Acaronia Nassa update photos

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Well now that I have 5 of these guys I can get a good idea of how they interact with each other. Basicly they don't, there is hardly any aggression among them, each one clames an "ambush" spot with the largest claming the best position based on the where I usually feed them from and the pecking order moves down the line with the smallest one the farthest away (I always make sure everybody gets there fill but let the biggest eat frist). They go nuts over Hakari sinking carnivore pellets and will eat between 4 and 5 at a time. I have recently been adding some Bio-Gold+ to the diet and a few pieces of NLS. I took some pics the other day they are growing well and looking good. These are very cool fish, I really hope I can get them to breed down the road.

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Giving their ambush habits, do they pick the pellets off the substrate once it lands or do they ignore it? Or are they such hogs, that none of the pellets even hit the substrate?
 
Looking good! Nice and fat :)

Sounds like they feed like dats - my indo would take like a dozen a time, and it does it so quickly that I think it's storing them somewhere temporarily without swallowing...
 
I love these. Unfortunately I never got any! Hopefully you'll get them to spawn. I read that they become pretty belligerent with conspecifics as they get older.
 
Gruff Master;4949999; said:
Interesting feeding habits. I can see that they are gaining more color as well. Keep up the good work!
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Thanks, they are coloring up and are much more confident in the tank. They associate me with food and come begging when they see me with the bag in my hand. I love the huge mouth, they remind me of mini-snooks.

darth pike;4950285; said:
Giving their ambush habits, do they pick the pellets off the substrate once it lands or do they ignore it? Or are they such hogs, that none of the pellets even hit the substrate?
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It depends if a pellet lands on the bottom while I'm still feeding them they will ignore it, while they jocky for position for the next pellet. Once I'm finished feeding them they will look for any missed pellets. Most of the time none of the pellets hit the ground.

peathenster;4950543; said:
Looking good! Nice and fat :)

Sounds like they feed like dats - my indo would take like a dozen a time, and it does it so quickly that I think it's storing them somewhere temporarily without swallowing...
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Interesting observation, because I think the same thing where the hell are they putting them? They eat one after another, where my other fish will pause between pellets chewing and swallowing before going after another these guys just eat and eat and eat. At 6 to 8" they will do some damage to the food bill....lol. In my conversation with Waye Leibel he did say his adult pair consumed large quantities of feeders while getting ready to spawn, so.......

ryansmith83;4950952; said:
I love these. Unfortunately I never got any! Hopefully you'll get them to spawn. I read that they become pretty belligerent with conspecifics as they get older.
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Thanks I love'em too. I wouldn't be surprized to see increased aggression as they get older, considering the amount of food they need I supose they wouldn't want any competition, with each fish requiring a larger area to defend.
 
Just thought I’d post an update.

All 5 Nassa are doing great and growing well, with the largest about 4.25" already and the smallest right around 3"+/-. I've been keeping a group of 8 BATs with them for about a month now ranging in size from about 2-2.25" (see pics above). Yesterday as I was feeding them I noticed one of the BATs had half its face ripped off. I noticed the other day the largest Nassa seemed to be stalking them but I dismissed it as they (the BATs) were way too fast, apparently not fast enough. While the BATs are still too large to be swallowed I don't imagine that will be the case for much longer. I’m trying to decide weather or not to move the BATs I don’t want one to get stuck in the Nassa’s throat. My son has started calling the Nassa "The Coneheads" because they consume mass quantities. Seriously, I'm in awe at the amount of food these guys go thru. When I get home later I’ll post some updated pics to show the growth.

I’m happy I decided to give this species a try, not the type of fish you could sit and watch for hours if your expecting a lot of action. One interesting thing about them is they can vanish right in front of you. I planted their tank with Water Sprite and a couple of Java Ferns and they hang just in the shadow line. I’ll be watching them and take my eyes off one for a second and when I look back it’s gone, it may have only shifted over and inch but it takes a few seconds to find it again and I’m thinking wow, there it is right in front of me. Defiantly well adapted ambush predators.
 
Last night I was doing a water change in the Nassa tank and got distracted because apprently nobody in the house but me is capable of using a BBQ grill. When I remembered the tank was draining there was about 2" of water left, I hooked up the hose and filled the tank (no harm done) except for a 98% water change. A few hours later as I'm feeding them, I have to stand there and feed the NLS pellets a few at a time so all five of them get enough to eat as they vie for position to grab them on the way down. I noticed two of them start to flair thier gills at one another extending there fins and doing the sideways shimmy and shake, then they faced off with mouths wide open and if you know these guys that's a sight to see (similar to snooks). They don't lip lock they come together like Kissing Gouramis and push each other back and forth. Then they both went into a log together for a while and came out about a 20 mins later and repeated the display. It was very cool to watch and exciting as this is the first sign of possible breeding behavior I've seen. They are about 5" now (the largest ones) and very healthy looking. I wasn't prepaired to take pictures and was so busy watching them it didn't occure to me to get the camera until later. If they are still doing it tonight I'll post some pics or a vidio, if I can figure out how. As far as I'm aware Acaronia Nassa have only been breed one other time in captivity which makes this very exciting.
 
peathenster said:
That's great Tom! Can't wait to see the pictures. Keep doing 98% WC maybe :D
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Haha........yeah I think I duplicated a heavy rain and might have triggered what they preceve as the start of breeding season without trying!
 
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