Tankmates for M. thoracata?

[L number Banana]

Hi,
Getting 5

Megalechis thoracata

this weekend and have a brand new starter tank for them. I'm planning to use decor,gravel, filter etc from established tanks to help the cycling along. Haven't decided what temp range since M.thoracata can have a wide range. The tank is going to be medium light crepuscular (SP??) with one spotlight. Tank is 24 inch x 12x12 (15 gal). Fish are still small. Will have plants suitable for bubblenest building and vals.
I have sand, rounded gravel, limestone, slate, wood so any set-up is possible at the moment.

Any suggestions on what commonly available tankmates would work for their slightly-less-than-authentic SA biotope? More catfish would be nice but any other critters too.

Thanks for any and all suggestions. If I can't get it done by Saturday, no biggie, I can put them in the big tank for now.

May have access to banjos and Rineloricaria (the common one)? Any thoughts to go in a Hoplo tank?

[fischkringli]

Banjos could work, but Rhineloricaria is to slow. They wuold dy by hunger.

[L number Banana]

Banjos could work, but Rhineloricaria is to slow. They wuold dy by hunger.

That's a good point! The hoplos sound like they kind of take over at feeding time. I'll have to keep that in mind for whatever I put in there.

[MatsP]

I can certainly confirm that Hoplos can and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth - they don't have very large mouths, but they will definitely eat ANYTHING that they can possibly eat. And whilst they are not aggressive, they certainly are greedy and will go find food wherever they can.

--
Mats

[L number Banana]

Thanks Mats,
Wow, glad you told me! I wouldn't want to start the challenge by feeding my subjects the rest of my collection by mistake

Does anyone know what sort of fish or critters are around them in the wild? The description page mentions "plant infested pools" but when I click on the distribution areas, the range is huge wrt ph, cat types, habitats etc so it's too large an area to really help me find what was living right in the same area. I need to find an article called, "South American Plant Infested Pool Biotope" I'm starting to wonder if I should just keep them in a separate tank until my backyard pond warms up! It would recreate the location perfectly. It even has a couple puddle spots.

They were found in Mana R. River or rio I guess? Maybe books in the geography dept might give me some better ideas as to what this river is/was like and go from there.

[fischkringli]

I got one hoplo, too. Hes kind of hyperactive everytime night and day. I call him "vacuum cleaner with fins"

[MatsP]

The type specimen was (apparently) caught in Mana River in French Guyana, but as you mention, they live just about anywhere. They are pretty much "anything goes" fish. They need a big floating leaf or a plastic lid to reproduce (and not too much current), but otherwise. As I understand it, they live in drainage ditches and open-air sewers too.

--
Mats

[L number Banana]

Thanks Mats,
I've got lots of breeding info, just getting a bit stuck trying to find what fish might make suitable tankmates Maybe I'll have to go with a species only tank and just wing it with the biotope thing.

Cheers

[MatsP]

Thanks Mats,
I've got lots of breeding info, just getting a bit stuck trying to find what fish might make suitable tankmates Maybe I'll have to go with a species only tank and just wing it with the biotope thing.

Cheers

They really go well with most things as long as the tank-mates are fairly bold with regards to feeding.

--
Mats

[L number Banana]

Hi Mats,
I'm only asking because you've always been very patient with my crazy ideas....

I can get some small p.pictus right now for a really good price and I just adore them and trying to find any way to work them into my set-ups. What do you think if I keep the water set for the p.pictus, they sound like they can hold their own with regards to feeding with the M.thoracata. They would be together for maybe five months or so while the last tank cycles.

Even though they're not quite the same area, at least the continent is correct, unlike my, um, 'catfish of the world tank'.

"last tank" - famous last words

[fischkringli]

P. pictus is a good idea. My cousin has a hoplo with 2 P. pictus and it works good. But its hard for the eyes to look into this "rushhour" tank. P. pictus, hoplos, Barbs and Danio rerio. You go crazy when you look in this tank for more than one minute.