Nick's Channa Collection...

-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
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Thet pleuro looks great ! So do those Auranti of course ! I actually saw your Auranti video yesterday in a random google search I saw the still shot in the search and thought damn that guys Auranti are some of the nicest I've seen so I clicked to see who owned them and discovered they were yours!
 

chronick

Plecostomus
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Oct 18, 2009
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Thet pleuro looks great ! So do those Auranti of course ! I actually saw your Auranti video yesterday in a random google search I saw the still shot in the search and thought damn that guys Auranti are some of the nicest I've seen so I clicked to see who owned them and discovered they were yours!
Thanks devon, you have no idea how nice it is to hear that from you man

My pleuro tank needs work if i want them to breed but from what ive read, it's pretty tough breeding pleuros so i don't plan on making that a priority. Also i want to get some nice driftwood center pieces so I'll be spending time on my 160 then.

With regards to aurantis, how have your other auranti fry turned out and how are the pair now? I'd be quite interested in seeing what the fry's development was like under different diets and conditions; especially if you had other buyers post their progress.

Something that's been concerning me lately is their diet. On adult wildcaught aurantis, I've noticed their heads are always really nice, round, and smooth. Almost like a polished river stone.

versus... the rumply growth looking head.

Do you think this is based on diet or water quality? My aurantis have fairly "smooth" heads, but it's not even remotely close to how round, smooth, and full wild caught aurantis are. I've tried to control all the variables in my tank to get them to grow exactly like the wild. Everything else has been going great, i just cant get them to grow that nice full round scalp... At the moment, i suspect that it's an issue regarding diet. I think in the wild they eat lots of insects that provide different nutrients, vitamins, and amino acids. I'd also like to help them grow their fins out longer, and while i dont have any concerns with fin length yet, i have seen specimens with incredibly trailing fins

In this specimen for example, the fins are nearly as wide as the body. DO you know if this fin length is something they grow out gradually? Does this happen as they reach maturity? Is it diet related like i suspect the scalp conditions to be? What are your thoughts on this?

I've also found that Aurantimaculatas are pretty sensitive to light. Normally I leave the lights off until i come home from my day, but a few days ago I decided to leave my light on while I was out. I came home after an 8 hour day to my female completely shredded and missing scales on her head, so I have them separated again for now. Do you ever notice fighting between your pair? My pair seems completely docile when i leave the lights off, but when I have it on for over 4-5 hours they start getting really grumpy and nasty towards each other. The lighting setup is only 1.5 WPG (120 gallon tank).

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Also, would anyone from india able to give me a name or word i can use to search for channa aurantimaculata on google? I want to do some research, but seeing as the fish is an native to india, i might be able to find more info on the species in the languages native to india.
 

jsodwi

Blue Tier VIP
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Jul 9, 2005
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You have an amazing collection. I'm very jealous. Are micropeltes available often in canada? Those are my favorite besides Barca
 

Yuki Rihwa

Redtail Catfish
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Jan 22, 2015
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In this specimen for example, the fins are nearly as wide as the body. DO you know if this fin length is something they grow out gradually? Does this happen as they reach maturity? Is it diet related like i suspect the scalp conditions to be? What are your thoughts on this?
The genetic playing a big role there, food effect mostly on coloration and don't promote fins or tail grow.
 

-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
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The fins come with maturity, those extra wide fined ones are mature males. Around 2years of age as sexual maturity kicks in they'll get longer , espically so after breeding starts. Colors during breeding are also VERY intense and even afte breeding ended colors duller slightly but the male seems more colourful then he did before breeding.

The same goes for head shape, it will also bulk out with maturity and the diffrence between male and female scull become more apparent.

My pair NEVER fights ,
they'll nuge and nip gently if ine is blocking the way or horsing food but even then its obvious that their is no intent to to harm it's just nudges with the nose. The only exception was with fry the male would attack the female if she spoked the fry or of they swarmed her and he wanted them back , but even then my female would only beat him enough to chance him back she's bigger and could have killed him if she wanted, I ended up dropping a divider for a month to be safe because he was pickingore and more fights and I worried she'd get sick of it and finish him off.

Eventually he called down and a few days before I went to remove the divider he jumped it and I found him sharing her cave peacefully again. Haven't had a problem since then ,

I also don't find light bothers them at all but I do have full floating cover. Mine all have 12 hr days

Chances are your pair is not fully bonded . I would recommend using a eggcrate divider over seperating to another tank. The more time apart it becomes far less likly they'll except eachother . Eggcrate allows you to protect them but they still see and sence eachother .

I haven't heard much update wise from the others who bought them.
 

chronick

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Oct 18, 2009
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I hope you're right about the head and fins developing with maturity. I'm doing everything i can so i guess only time will tell. I still need to get to the meal worms and almond/oak leaves to see if it makes a difference.

Do you think aurantis like current or flow in the tank? Do you think stagnant or flowing water is better for fin growth? These are the last questions im curious about.

I put my 2 aurantimaculatas in tanks sitting right along side one another to get them to socialize. I hope this is enough but i might need to get an acutal divider.. They are always flaring at each other and swimming against the glass (aggressively?) trying to get to the other fish. I know some times there can be aggression before pairing so i cant tell if they just want to beat each other up like normal or if it's playful bonding behaviour. Do you think anything can help pairing? Perhaps something like not feeding for a week or 2, dropping the temperature and raising it, putting the female in first then putting in the male? Of the 7, these two were the least aggressive toward one another at times even seemed to be affectionate. I only noticed them start to fight when increased my lighting by a lot. I'm running 4 T5 HO bulbs on a 4 foot Tek Light and the tank is 120 gallons so the tank is a little under 2WPG.

My aurantis are otherwise doing great, so cheers devon!
 
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