Advice needed RE: D. Lusosso

[moosipher]

Greetings all,
I'm in a quandry. My LFS called me last night to offer me a large disto/ichodus lusosso, and I'm trying to get as much info as possible about them, and finding it fairly difficult. I know almost nothing about characins, so I have a few questions - for anyone who has experience of these monsters..

1) What size do these guys grow to? - I have found a lot of info that seems to suggest that d. sexfasciatus are the real big boys, but I really want this confirmed by a fellow MFK'er.. I can probably cope with it up to about 20", but more than that and I would start having real troubles.

2) Are they specifically herbivorous, or will they take anything they can get?

3) I'm ultimately intending on keeping this chap in my 7'x3'x15", when it is setup, along with a few large catfish - would this be do-able, or am I dumb for even considering it?

4) I understand they are aggressive.. but would it be too much aggression for a tank this size?

Any info you guys can give me would be great.

 

[moosipher]

Well, I bought him*, and he is currently acclimatising in the 'L' shaped 6 footer. He and the crayfish had a set-to when I first released him, but the cray has established his seniority in the tank. So far, he kinda remind me of a lanky teenager who has just turned up at a party... seems really unsure of himself, and looks like he is very much aware of being the big clumsy kid who breaks stuff. His aggressiveness seems to be about the same as a larger Syno.. if you mess with him, he'll twat you and then go about his business.. but so far he seems really chilled. I'll measure him when he has properly acclimatised, but I'm guessing he is about 10" at present.

*no-one can find any sexual dimorphism in this species, so he is hereby branded a 'He'!

 

[farawayinn]

great fish. had 4 in a 220 with big cichlids. they will eat pretty much anything. i fed a lot of krill to keep their color up. mine were about 14" when i lost them all in a long distance move. they were still young and not done growing. i've heard 18" as a max length, but can't verify that. enjoy!

 

[moosipher]

Excellent.. there seems to be a real deficit of information about these bad boys.. Could you find any way of sexing them?
And do you have any pictures at all?

 

[farawayinn]

no obvious signs, but then mine were young, about 1.5+ years old. i wouldn't expect to see outward differences, more or less like in a D. sexfasciatus.

i was hoping to grow them out and try to breed them in a small pond, but unfortunately they didn't make it through the relocation. actually we only lost a few fish, so they may be a bit more sensitive than most. we also lost a few big tinfoils, so maybe similar issues as with them.

they held their own with some very aggressive fish and definitely had a pecking order among themselves. only time things got dicey was at water change time, they perked up and started sparring. maybe this was pre spawning behavior, i just never got a chance to find out. maybe someday i'll get another chance, have been looking for replacements ever since.

no photos. i love looking at other people's pics to get ideas from, but have never been a big photography buff myself. i should probably start..

 

[DaveB]

Wow, you kept four large-ish ones together in a 220? Very interesting. When I first got mine I put him in with a 10" and 5" sexfaciatus and the big sexf. tried to kill him. I divided them for two weeks and after that they were all fine together. Even in a 90g (temporary tank - I'd never keep two big fish in that size tank).


Beware, though, they do seem to need more aeration than others. That's how I lost both sexfaciatus, when my spray bar slid down the glass. The whole tank was breathing heavy and the two sexfaciatuses died. The Lussoso was on his side looking dead but miraculously recovered.

I'd say you'd be perfectly OK with that stock, or with any larger fish that will hold their own. Mine is 13" now and will pick on smaller or calmer fish - never anything too bad - but leaves the datnoids alone and is actually hilariously shy around a 6" Uaru.

He is a pig and eats whatever I put in the tank. He loves peas and krill the most but eats a lot of pellets and flake. Sometimes I feel bad for not feeding him enough because he is ALWAYS hungry. But he has grown a couple inches since I got him last May and I am not in any rush to make him too huge. I'd be surprised if he got too much bigger. I don't think you will need to worry about yours hitting 20"+.

 

[moosipher]

Hmm, little update, mountain minnows must now be classed as vegetables.. as he has eaten four of them who were happily co-habiting last week.. Also taken off the antennae of a large female cray... he seems to be getting more aggressive as he gets settled in. Very interesting fish, I'm thinking..