New Arrivals - Glyptothorax siamensis

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 04 Jan 2012, 07:47

Thanks Rupert. I have just been reading the profile for D.choprae and noted the following:

seriouslyfish.com wrote:but torrent-like conditions should be avoided as small danios tend to occupy calmer stretches/marginal zones in nature.

which surely rules them out for me?
Martin

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 04 Jan 2012, 08:29

Truly torrent-like conditions = you can't stand up in 2 feet of water. I doubt you will have 4000W worth of pumps on your tank... ;)

--
Mats

sojapat · Post by **sojapat** » 04 Jan 2012, 11:58

Hi Martin , I think the flow is an issue , Also I think once settled and grown these cats may predate on small fish? Given the way they are acting I would suspect this but I may be wrong .
Sorry to throw another problem in .

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 04 Jan 2012, 13:21

sojapat wrote:Hi Martin , I think the flow is an issue , Also I think once settled and grown these cats may predate on small fish? Given the way they are acting I would suspect this but I may be wrong .
Sorry to throw another problem in .

Yes, I had already decided that the flow would be more than likely too much for the smaller danios, though had not really considered predation until now...

No problem, just another hurdle to jump

Martin

N0body Of The Goat · Post by **N0body Of The Goat** » 04 Jan 2012, 17:14

If predation of smaller fish is a real possibility, how about something more stocky such as Puntius semifasciolatus (SF suggests feral poulations all over the place, some amazing photos of wild forms at http://www.seriouslyfish.com/forums/ind ... asciolatus) or Puntius conchonius? What temperature range do the G. siamensis need?

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 04 Jan 2012, 17:55

Hi Steve.
They need cooler water - I aim to keep them at a maximum of 72F. I still haven't written off your Barilius yet, am just exploring all the options. Seeing more of the glyptos feeding, I have less and less concerns of them being outcompeted for food, but equally, have to remember that a handful of corys and a pair of diamond tetra are hardly competition!
I'm hoping to get the tank in place and filled this weekend, and that will give me a better idea of the amount of water movement I'll have once the eheim plumbed up and either 1 or 2 koralias in.
Cheers
Martin

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 04 Jan 2012, 20:40

I'd still wouldn't rule out fishies like the Zebra Barb and the like

yes, they're small.
but they're also dirtcheap; you can easily buy 25 of them for a price that doesn't get you more than 4 Opsarius or other barbs

also: the activity level sure will make them visible in a 5 foot tank.

lastly: they can and do cope with more current in youre tank than you likely will set up! they're strong swimmers.......

if you're still thinking "but Danio rerio is too tiny!" you can go for this beauty:

enter Danio dangila

this is one powerful swimmer; it's also fairly large; wellgrown adults hit the 4-5" mark.
it should be available from time to time.
it can handle anything between 15'C and 25'C and the amount of watermovement this beastie can handle is more than your wallet can

it feeds midwater, but if you add a bit of night feedings, your catfishes should be just fine

no way a 5 foot tank with the Dangila in there will be "boring".

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 05 Jan 2012, 02:11

MatsP wrote:Truly torrent-like conditions = you can't stand up in 2 feet of water. I doubt you will have 4000W worth of pumps on your tank... ;)

Martin S wrote:Yes, I had already decided that the flow would be more than likely too much for the smaller danios,

I think Mats is right. You certainly may not get Danio syntopic with Glyptothorax in the wild, but in captivity you will never be able to recreate those torrent conditions. What you can give them will be closer to what Danio will naturally experience. Every Danio I have kept loves even the strongest current, with the exception of the tiny lacustrine species such as D. erythromicron and D. margaritatus.

Whether a 3" Glyptothorax will eat a 1" Danio, I don't know. I can't imagine them chomping on them overnight, so a useful experiment perhaps?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 05 Jan 2012, 10:13

most Danio species keep to the surface at night and will be out of reach for the catfish.

flat species like Glyptothorax can only hunt when they stay close to any side of the tank, but will not swim free in the water or near the surface.

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 05 Jan 2012, 11:07

Thanks chaps, more food for thought! Watching the Glyptos feed, whilst they do stay close to the glass, they also use any flat edge to navigate about - even vallis stems! It's amazing to watch them. I've found that by sitting the food behind the spraybar, they will come straight to it and feed before the current grabs it and spreads it about - though even then they dash round grabbing morsels from the water, bt always close to the floor or sides of the tank.

I do like the Danio dangila you suggest sid, nice choice! I'll keep my eyes open for them!

Thanks again

Martin

Shovelnose · Post by **Shovelnose** » 05 Jan 2012, 11:42

I don't think will hunt down fish. My fairly large G.indicus was with around a dozen tiny , small Garra and Oreichthys and not one fish went missing. HH had mentioned in another thread that their dentition suggested a scraping mode of feeding.

One report even suggests that G.telchitta is completely herbivorous. There was a gut content analysis done on G.poonaensis earlier this year and to quote the paper, "the fish feeds on benthic macroinvertebrates such as freshwater prawns , maxillopod crustacean (Branchiura)and Odonata nymph." Reports on other species (pectinopeterus,stocki,cavia etc) also arrive at similar conclusions. So tankmates are completely safe IMO.

All the literature I refer to are based on species from the Indian subcontinent.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 05 Jan 2012, 22:03

Martin S wrote: I do like the Danio dangila you suggest sid, nice choice! I'll keep my eyes open for them!

Danio dangila will be as greedy as any Devario, if not more so. But if you're certain that the will compete okay, then shouldn't be a problem. You could also consider Danio megalayensis. It could be considered to be a "pimped up" D. dangila with lovely orange, blue and gold markings. Google it, you'll see pics of Neil's fish at Pier. There's always Danio feegradei too, and that can be a real stunner, with iridescent blue flanks!

sidguppy wrote:enter Danio dangila

As an aside, the photo of the Danio posted (below) by sidguppy is not actually Danio dangila. This most likely an undescribed Danio from Burma. Sorry to point that out, but it's interesting none the less.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/450 ... 1962dd.jpg

sojapat · Post by **sojapat** » 05 Jan 2012, 22:44

Bogged down with lots of nice choice ,what a great position to be in ,The dangilla is the Myanmar one yes .It is a pound cheaper than opsarius though ??? A no brainer IMO opsarius are more interesting by far .The more I watch the Glyptothorax the more I think they will compete sucsessfully with the big eaters .
Rupert we had some new freegradei in last month with red fins Kamphol said they were new they flew out sadly no picture

There are some great fish from Myanmar still appearing ,I had a flourescent yellow giant danio last year .
Anyway Martin its great to see they have settled in and are feeding well,get some paracetamol for the headache,I bet google images is worn out

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 06 Jan 2012, 10:08

sojapat wrote:Bogged down with lots of nice choice ,what a great position to be in

Indeed!

sojapat wrote:The dangilla is the Myanmar one yes. It is a pound cheaper than opsarius though ??? A no brainer IMO opsarius are more interesting by far .The more I watch the Glyptothorax the more I think they will compete sucsessfully with the big eaters .

I agree, they are definitely very sure of themselves and were even seen taking flake food/tetra prima last night!

sojapat wrote: Rupert we had some new freegradei in last month with red fins Kamphol said they were new they flew out sadly no picture
There are some great fish from Myanmar still appearing ,I had a flourescent yellow giant danio last year .
Anyway Martin its great to see they have settled in and are feeding well,get some paracetamol for the headache,I bet google images is worn out

Indeed, am much more relaxed about them now, and know pretty much where to find them when i look in the tank. I'm going to make a start on setting up the 5' this weekend - Mats is popping over to collect some fish, and he has sugested a trip up to Pier later this month, so I'm hoping this will work out and I can see these fish in the flesh!
Thanks again all for your input

Martin

Post by **medaka** » 06 Jan 2012, 11:14

The Glyptothorax siamensis I have really settled in nicely; and are feeding well.
Neil, those small lighter coloured catfish in with the 'Pseudolaguvia' have the look of young P shawi. The first set of photo's I took was not to clear as they kept trying to bury themselves in the sand. I have taken some more this morning, but they will have to wait until later today to confirm if they are indeed P shawi as I have to go out.

The.Dark.One · Post by **The.Dark.One** » 06 Jan 2012, 21:02

I saw those too Adrian and I too think they are shawi

Post by **medaka** » 06 Jan 2012, 23:33

These are P shawi, although they are tiny (20-25mm SL) and look like they have been out competed for food by the other Pseudolaguvia in the tank.
They are housed in a tank with some E jerdoni; and at the moment they are being fed live grindal worms, micro worms and newly hatched brine shrimp. All the ones I took are still alive, will have to see how they go one.

: Pseudolaguvia shawi

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 23 Jan 2012, 15:22

Out of wanting some movement in their current abode, i added a group of 6 Rasbora vulcanus yesterday - three of each sex. Very pretty fish and I hope to add to that group to make it 12-15. it seems that these would be suitable tankmates, but are they closely biotype, or miles off?
Martin

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 23 Jan 2012, 15:46

Habitat may be similar, but being pedantic to annoyance (as I can be ;) ), they are from West Sumatra, which is more than a few hundred miles of mountains and salt-water from Thailand, where the originate.

They look nice on the pictures I could find!

--
Mats

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 23 Jan 2012, 16:33

MatsP wrote:Habitat may be similar, but being pedantic to annoyance (as I can be ;) ), they are from West Sumatra, which is more than a few hundred miles of mountains and salt-water from Thailand, where the
Glyptothorax siamensis
originate.

They look nice on the pictures I could find!

--
Mats

You - pedantic! Never! ;)

Another impulse purchase that seemed a good idea at the time! Yes, they are very nice actually, I will almost definitely keep them and maybe just go with fast-water fish without being as anal as I had initially planned!

Cheers Mats

Martin

N0body Of The Goat · Post by **N0body Of The Goat** » 23 Jan 2012, 16:47

Nearly posted on here to try and find out where things stood with this tank, having "gone quiet on the western front" for over two weeks. Good luck with the rasboras, guess you have had to raise the temp up a bit more than originally planned, as SF suggests 23C as a starting point (and intrestingly did not suggest their often used phrase, "a tank setup to resemble a flowing stream").

Any new deveopments with the Glyptothorax?

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 23 Jan 2012, 19:27

Hi Steve.
Things have gone quiet as have been waiting on delivery of a new 16mm double tap - didn't want to set anything up until the external was plumbed correctly. I have made a start on adding the substrate (pebbles and a large rock) but not yet got a large enough power head, so the glyptos (which are doing really well) are still in the smaller tank. I hadnt looked at any info on the rasboras, but if upping the temp is needed, then I'll move them on when I move the glyptos over. I am still interested in your fish, but with my holiday in a few weeks, am just taking my time. I'll be back in touch when I get back and will plan a trip down to your neck of the woods.
Cheers
Martin

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 08 Mar 2012, 10:12

I've had three more arrive this morning, again from Pier's excellent delivery service. These specimens are much bigger, the largest being ~9cm SL.

: All three fish together.

: Largest fish, around 10cm SL

I'll get them into the photo tank before letting them into the tank, as it will be near on impossible once they have been let loose!
Martin

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 08 Mar 2012, 11:17

Pictures of the new arrivals in the photo tank:

: The largest of the three.

Martin

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 08 Mar 2012, 11:20

They look nice!

--
Mats

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 08 Mar 2012, 11:34

Hi!!

Nice!! any idea of sexing?? The biggest look stubier than the 2 smaller one??
Big female and 2 small males??
Cheers
Yann

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 08 Mar 2012, 12:41

MatsP wrote:They look nice!

Yes, I think so too! I almiost wish I'd gone for the larger ones first time round too, but as they started life in a 2', didn't want to risk any serious squabbling in confined quarters.

Yann wrote:Hi!!

Nice!! any idea of sexing?? The biggest look stubier than the 2 smaller one??
Big female and 2 small males??
Cheers
Yann

Yep

No Yann, I'm not sure about sexing at all, but as you say, the largest is definitely 'plumper' than the other two, so yes, that could be a possibility.
Cheers
Martin

N0body Of The Goat · Post by **N0body Of The Goat** » 08 Mar 2012, 15:56

The new trio look great!

Have you put them straight in the existing trio, Opsarius and Pearls in the 5-footer, or are you going to QT them first?

Martin S · Post by **Martin S** » 08 Mar 2012, 16:00

N0body Of The Goat wrote:The new trio look great!

Have you put them straight in the existing trio, Opsarius and Pearls in the 5-footer, or are you going to QT them first?

No, straight in. I don't have anywhere I can QT them.

Martin

nvcichlids · Post by **nvcichlids** » 09 Mar 2012, 00:11

i am with everyone about the possible trio. Any new FTS?