Hoplias Aimara "Colombian Orinoco"

[Oxydoras]

Forgot to mention her tank is in my fish room, where there is relatively little foot traffic. When she was in quarantine in the 75, she was in the living room and seemed a bit less reclusive.

Not sure how to go about bringing more foot traffic in front of the 240 though, it's certainly not being moved into the living room!

 

[DB junkie]

From what I've experienced these fish are actually much different then their stereotype. They seem to pout a lot considering their "aggressive" nature. Seem to take long periods to adjust to changes. The last one I acquired still doesn't eat regularly and it's probably been here 4-5 months.

I'd definitely want to get some other fish in there to take a bit of the focus off her. I've had bad luck with slender silver fish like Balas or ATF. Barbs like Tinfoils or Lemon Fins work well if they're big enough, they grow much faster then the Wolf though. I've had great luck with silver dollars.

Glad to hear she's settled down, and she looks to be all healed up. Great looking lil wolfy, but she does look a lil lonely....... Maybe a Dorado or an Armatus would cheer her up. Maybe even a flatfish (ray) for her to sit on?????

 

[Oxydoras]

Thanks for the input DB! That's the beauty of forums like this, they allow you to talk with other people who have first hand experience with exotic species (not just aimara!), where the information available online is sparse and conflicting at best. Gotta love being able to communicate directly with other aimara enthusiasts!

I'm glad you told me about your experience with slender bodied fish, as that saves me the heartache of buying the GATF I've always wanted, and essentially offering it to Leah on a silver platter!

I like the silver dollar idea. They're very fast, and the rounded body shape would certainly make it more difficult for her to eat them. The only problem is that I don't have access to any that would be larger than 1-2". I'm afraid that if I were to introduce them to her tank at that size, the round body wouldn't be much of a deterrent.

Rays and armatus though...hmmm...

 

[DB junkie]

I might be crazy (wouldn't be the first or last time I've heard this) but here's what I've experienced with stereotypically aggressive fish - They become aggressive when claiming territory. However having a much larger fish then the typically aggressive fish seems to change things.

IF I was in your shoes I would introduce a larger peaceful fish (preferably much larger) prior to trying to introduce "dithers". This will get her used to sharing her tank. IF it's big enough I bet she won't even try anything. After she's "dethroned" as the ruler of the tank I think your chances of cohabbing other stuff like dithers shoots up dramatically. An Aro would be a safe bet - something that isn't going to hide, but rather swim a bunch. IF the larger fish is something that tends to hide like a Clown Knife then they fight over the hiding spot. An Aro would also help to get the wolf used to movement in the tank.

Something to take care of the algae would be a good idea too. Not sure if you've had to get into her tank to clean yet but it's no secret that Aimara and tank cleaning = psycho. The less you have to get in there the better you, your fish, and algae scraper will be. Fei Fengs or plecos work, but since I keep rays I have neither, so I've kind of had to accept the algae by default.

 

[Oxydoras]

I've not yet had to deal with algae thankfully, I'm sure she wouldn't be very happy with the cleaning process! I might have to get a large gibby, though I'm concerned about serious squabbling over hides.

I like the arowana idea, as they're constantly moving and are obligate top dwellers. Hopefully it'd allow her to calm down some, as well as getting her comfortable with movement in and around the tank.

My main goal in adding dithers/tank mates is to get her more comfortable with eating. My "end goal" with her is to grow her into the largest aimara in captivity (assuming her individual genetics will allow it), and she's going to need to start eating during this critical juvenile stage if she is to ever achieve that!

Water quality is absolutely top notch (90% WC every third day), but without large sums of quality food, that'll only get me so far in achieving my goal...

 

[Oxydoras]

Snapped a halfway decent cellphone pic that captures the absolutely ridiculous eye shine of this species. When it's lights off, the smallest amout of light in the room is picked up and reflected 10 fold in her eyes!

 

[Slippery K]

Good looking wolf you got there.

 

[Oxydoras]

Thanks SK! May the beast live long and grow large!

 

[Oxydoras]

So I'm torn between leaving the Malaysian driftwood (which she uses to hide 24/7) in her tank, and removing it completely. I've seen virtually every aimara video on YouTube, and it seems that 99% of the tanks they're in are completely bare. As in no substrate, plants, hides, or anything. All of the fish appear to be healthy, and have a good feeding response.

It's driving me up the wall not being able to get my aimara to feed. She just takes the food in her mouth, gives it a few good shakes, and spits it out. It then gets trapped under her driftwood and is a ROYAL pain in the butt to remove. At the very least, removing the driftwood would make my life a whole heck of a lot easier, though I don't want to deprive her of a refuge if it would cause her unnecessary stress. Though at the same time, it seems like that's the way virtually everyone with this species is housing them.

I'll be doing my next water change tomorrow, and would like to have a general consensus of "yay or nay" come drain time.

So what does everyone think? Leave the driftwood in there and just deal with the hassle, or remove it and hope for the best?

 

[Oxydoras]

No suggestions? Driftwood is still in the tank, and the wolf is still hiding 24/7...