I can barely find any info on this species. All I know is that they're extremely rare in the hobby and that they need lots of dissolved oxygen in their water....what else is there?
Retroculus care?
- Thread starter FluffySackson
- Start date
Retroculus are rheophylic, so come from clean, very fast flowing river areas with sand bottoms, and occasional rock out crops, so a heavy current with rocks providing a few current blocked, resting areas is usually advised. In nature they are said to be able to swim very long distances very quickly to escape predators.
They are sensitive to nitrate buildup, so lots of water changes.
They are sensitive to nitrate buildup, so lots of water changes.
Do a search on here for them. There's quite a few members that snatched some up when they came in last season. Been keeping an eye on the vendor lists but haven't seen any back in stock yet. Would love to get some more.
As for thier care, once you can get a few good ones(they have a weird habit of randomly dying when they're young, possibly shipping and stress related), just keep their water clean and keep them well fed and warm. Mine go nuts for bloodworms, but will eat just about anything. Relatively easy to keep, but very slow growing, and kind of expensive.
As for thier care, once you can get a few good ones(they have a weird habit of randomly dying when they're young, possibly shipping and stress related), just keep their water clean and keep them well fed and warm. Mine go nuts for bloodworms, but will eat just about anything. Relatively easy to keep, but very slow growing, and kind of expensive.
Just a guess, but the mortality of the wild imports probably has a lot to do with their specific needs not being met, maybe related to the high oxygen content and fast flow of their native waters. They seem to do poorly in shipping. I've talked to a few people who lose 50% or more just having them shipped overnight. They die in the bags. I was going to get a group from John (snookn21) but actually contemplated driving the four hours down to his place and bringing them back in a cooler with battery powered air pumps.
I think if you can meet their dissolved oxygen needs and give them a decent current, they're probably not too difficult. They're also not as rare as you may think. There are already people raising and selling F1 stock. They pop up on Aquabid pretty frequently. Don't be afraid to buy F1 -- they usually have all the vigor and color of wild fish, with the added bonus of being fully acclimated and likely much hardier than newly-imported wild fish.
I think if you can meet their dissolved oxygen needs and give them a decent current, they're probably not too difficult. They're also not as rare as you may think. There are already people raising and selling F1 stock. They pop up on Aquabid pretty frequently. Don't be afraid to buy F1 -- they usually have all the vigor and color of wild fish, with the added bonus of being fully acclimated and likely much hardier than newly-imported wild fish.
Like I stated on the other thread, acclimation is key to survival rate. My first batch I lost 75% compared to last batch 100% morality rate.
