6 bar distichodus - looking at buying one, what do i need to know

[henward]

Hi all
i saw a big one, wow, impressive.
there is one for sale
what do i need to know

aggressive?
growth rate?
food?
plant pickers and nippers?
predators?
tank mates?
should i risk asian arowana or jardinii with it?
big dats?


surprisingly, google does not have much on this, well i cant find them.

there are two for sale - one is 3 to 4 inches, the othre is about 9 inches or so.

should i get the small one and keep it alone, can i put this in a community tank?

or the big one and put it with my other monsters - jardinii or asian aro?

i want as much info on these guys,

 

[Cichla dude]

I know these guys are aggresive. I don't now much info on them though. They may fight with your jardini.

 

[pwmin]

that's all i know, too. i don't think they're all super aggressive, though.

 

[badreverend]

aggressive?
growth rate?
food?
plant pickers and nippers?
predators?
tank mates?
should i risk asian arowana or jardinii with it?
big dats?


surprisingly, google does not have much on this, well i cant find them.

there are two for sale - one is 3 to 4 inches, the othre is about 9 inches or so.

should i get the small one and keep it alone, can i put this in a community tank?

or the big one and put it with my other monsters - jardinii or asian aro?

I've got one in with a redtailed giant gourami, an indo dat, a leporinus, a channel cat, 2 pink tail and 2 red fin chalceus' The leporinus is pretty aggresive, not killing aggresive just pestering aggressive, the 6 band doesnt take it lightly he is constantly sparring with the leporinus, and once in a while with the cat. everybody else is harmonious, even the gouramis tempting fins. I do get the impresion from him if the leporinus was gone he would become the trouble maker though. So, I don't think that they are killers but I wouldn't risk putting him in with an asian aro, and I like my 6 band, so if your jar is like mine was, I wouldn't put them together either.
Mine is growing pretty quickly, but less than an inch a month, on shrimp, peas, a variety of pellets, and my plants. They shouldn't have plants unless its on the menu.
They are active and don't hide, which is nice for a big fish. Around here they are fairly expensive, a LFS by me has 1.5" babies for $70, so take that into account also.
Hope this was helpful, good luck.

 

[bmxer4ever]

You're probably best gettin' the smaller one as their colours are better when they are younger.
They don't like fish with stripes - probably why one would spar with a Leporinus - as they see them as other Distichodus.
It's well known about the species that you can't keep two in a tank together (unless it was enormous!) as they will always be fighting. Unfortunately, mine lives with a 9 strong clown loach pack and my male convict, so there's fun and games as he chases them around, but he doesn't do any damage. Sometimes swims with the con actually!
In 2 years he hasn't hurt anyone, but will barge other fish at feeding times. Likes sinking pellets and is slowly eating his way through my plants, although some plant species are safe from them.

G

 

[DaveB]

Actually I bet he could keep the 3" and the 9" together... for now. As the size gap narrows in a year or so there could be a problem. But I kept a 5" and a 10" together for months with no problems... I actually added a 12" Lusosso for a brief time too and after an initial period where the 10" guy attacked him viciously, all three got along until the original two died. Now the 12" Lusosso lives happily with a 3" young guy. We'll see how that is in a year, though.

In addition to not liking fish with similar stripes, I find that mine sometimes pick on other characins - I have two decent sized Bala sharks and the little guy is a bit of a fin nipper with them. When the big guy feels like being a jerk, they're his usual targets too. But they live with 9 datnoids, most of whom are always right in the big guy's personal space, and I have never had a problem. The only time there's even a chance of aggression towards the dats is at feeding, but I am usually able to feed them on separate sides of the tank.

Otherwise, I agree with G. The younger one will be super bright red for a year or more (especially under the GE 9235k light bulbs) and more interesting. Feed a variety and don't keep live plants in there. Don't expect super fast growth. They should be OK with most other fish as tankmates.

 

[hurricane_redbone]

they are aggressive to their own kind so either get 1 or 10. they grow pretty fast and in the wild reach like 30 inches! in a tank wont get more than like 15 or so. They will most likely annihilate your plants. Food... theyll eat anything really. dry, frozen and prolly feeders if they r small enough. You can probably keep an aro wit them, though i wouldnt get a jardini. I know in Asia alot of these are kept with datnoids, but I have heard that they tend to dislike anything that looks like them, so the stripes on the datnoid might piss them off.... o yea n when buying one get the ones on which the black bars continues over their back. they worth more...