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Unfortunately, I'm no longer the owner of 2 C. callichthys, as the female died some time the night to sunday - I found her in a cave, stiff as a board. I'm not sure if the male got agressive, one of the bristlenoses was unhappy about sharing space with the female or some such... No obvious sign of the cause of death, so it may simply be the stress of the transport, or some other problem like that.

I will probably try to get a mate for the male at some point. He looks to be in OK condition.

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Mats

Mats,
It does happen to all of us, but it doesn't make it any easier. How long did you have her?
Amanda

Got it Friday evening and it was dead on Sunday morning. And yes, I know it happens to all of us.

On a more positive note, if found an "extra" Corydoras sterbai eating breakfast this morning. It must have survived the dangers of 8" Satanoperca and 4" M. thoracata in my RIO 400, which is quite amazing.

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Mats

Generally speaking, Satanoperca are no threat to corydoras - unless very small indeed, less than 1,5 cm or so

Sorry te hear your Callichthys did not make it, it always sucks loosing special fishes

bad luck with the callichthys Mats - i hate it when this sort of thing happens & you just wished you'd done something diferently & everything would've been alright - at least that's how i feel when this happens to me...

Yes, there's obviously many options you think "What if I had ..." - and annoyingly, this species isn't one that I often see in my local shops. It wasn't expensive, but going to get anoth from Wholesale tropicals is a bit of a trek for me, so it's not going to happen in the next few weeks for sure - and then there's no guarantee that they have one - there seemed to be more males than females in the tank (and a bunch of slightly smaller ones that didn't show sexual dimorphism at all).

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Mats

Hi Mats,

So sorry to hear about your female Callichthys. Rest in peace little one.

Its a shame you don't live up here in Yorkshire you could have got one from me.

Its funny you should say there are more males than females in the shop, we breed a lot of Callichthys and we seem to get more males than females too, i thought it was just the Yorkshire water.

Vicky. xx

Bas Pels wrote:Generally speaking, Satanoperca are no threat to corydoras - unless very small indeed, less than 1,5 cm or so

Oh, sure, they don't eat small fish, but I've seen them eat newly "released" bristlenose babies, and I've seen them go after the cory eggs. I'm sure they will eat the hatched babies given a chance. But I agree that they are not predatory in the same way that, say, a piranha or pike-cichlid would be.

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Mats

hoplo wrote:Hi Mats,

So sorry to hear about your female Callichthys. Rest in peace little one.

Its a shame you don't live up here in Yorkshire you could have got one from me.

Its funny you should say there are more males than females in the shop, we breed a lot of Callichthys and we seem to get more males than females too, i thought it was just the Yorkshire water.

Vicky. xx

Thanks for the offer. If I'm ever travelling towards Yorkshire [which isn't likely, but nor is it impossible], I may take you up on it...

I have no explanation to the distribution of male vs. female. All I can say is that among about 10 or so fish, there seemed to be more males than females. That could simply be what happened to be in that bag of fish from a wholesaler or breeder. But I've read that pH contributes to the distribution of male vs. female in some species, so it could have something to do with it.

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Mats

MatsP wrote:Got it Friday evening and it was dead on Sunday morning. And yes, I know it happens to all of us.

On a more positive note, if found an "extra" Corydoras sterbai eating breakfast this morning. It must have survived the dangers of 8" Satanoperca and 4" M. thoracata in my RIO 400, which is quite amazing.

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Mats

Nothing better than an unexpected pair of eyes looking back at you from behind the aquarium glass in the morning.
Amanda

MatsP wrote:there seemed to be more males than females in the tank (and a bunch of slightly smaller ones that didn't show sexual dimorphism at all).Mats

I got my four Callichthys from hoplo, and three of the four are female. I know a group of four isn't representative statistically of sex ratios, though! I've never had a male M. thoracata either- my current three are all females, and the four or five I've had previously (over 20 years ago) have all turned out to be females- however, a friend had 8 out of 10 that turned out to be males!

I don't know if anyone else is breeding Callichthys nearer you than hoplo- at the CSG's September show and auction at Darwen, Callichthys turned up in 3 lots (one of which was hoplo's), which suggests that there must be at least 2 other breeders somewhere...

Seems like I have to go to the CSG auction, as I just lost the male as well - I'm pretty sure it got attacked by a bristlenose when hiding in a cave on the night to sunday. I tried to "rescue it" by moving to another tank and medicating against bacterial infection with a generic medication, and it made it for a couple of days, but passed away last night.

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Mats

I'm sure I've seen some recently. Can't remember where though.

I shall keep my eye open for you....

MatsP wrote:Seems like I have to go to the CSG auction, as I just lost the male as well - I'm pretty sure it got attacked by a bristlenose when hiding in a cave on the night to sunday. I tried to "rescue it" by moving to another tank and medicating against bacterial infection with a generic medication, and it made it for a couple of days, but passed away last night.

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Mats

When I first got mine they got seriously bullied by a juvenile sailfin plec and syno eupterus, plus young geos- it seemed like none of the other fish could cope with them as they're just so irrepressible at feeding time, swarming under, over, around or through anything or anyone in the way of perceived food. Once they've settled though they seem pretty hardy (at least I've not lost any in 9 months), and the other fish seem to pretty much ignore them now (including Tilapia mariae, which have a bit of a reputation for being mean- 2 of my 3 males of these have paired up and are trying to persuade each other to spawn!).