I believe that scombs do actually apply for the sudden death. I thinks that scombs are super finiky about their sourroundings such as water current, temperature, and quality that mimic their original wild surroundings.
H. scomberoides sudden death
- Thread starter caio.sampaio
- Start date
Well you seem to have the same view as quite a few of us in this discussion. If the scomb was to die because of its particular needs, would that not mean though that the handler is responsible for failing to meet the needs of the fish? They do deserve a reputation for being hard to keep, but saying they're prone to inexplicable deaths isn't exactly accurate. It will severely mislead inexperienced keepers who may be willing to devote the energy and resources into keeping this fish species that, if the tank is specialized to its needs, is probably the best candidate payara for keeping in home aquaria, based pricing and adult size.
ok put it this point. Let's say for every 100 armatus keeper, 25 of them got to over 2 feet. But for 100 scombs keepers, less than 1% of of them got them to 1 feet. The armatus has a way higher odd of surviving from the same amount of keepers. There has to be a specific reason why, not because that keepers are not being responsible
Twelve inches for a scomb should be considered a large one, even scombs caught wild while fishing in their native waters are only rarely 12 inches. A scomb getting to twelve inches in the aquarium would be as rare as a three foot armatus, but no one knocks the armatus for not reaching exceptionally large sizes for that species in aquaria. Why should we consider scombs to be a less valid to keep species than armatus because they don't get as large?
Toledo-Piza, Menezes, Naércio, & Medes dos Santos, the authors who wrote the current description to Hydrolycus in 1999 that is the currently recognized authority on this genus, wrote that the largest Hydrolycus scomberoides in their survey was 40 cm. Which is 15 inches. Keep in mind now that was the literature done of a survey in its wild environment in order to describe the species. The normal size range for adults was significantly less. I'm hesitant to cite that work as it's not public domain and as such, others can't verify my claims (which is why I used all open source works for my Hydrocynus work, and why I haven't written a matching article for payaras. Yet.) I don't understand why everyone in the fishkeeping community expects every scomb to achieve exceptionally large-for-the-species sizes, but we're ok with armatus only achieving mediocre for-the-species sizes. :/
Reference:
Toledo-Piza, M., Menezes, Naércio A., & Mendes dos Santos, G. (1999). Revision of the neotropical fish genus Hydrolycus (Ostariophysi: Cynodontinae) with the description of two new species. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 10 (3), 255-280.
That piece was a study done in order to write a morphological description, it didn't cover the life cycle of these fishes. That piece is, incidentally, the one that described H. tatauaia and H. wallacei. To date, I've not managed to find a study of the life cycle of any of the members of Cynodontidae.
Scomberoides were the first payara I've ever kept, long before I ever knew of mfk. I had a school of 4 scombs in a 100g tank for roughly 2 1/2 years before they died at approximately 11-14".(some larger, some smaller) I do believe 12" is the usual end for a scomb but not by "sudden death syndrome", but perhaps to the end of their life span. Also I fed them feeders the entire time.
Sent from my LG-P930 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my LG-P930 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Thanks for all placements. 
It really starts to make more sense to have a short life cycle.
This tiny SUPPOSED lifetime, only with scombs?
Chicx, I'm very curious to see your tank, it seems to be awesome!
It really starts to make more sense to have a short life cycle.
This tiny SUPPOSED lifetime, only with scombs?
Chicx, I'm very curious to see your tank, it seems to be awesome!
My tank's really nothing special lol. I have a 6' 150 with a GATF, scomb, tat, PTC and a Juruense catfish. I have a 20 with a TATF growing until its big enough to go into the 150.
I've been collecting pieces for a 4x8 foot plywood tank, but I don't feel my fish are big enough to justify building it yet.
I've been collecting pieces for a 4x8 foot plywood tank, but I don't feel my fish are big enough to justify building it yet.
I'm not too sure about a short life span...Most fish that have such a span are usually rather fast growers and I have not seen this with scombs,unless they are an exception?Thanks for all placements.
It really starts to make more sense to have a short life cycle.
This tiny SUPPOSED lifetime, only with scombs?
