Buttikoferi and pothos roots

[thebiggerthebetter]

How big was your tank? This was pre-internet days and I didn’t do enough research. I believe I had them in a 75 which looking back is far too small for even one of those.

If this question is to me, until 10"-12" they lived in a 240 gal 8x2x2, then they went into a 4500 gal, where they didn't seem to bother anyone. Perhaps it'd only be a matter of time or maybe in a large tank they would relax a lot as most territorially aggressive fish seem to do.

 

[mattybecks]

If I was a betting person, I'd bet they will destroy the roots sooner or later (as they grow) or anything that they can chew, rip, etc. They are IME very destructive. Jeff Rapps told me the same from his experience personally.

I placed two medium density 1" thick filter matts at the two ends of one of ours 240 gal to cover the entire 2'x2' end. They have been chewing and ripping them with purpose and ferocity for no sensible reason whatsoever.

Hmm maybe Ill just stick to keeping the roots in the pipe and protected then...

 

[mattybecks]

i'm surprised you have 2 butts let alone with 5 geos and no aggression issues so far. id bet they will eat those roots eventually.

yeah as Duanes mentioned in the comment below yours, they are still new and young. I have 7 geos in total, was hoping to see if/or how long it may work if they are smaller fish, not territorial and aggressive with the butti, and to many that look the same for Butti to single out.
Its still early days, but thus far the butti pays no attention to them.
As for the second butti, I didnt plan on two but was given a second one anyway. So Ill be willing to rehome him if I find someone who can give him/her a suitable home.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I’ve never thought about using a pvc pipe like that to protect plant roots before, thank you for sharing.

 

[mattybecks]

The OPs butti's are still young, I believe once they hit a certain age, they will kill all the Geo's over night, and unless they are a mated pair, one will kill the other.
They are also "not" strict carnivores, I have seen films of them eating feces as they are excreted from hippos.

At what age do you expect this to usually happen? The guy I got them from said they were no older than 1 year, but no younger than 10 months. So im thinking they may be getting to that age very soon.

 

[mattybecks]

I have kept Buttis in the past. Super aggressive. Started with 5 or 6 and a common pleco in a tank. Ended with one really big fish. Got rid of him when he wouldn’t let me clean the tank. Took a chunk out of the back of my hand. I couldn’t keep anything in the tank. Fish or decoration.

Did you ever try really small fish ?

 

[mattybecks]

Wow. I didn't realize at all. I kept a quartet for 8 months. They have gone from 2" to 16". I guess it was good in a way that the Florida Wildlife Commission had me kill them off.

Did you eat them afterwards? It seems like a waste of fish not too, but at the same time I don't know if I could eat my pet.
I have seen some large butti's in aquariums here and back at home, living in shoals and with other fish that didn't seem to be aggressive at all. Their aggressive nature may have to do with lack of space then...

 

[mattybecks]

I’ve never thought about using a pvc pipe like that to protect plant roots before, thank you for sharing.

Thanks man. If you are thinking of doing it remember to put a strong enough pump on the one end to create enough flow through the roots.
Here is a link to one of my build threads to give you a basic idea of how I made it. its very simple and actually nice to have plants growing up the wall. https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/diy-pothos-plant-filter.713905/#post-8065461
I landed up removing one of the end caps, and just using a grill from a protein shaker bottle (better flow and the pump I got was stronger than I expected, the end cap was making water shoot back out the holes the pothos were in). You can see the grill cover with roots growing through in my side view photo in the beginning of this thread. My SDs used to keep these roots trimmed and after only a few days they are growing through again.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Did you eat them afterwards? It seems like a waste of fish not too, but at the same time I don't know if I could eat my pet.
I have seen some large butti's in aquariums here and back at home, living in shoals and with other fish that didn't seem to be aggressive at all. Their aggressive nature may have to do with lack of space then...

Yes! Space changes everything. Hence my nick...

The frozen corpses must be surrendered to the officials as proof.

Besides, it's not a good idea to eat ornamental fish. The fish in the wild and the fish farmed for human food are not (supposed to be) treated with medications or exposed to other chemicals that remain in the fish body (or the products of the med decomposition / metabolism).

It seems all the food fish farmers can use is salt, maybe epsom salt, and the likes. No fancy shmancy antibiotics or antiparasitic medications that are often and regularly used on ornamental fish. No heavy metal-containing medications, like potassium permanganate, etc. No dyes like Methylene Blue, Malachite Green, etc. Not even simple chemicals like formaldehyde, not to mention complex organic molecules like nitrofurazone, praziquantel, metronidazole, oxytetracycline, etc.

That's why you see FDA-required labels on fish medications: "NOT FOR FISH INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION". It probably won't kill you or even sicken you unless you eat a lot and regularly but who wants to test this? You? Count me out unless it's famine and I am dying of hunger.

 

[duanes]

At what age do you expect this to usually happen? The guy I got them from said they were no older than 1 year, but no younger than 10 months. So im thinking they may be getting to that age very soon.

Mine started getting aggressive and territorial about 8", I had the last of the bunch in its own tank that reached @ 15", seen a couple at almost 20".