Anybody own/owned a redtail barracuda aka amazon cuda aka acestrorhynchus?

[guppy]

Hiya rumblesushi, I did not add much salt, maybe a half teaspoon per gallon, got started by accidently knocking an almost empty bag of it into the tank, They ate better and one that had banged up it's mouth healed up in a couple days, Like I said it wasn't much salt and I also covered the exposed end panels of the tank and added more plants at the same time so maybe that caused the change, they wouldn't startle and would sort of slide in and out of the plants instead of just hang in the back corner. I got them to eat some floating pellets by getting them on gut loaded crickets then adding some pellets at the same time, but they would take crickets even as I was dropping them in the tank, they also took live earthworms, and they were some of the fish I would amuse my friends with. I had a little doll sized fishing pole that reel really worked on, I loaded it with black cotton thread and would tie on a worm or market shrimp and toss it in the tank and give it a few twitches. The fish would smack it And sometimes give a few yanks before stealing the shrimp, it was pretty funny. If you feed worms drop the worms on top of the plants so it wriggles around suspended before falling, the cachorros are pretty hardwired to strike movement.

 

[rumblesushi]

thanks for the info - you think they would do just as well with some standard aquarium salt?

I got one today, really like it. Struck a couple of pellets at light-speed then spat them out broken up. Hasn't eaten so far, but it's showing interest.

Are acestro altus the ones with the black spots near the gills? I'm not sure if mine is falcatus or altus.

Also Guppy - would they do better in a pair or alone? Should it be either 1 or 3+ or do you think a pair would be better than one?

Cheers,
JR

 

[rumblesushi]

I've now got 2 of these bad boys, but a problem too

They are 5/6 inches, wild caught, they have been at the wholesaler a while and they won't take anything but live food. Even the wholesaler had to feed them live fish all the time.

For you lot in the US that's not a problem, with the price of feeders, but here where a goldfish or platy is around 3 dollars a pop, it is a problem

I better clear a tank and get breeding some sailfin mollies quick otherwise it's gonna cost a fortune.

They are not even eating live river shrimp.

Beautiful fish though, almost translucid with a bluey/green sheen, red tails, great teeth and big eyes. Already nailed a couple of goldfish.

 

[guppy]

I have never kept just a pair, I don't know if they will fight, I know that with 3 or more they don't fight.
They will eat live crickets and cockroaches, can you net out some minnows from local waters, maybe baby carp? If you are near a coastal fishing town you might look into saltwater bait fish like live anchovies, you would need to use them right away. also try a strip of filleted fish on a thread so you can twitch it across the tank. I never had the problem as feeders are cheap here.

 

[guppy]

The altus has a post opercular spot and a larger caudal spot than the falcatus, here are pictures for comparison.

 

[rumblesushi]

thanks for the info guppy - is the top one altus or falcatus?

I actually live on a coastal town, yet none of the bait shops sell live fish

Are minnows usually found in local lakes etc?

 

[Tucc185]

I've never had mine eat anything but feeders and the occasional pellet. One I had a while back liked the hikari floating carnivore pellets a lot, but only if I put guppies in at the same time. Picky fish...Anyways, I got a couple of pics of mine, he's still really small, only 3-4" long.. Any ideas on ID would be great. Thanks,
Mike

 

[guppy]

thanks for the info guppy - is the top one altus or falcatus?

I actually live on a coastal town, yet none of the bait shops sell live fish

Are minnows usually found in local lakes etc?

The one on top is the altus, it has the dark spot behind the gill and a larger tail spot then the falcatus.
Tucc185, yours is almost certainly a young falcatus, usually sold as a "freshwater barracuda", it is the most commonly sold one, here is a picture of one about 3" long from a different angle, they fill out nicely as they grow older.
Rumblesushi, Around here just about all small fish are called minnows, I find gambusia in almost every slow moving body of water from drainage ditches to rivers and ponds, one local creek has a resident population of goldfish some idiot planted a few years ago, we also have several native cyprinids like chubs and suckers, several types of each and a couple shiners. check theedges of reed beds, permanent drainage ditches,( i'm in the habit of looking into them where they pass under roads, Also try flipping over rocks at low tide for rock gobies and bullhead sculpin.

 

[rumblesushi]

Guppy - mine are definitely altus then. They have a large spot behind the gill and basically look like the one in that top pic.

Are they rarer/more expensive than a falcatus?

Unfortunately fishbase lists them as only 8/9 inches.

 

[guppy]

I have never seen them for sale, only in publc aquariums, and around 9" is about right, they get about the size of the grandoculis ,fish base has the size of those wrong by the way. The smallest of them is the minimus which only gets about 3" long and looks like a falcatus, I have never seen those for sale either but I want some.
Since you are on the coast you might want to looking into wether you are in a place that gets spring runs of smelt and shad, and find out if you have elver runs, I think that 5-6" elvers would make great feeders.