this species. That said, I have collected and maintained about a dozen spp of Chaetostoma in Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela and have found them all to have similar care requirements in captivity.
I also just did a Chaetostoma COTM article on Chaetostoma, so watch for that to go up soon.

seems to eat my Novo Pleco and such, but what is the optimal food for these?

If you have them eating regularly you have already crossed the first hurdle. In every group of Chaetostoma I have ever kept there are always some that just refuse to take any type of aquarium food. The group I am keeping now started as nine. Three refused to take foods and passed on. The remaining six however have figured it out and are putting on weight and looking good. The diet is a mix of frozen bloodworms and blackworms every other day and veggies always available. Mainly cucumber, zucchini, and broccoli stems. I tried frozen brineshrimp, twice but they refuse it. The next step will be to try a couple of algae tabs.
Despite what many think, Chaetostoma are omnivores and need more meaty foods in their diet than say Farlowella, Hypostomus, or Ancistrus. The bulk of their diet in the wild comes from scraping riverstones. They get a lot of algae this way but also a lot of protein from insect larvae, aquatic bugs, and other creatures living on and under the stones.

As for breeding, any tips on triggering this?

There really are not enough documented spawnings to say for sure. However in two spawnings I am aware of the tank's temp had been raised from 74-75F (23 C) to 77-78F (25C) for one reason or another. This makes sense as the temperature of hillstreams goes up during the dry season when they spawn.

I keep them alone in a 115l tank, sand bottom, caves, wood etc, ph ca 7 and 25 degrees celsius. 10-15% daily water changes.

This sounds good, but the temperature is probably on the high side for day to day maintenance. My six are in a 75 liter, gravel and stone substrate forming lots of caves, pH about 7, temp at 23.8. Water changes 25% twice weekly.
As they come from flowing hillstreams they will not tolerate poor water conditions. The "worst" water conditions these fish would see in the dry season are still nearly pristine. Not a good fish for the biweekly to monthly water change fishkeeper.

-Shane

[HaakonH, posts: 279]

I have been on the search for these since they first were presented by Glaser in Germany last year. I asked my supplier to be on the look out for them, and a few weeks ago he brought me good news. I arranged the import of a group of 10, asking my friend and skilled breeder Lars to house them in one of his spare tanks. I believe this is the first time they have been imported to Norway, unless some of the specimens from Glaser reached our shores last year.

L455, L456 and L457 are all believed to be the same species. Difference in appearance is thought to be partially due to gender difference and dominance, with dominant/breeding males believed to be more colourful.

These are from Rio Pisqui, a tributary to Rio Ucayali, Peru. Reports suggest it takes about 20 hours by boat to travel from the mouth of Rio Pisqui to where it meets the Andes. I suppose this information could suggest that this species originates from water that isn't particularly warm, like with several other Peruvian Chaetostoma biotopes.

When we received these specimens, they were in great condition. My supplier has done a great job quarantining them before he sent them to me. The biggest specimens imported to Germany last spring were approx 8 cm TL, so the ones we received should be mature fish.

The fish are placed in one of Lars' tanks, where they have been given the best possible conditions for mainteance and hopefully breeding. The fact that other breeders have reported success by increasing the temperature to 25 degrees Celcius is a good thing, if this is a trigger it could hopefully mean that our group is feeling very happy atm...Our tapwater here has proven to be excellent for fishkeeping and breeding of softwater species, and it's happened more than once that well-conditioned fish has been triggered to breed just by being moved into a new, properly arranged tank. I wouldn't be too surprised if that happened with this group of L457 too! Here's hoping

Haakon

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

So far it seems that they accept different types of food in the tank, although they use longer time on it than my other Ancistrus, Hypancistr.us etc.

Been feeding them NovoTabs, NovoPleco, brussel sprout, live whiteworms, freeze dried blackworm, discusbits etc. I just hope all ten are eating. At least the more meaty food seems to be gone the next day, the NovoPleco tabs takes longer.

I sprinkled spiraling powder in the water last night and they went crazy and was all over the HMF filtermat and roots afterwards.

My biggest concern is to manage to keep the temperature low since the tank is in our livingroom. Perhaps I should just order me a Aqua Medic Cooling unit if the cooling fans don't do the job without leaving me with an open tank solution…

[Jools]

I've been keeping one since the first shipment to Germany last year. It's very happy in a "normal" tank of pH 6.8, 78F and a gentle current from power filtration. I do not know what it eats, it's being kept with some F1 from wild Swordtails.

Jools

[brechtvh, posts: 165]

WOW, stunning fish!
Good luck breeding them.

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

So far it seems like the group is doing well and they seem to take most food offered, both meaty and green based. Although they eat much slower than what I'm used to with my other species. Guess it has something to do with the colder water they need, or?

An external cooling unit has just been ordered so that I'll be able to keep the temperature cool enough for them during the summer etc.

The caudal fin has turned reddish in colour on several of the individuals now as well, especially on the biggest one which I guess is a male. He watches his cave constantly and has been since they where introduced to the tank.

[brechtvh, posts: 165]

Stunning fish, I love them!

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

Here's a little recording of the L-457 tank, they are a bit shy for the first few minute or so after I put the camera in front of the tank but then they start to loosen up. The greenish water is because they where just fed with Spirulina powder and also some Tetra Discusbits are floating around...

PS: Sorry for the poor video quality...

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

Here's a new video of the 457 gang, slightly better quality.... When they get less shy perhaps I can manage to get some better up-close vids of them.

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

The ten individuals are still eating and seems to be doing very well now that I've connected an external cooling unit to the tank and manages to maintain an average temperature of 23 C. They've also become much more active in the tank after I got the temp bellow 26 degrees.

Attached are some recent photos...

[brechtvh, posts: 165]

Nice tank setup's, I just love those fish.
Keep us updated!

[Shane]

Yes, keep us updated as you are clearly having success. Glad to hear that the fish are well.
-Shane

[bigbird, posts: 225]

they are beautiful indeed. Nice markings and shape. Do you have a strong current ? cheers jk

[Lars Jamne, posts: 39]

All ten are still alive and well, but no spawning yet... The Aqua Medic cooler helps a lot I think and keeps the water cool at 22 degrees, they are all showing good coloring and are very active. Not to mention they eat a lot, everything I give them is gone the next day.

As for current I have between 1500-2000 l/h. External Eheim 2073+HMF plus a 1000 l/t internal powerhead. But they don't seem to mind less current either. I believe the addition of extra oxygen is more important, so I have two airstones at max...

[Shane]

I believe the addition of extra oxygen is more important, so I have two airstones at max...

I have noticed this with all Chaetostoma. Although many aquarists associate high currents and high oxygen levels, they are not the same thing. These fish need high O2 levels to thrive, but high current levels are optional.
-Shane

[franco68, posts: 21]

all kind chaetostoma lives in temperatures as' low?