Kryptopterus bicirrhis lost a mandibular Barbel

mianos · Post by **mianos** » 10 Feb 2004, 10:01

I have 4 of these and one of them seems to have lost one barbel and the other one looks short. The other 3 look OK to me.
It's a 0ppm ammonia highly planted 380 litre tank with a mix of community fish.
All 4 of them look clear and will eat bloodworms and flake of the surface in dim light.
My question, do barbels grow back in this species?
I have had a search but just can't pinpoint an answer. The only mention I have seen is sometimes barbels degrade in high nitrates but that's not an issue in my tank. I do about 15% water change twice a week.

bye, great site I have been here heaps but never had a reason to post.

Post by **Silurus** » 10 Feb 2004, 10:05

My question, do barbels grow back in this species?

They do. What other fish are you keeping it with? Sounds like the fish in question might have had its barbels nipped off.

mianos · Post by **mianos** » 10 Feb 2004, 11:58

Yes I considered that a possibility aside from it's only one (maybe he is a slow one?).
Other fishies:

4 Balantiocheilus melanopterus (bala shark)
8 Rasbora heteromorpha (harlequin rasbora)
2 Microgeophagus altispinosa (bolivian ram)
4 Botia macracanthus (clown loach)
3 Ancistrus sp.
1 Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps (20cm)
1 small Glyptoperichthys joselimaianus (5cm)

ordered in order of how likely to have nipped the poor thing's barbels.
I would not put it past the bala sharks but aside from the the rasbora these fish pretty much stray at the bottom while the Kryptopterus stay mid to top.

Thanks for the good news that grow back (only one is completely gone).
I have only had these Kryptopterus for 6 weeks. Once I worked out how to feed them they seem pretty healthy. They are great to watch when they are feeding from the surface.

mianos · Post by **mianos** » 10 Feb 2004, 13:05

I just fed them and inspected them closely.
All are eating fine. They get very excited when I put a little flake across the top of the water with the moonlight only on. The other fish seem to be able to smell the food but don't go near the surface at all. The other 3 seem to have perfectly formed barbels. I am thinking now this one may have had problems when I got it and I never noticed. Interestingly he/she seems to be able to detect the food at the surface just as well as the other 3 and seemed to eat just as much.