barracusda ID?

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darwinvsjesus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 5, 2010
130
1
0
Tonawanda, NY
I work at an LFS and have been eyeing these stunning barracudas for a long, long time. we've had them for at least a few months, but I think probably much longer. They are little. Three inches. One of my coworkers, whose opinion I greatly respect, told me they won't get much bigger than 5-7 inches. It looks a lot like the yellowtail, but it has an orange tail. [I think they kind of resemble greyhounds a little bit, which is why I got them. Grabbed 2 last night, was considering grabbing 2 or 3 more today. I guess they do better in shoals.

direct link to photo:

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc394/Luciferi_Excelsi/0329110359.jpg

I've got them in a 55g right now. They are about 2.5 inches, maybe 3. I intend to put them in a 125 once [IF] they get bigger. Then, in another year or so, it's likely they'll go into either a 220 or a 300, depending on what my landlord says about which I can put in the apt.

Any idea what it is? Most important things I want to know:

general stuff - max size, growth rate, feeding [I'd like to get them off live food, if possible, or rather, off feeders].
common diseases/treatments [I know most cudas are particularly prone to fin/mouth rot] and what sensitivities they have [meds, salt, etc].

possible tankmates?

right now they're in with an anostomus, a bn pleco, and a few blue loaches. Oddly enough, these cudas seem to love snuggling the anostomus. Like SNUGGLING, nestled up together under a rock.

Now, I never impulse buy, but I couldn't find a ton of info about these guys. I asked my coworker, and like I said, I genuinely respect his opinion - he's quite a talented aquarist. So I went on that.

Thanks guys.
 
looks like ace falcirorstris to me bro. Big nose slender body dead giveaway. largest growing of all ace. species, do well in shoals. grow really fast if powerfed, ive taken 3.5 inchers got them 5" in 6 weeks. will top out around 10" maybe a little more if in large enuff tank. melafix and salt combo to combat fin tail rot. also very hard to break off live, nice pick up and good luck.
 
it does look a lot like the yellow tail except that the caudal fins are long and pointed, the yellow tail has a shorter, very rounded caudal fin. I'm not entirely sure. Either way, it's an awesome fish.
 
That's Ace. Falcirostris 100% Only 2 species of Ace have that snout the other has a black line thru it's lower portions yours has a full belly. The fins develop with age everything might change a little including coloration. They are the largest cuda over 12" in captivity given enuff room. Don't do well in poor water conditions including nitrate over 5-10 ppm. The are Tetras so meds do more harm than good except for natural cures like salt and tea tree oils can with stand coopersafe. The don't need lots of current per say more so an ample supply of dissolved 02. Falcirostris shoals need very large tanks 200+ or they will squable amongst themselves til' stress becomes fatal. Some ween most don't.
 
mine DO have the black stripes. that picture was taken the minute I put them in the tank, they had no color. I really think it's a. heterolepis or A.microlepis. I could be wrong though? It does not look like a yellowtail to me, at all.
 
darwinvsjesus;5010909; said:
mine DO have the black stripes. that picture was taken the minute I put them in the tank, they had no color. I really think it's a. heterolepis or A.microlepis. I could be wrong though? It does not look like a yellowtail to me, at all.
Click to expand...

Definately NOT Microlepis completely different snout shape. If they do have black lines thru the stomach area it would be Heterolepis. These stripes will fade with age and as adults it can be down right impossible to tell the difference between the Heterolepis and Falcirostris.

When they collect these guys in the wild it can be a real turkey shoot. They can pull in 3-5 or more different species of Ace. juvi's all shoaling togather. Usually when my LFS has cudas for sale it's a mixing bag labeled either Red tail or Yellow tail.

Congrats and best of luck.
 
Rounded snout is a dead give away of A. falcirostris
 
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