Question for all you Armatus keepers.

[Push]

whatever you do, don't swap your tank. your tank is perfect for many different types of setups-dovi, umbie,cichlid community, arowana, discus etc the possibilities are endless for now and the future. long tanks always look better and you have the best. getting alarge tank home is the difficult part. if you want filteration you could always add more filters.

Yeah I've come to the conclusion I won't be trading out tanks now. I've never really cared for Cichlids except for Cichla/Peacock Bass, but I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with much more than Intermedia or Kelberi in my tank considering the size they get. If I were to do an aro it would be a Jar because again I feel silvers and blacks get too large and I never really cared for their looks compared to Jars/Leichardti or asians. Discus would be kind of cool but I have always preferred preds to large community tanks.

Anyways I don't think for me going with a small pond filter is going to be doable in my current situation and I think my 2 FX5s should handle my future stock list just fine, if not I may tap the tank and do a sump, or just get another FX5.

Again big thanks to you guys for participating in the thread and helping sway me in the right direction. I just went to my LFS today to see about ordering in the tats and odoes and I'm supposed to hear back in the next few days if it's gonna be likely to get them locally. I made sure to make it clear that I was looking for Hydrolycus Tatauaia and not Armatus or Scomb.

 

[PayaraMan]

I would give you my insight, but you're avi is creeping me out.

 

[Push]

I would give you my insight, but you're avi is creeping me out.

Insight would be much appreciated, and I take it you're not a fan of Berserk?

Really though if you have some insight about keeping tats in a group, especially mixed with Odoes or other predators, or even insight about Armatus I would be glad to hear it.

 

[PayaraMan]

Insight would be much appreciated, and I take it you're not a fan of Berserk?

Really though if you have some insight about keeping tats in a group, especially mixed with Odoes or other predators, or even insight about Armatus I would be glad to hear it.

Never heard of it, is it an anime? As for my insight if you plan on keeping multiple tats with Odoes be warned, I only read to page 3 so I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, but Odoes are known to viciously attack silver fish, now this is not something that happens too often but it can happen. There are many people on here that have kept Odoes with other silver characins successfully, you just have to test the combo out for yourself.

As for keeping multiple Armatus together, don't do it. As you said it's not worth the risk, it's pretty common for them to fight with one another. Did you have any other questions about other predators besides tats, odoes, and armatus?

Edit: I just saw your stock list post, have you considered instead of Odoes getting a few ATF? Ichiban Tropical Exotic has a few Hydroycnus Tanzanaie in stock right now, I'm actually ordering one next week. Hydrocynus Tanzanaie normally don't get bigger than 16" in aquariums (I've never seen one bigger than 12"), so they do get bigger than most Odoes. But I think having a few of those instead of Odoes would be a better choice IMO.

 

[Push]

Never heard of it, is it an anime? As for my insight if you plan on keeping multiple tats with Odoes be warned, I only read to page 3 so I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, but Odoes are known to viciously attack silver fish, now this is not something that happens too often but it can happen. There are many people on here that have kept Odoes with other silver characins successfully, you just have to test the combo out for yourself.

As for keeping multiple Armatus together, don't do it. As you said it's not worth the risk, it's pretty common for them to fight with one another. Did you have any other questions about other predators besides tats, odoes, and armatus?

Edit: I just saw your stock list post, have you considered instead of Odoes getting a few ATF? Ichiban Tropical Exotic has a few Hydroycnus Tanzanaie in stock right now, I'm actually ordering one next week. Hydrocynus Tanzanaie normally don't get bigger than 16" in aquariums (I've never seen one bigger than 12"), so they do get bigger than most Odoes. But I think having a few of those instead of Odoes would be a better choice IMO.

From what DB was saying is that it seems when odoes go psycho it's usually due to only keeping one and having a small shoal seems to calm them down. The thing I am worried about with ATF is even with the smaller species (Tanzaniae, Forskahlii, and Brevis) is that even though they don't get larger, they may still get too large for a 300 considering how flighty they are. Not to mention the slow growing nature and thin profile may end up leading to small ATF ending up as lunch for the tats.

Believe me, if I ended up going with an Armatus I wouldn't dare try to do more than one because I simply don't have the size of tank needed for 5+ which would be needed to probably keep down the aggression. Originally the plan was to do one Armatus but I think I would have a serious issue keeping the fish happy with the size aquarium I have right now, and I don't want to get something that I can't amply provide for.

And yeah, Berserk is a GREAT anime. again I really appreciate the help.

ETA: Also, do you have any experience keeping any of the larger bichirs? I've had one in the past but it was a Senegalus and was thinking about throwing in an endli or a nile into the mix with the stock I listed previously but I was afraid an endli or nile would get simply too big and start to target the odoes since they are somewhat slim.

 

[PayaraMan]

From what DB was saying is that it seems when odoes go psycho it's usually due to only keeping one and having a small shoal seems to calm them down. The thing I am worried about with ATF is even with the smaller species (Tanzaniae, Forskahlii, and Brevis) is that even though they don't get larger, they may still get too large for a 300 considering how flighty they are. Not to mention the slow growing nature and thin profile may end up leading to small ATF ending up as lunch for the tats.

Believe me, if I ended up going with an Armatus I wouldn't dare try to do more than one because I simply don't have the size of tank needed for 5+ which would be needed to probably keep down the aggression. Originally the plan was to do one Armatus but I think I would have a serious issue keeping the fish happy with the size aquarium I have right now, and I don't want to get something that I can't amply provide for.

And yeah, Berserk is a GREAT anime. again I really appreciate the help.

ETA: Also, do you have any experience keeping any of the larger bichirs? I've had one in the past but it was a Senegalus and was thinking about throwing in an endli or a nile into the mix with the stock I listed previously but I was afraid an endli or nile would get simply too big and start to target the odoes since they are somewhat slim.

You've got a good point. And sadly I've never owned any of the larger bichirs, just a senagalus, I'm not gonna give you info unless I've learned first hand.

 

[Push]

Yeah, I don't think I would feel safe doing a Endli or Nile. I may however do a Delhezi, or just another Senegalus if I do decide to get another bichir. I would love to do a Forskahlii or Vittatus ATF but again with the size of my tank I think it would have to be a single specimen tank again. As much as I like them I think if I was to do a single specimen it would be a Jardini Arowana or an Armatus until it outgrew my tank.

 

[PayaraMan]

Yeah, I don't think I would feel safe doing a Endli or Nile. I may however do a Delhezi, or just another Senegalus if I do decide to get another bichir. I would love to do a Forskahlii or Vittatus ATF but again with the size of my tank I think it would have to be a single specimen tank again. As much as I like them I think if I was to do a single specimen it would be a Jardini Arowana or an Armatus until it outgrew my tank.

Brevis rarely get bigger than 12", the tricky part is finding someone with them in stock.

 

[Push]

From what I understand Forskahlii is pretty much along the same lines as brevis as far as size goes in home aquaria except it has the jaw structure of Goliath, and the deep reds and yellows along with the great black spangling that vittatus has. The issue again however is it's usually the the rarest of the ATFs and is rarely if ever brought in for home aquaria.

 

[Chicxulub]

Edit: I just saw your stock list post, have you considered instead of Odoes getting a few ATF? Ichiban Tropical Exotic has a few Hydroycnus Tanzanaie in stock right now, I'm actually ordering one next week. Hydrocynus Tanzanaie normally don't get bigger than 16" in aquariums (I've never seen one bigger than 12"), so they do get bigger than most Odoes. But I think having a few of those instead of Odoes would be a better choice IMO.

TATF at 30".

From what DB was saying is that it seems when odoes go psycho it's usually due to only keeping one and having a small shoal seems to calm them down. The thing I am worried about with ATF is even with the smaller species (Tanzaniae, Forskahlii, and Brevis) is that even though they don't get larger, they may still get too large for a 300 considering how flighty they are. Not to mention the slow growing nature and thin profile may end up leading to small ATF ending up as lunch for the tats.

Forskahlii is the only dwarf species. All of the other four species are capable of 24" plus in an aquarium.

Brevis rarely get bigger than 12", the tricky part is finding someone with them in stock.

Incorrect. It's forskahlii that tops out at 12". Here's a 26" brevis:

From what I understand Forskahlii is pretty much along the same lines as brevis as far as size goes in home aquaria except it has the jaw structure of Goliath, and the deep reds and yellows along with the great black spangling that vittatus has. The issue again however is it's usually the the rarest of the ATFs and is rarely if ever brought in for home aquaria.

Forskahlii has the same beautiful coloration as a vittatus with the exception of the fact that they only have color on the lower lobe of their tail. There are two distinct genetic populations of forskahlii, one has jaw morphology similar to brevis and the other has jaw morphology similar to goliath. In both instances, the jaw morphology is similar in structure but considerably less massively constructed.