New Brevis! Question about my tank set-up

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The funny thing is when I originally got interested in ATFs, I really liked the coloring on the VATFs. Now that I've seen them all and am getting a little better at differentiating them, I think I have completely changed my mind on what I like better. I am in love with the way adult tanzaniae and brevis look now, they look much more like a goliath than a vittatus does IMO. Much meaner/butch I guess would be the way to describe it. That is a great pic!

Your setup looks really good johnny, like chicx said though, as he gets a little larger you may need to lay the decorations down so he has more swimming space. They like to dart about, you don't need stuff like that getting in the way in case he decides to go from 0-60 in a hurry and smash into it. Just something to think about. I do love the way it looks though, classy :). Great pickup for sure on the brevis!
 
Damn I can't wait for this little guy to look like that! You should have seen my wife's face when I showed her what her cute little silver fish was going to grow into. Lol!


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Looks just like my old Forskahli pair........undershot jaw and clear adipose fin........not intended to offend just an observation.......we will see as it grows.....here is a pic at 8" and a pic when first purchased at around 4"foskalli.jpgFATF......jpg

foskalli.jpg

FATF......jpg
 
lix.ma14 said:
nice! How big is that one?
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Other than huge, I'm not sure lol. So I asked. Once I hear back I'll let you know.


1hottuna said:
Looks just like my old Forskahli pair........undershot jaw and clear adipose fin........not intended to offend just an observation.......we will see as it grows.....here is a pic at 8" and a pic when first purchased at around 4"

(pic)

(pic)
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You always have such good pics of your fish, Tuna. You consistently make valid, informed comments and ask very well thought out questions as well. I always value your input. :cheers:

The reasons that I suspect that little guy to be brevis are twofold:

First, the coloration and striping. Wild brevis always have a 'dirty' color, they're tan/gold. Forskahlii is silver/white, just like a vatf. With the striping, a fatf will have a set of bold, distinctive stripes that often will cross over the back. Brevis has the least prominent stripes of any fish in the genus except gatf. They normally fade out toward the front of the fish and almost never cross the back. John's fish certianly matches the color and stripe description

Second, the morphology. Brewster wrote in 1986 that when considering mean body depth, brevis is the thickest bodied fish in the genus and a much more massive head than fatf. While a fatf is thin bodied fish, the brevis is very thick. Compare the general body shape of John's fish to your fatf in the picture when he was young. John's fish has a much thicker construction and a much more massive head morphology.

For comparison's sake, I'll post the pic of John's fish again, which I ssuspect to be about the same size as your fatf was in the baby pic:

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These two fish species are extremely closely related. Forskahlii is evolved directly from brevis and IIRC, there's only about a one million year difference in their eveolution, which means they are very closely related. As such, they share many morphological traits, such as only having color on the lower lobe, a stubby jaw morphology, a jaw that variies from slightly to very undershot and lightly colored adipose fins. IMO these can be very tricky fish to tell apart and I am always very careful about giving my opinion on them because of that. :)
 
Thanks.....I agree when looking at the photo you have.......but when you blow into his tank shots the fish looks a bit different.......this one will be interesting to follow........
 
Update:

Now I know you're going to be shaking your head Rob, but I can't seem to get this little guy off live food. I don't really want to put anything in there with him, so teacher fish are out. I thought starving him I might be able to get him to eat frozen krill or maybe small pieces of tilapia, but no such luck as of yet. He simple bites it when it get close to him, then immediately releases.

I don't necessarily want him pellet trained, but I would like him to accept things other than live food. I think I'll be a bit more comfortable starving him when he gets bigger. Other than his annoying eating habits, I seem to have a happy, healthy tiger fish.

Below is a pic my wife took with her nice camera. She says he won't hold still long enough for a good shot.
IMG_0539.JPG

IMG_0539.JPG
 
johnnytaboo said:
Update:

Now I know you're going to be shaking your head Rob, but I can't seem to get this little guy off live food. I don't really want to put anything in there with him, so teacher fish are out. I thought starving him I might be able to get him to eat frozen krill or maybe small pieces of tilapia, but no such luck as of yet. He simple bites it when it get close to him, then immediately releases.

I don't necessarily want him pellet trained, but I would like him to accept things other than live food. I think I'll be a bit more comfortable starving him when he gets bigger. Other than his annoying eating habits, I seem to have a happy, healthy tiger fish.

Below is a pic my wife took with her nice camera. She says he won't hold still long enough for a good shot.
Click to expand...

He's looking good! Nice and shiny.

You're on the way to getting him off of live. Teacher fish make it a lot quicker, but it can be done by just starving them. I can understand why you wouldn't want teachers in with him. If your guy is biting the tilapia he'll come around eventually. Its only been a couple of weeks, he's not getting really stressed yet.
 
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