Chaetobranchus Flavescens

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Try frozen Daphnia they might like that. If that works then try mixing with and eventually converting to Micro pellets then increase the size and maybe you could get them on somthing like NLS 1mm or small Omega One pellets. It's an idea anyway. Black worms might be worth a try too.
 
I don't have experience with C. flavescens but I kept Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis for a couple of years. They're smaller (4" or so max) and less robust than flavescens...but also filter feeders.

Mine LOVED frozen Cyclopeez and other small frozen foods (brine shrimp). They would eat prepared food (NLS, Kens, flake) as well. These guys constantly eat...vs. eating a lot at a given time. So feeding them a little bit frequently is better than trying to feed them a lot once per day. They'll simply not eat more than a bit and the excess food will rot.

I think that flavescens can stick up for themselves a bit more, but what ultimately did in the orbicularis was keeping them with tankmates other than tetras / super peaceful fish. Stress results in them not eating...and once they begin to fade away, it's hard for them to recover (as they can't eat a lot in a single setting). They can be hard on each other as well (which was the end of the "third" wheel that I had).

I kept mine at 76-80 degrees, local tap water (7.4/medium hard) in a quiet tank with driftwood and plastic plants. Two of them paired off but never spawned. I showed the male of the pair at the Catfish Convention in 2009. He was probably close to 5" at the time.

Matt
 
http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=193 I don't know if you read this but it is a great read with loads of info. I've been interested in learning more about this fish and found this while doing a little research on the species.
 
Yep, that's the article I read. It seems that some people did get them to take pellets and bloodworms. Maybe if I'm persistent they'll learn to accept it. Until then I guess it's lots of small meals of tiny plankton-like foods.

I never thought to try flakes, but it seems those might be easier to "filter" than pellets. Maybe they wouldn't spit that out as readily.
 
I had a nice phone conversation yesterday afternoon with Jeff and as we were talking this fish came up inconversation and I mentioned you were having trouble getting the fish to accept pellets. Jeff was a little surprized, he said out of all of the groups of these fish he's had this group took to pellest more readly than previous groups. I didn't ask what pellets he was using in hind sight I shoud have. If you haven't discussed it with him already maybe it's worth asking. I really hope you guys can keep these fish successfuly, they would be a great addition to the hobby. I'm gettin a couple more Acronia Nassa and will try to get a pair and breed them I'm looking foward to the challange.
 
Not to derail, but how are the Acaronia's faring, Tom?
 
They are doing well, I posted an update in my thread in the Midea section "New Acquisition".
 
Bump for one of the oscars only relatives.

Btw try gel foods,they can make quite a mess though, more foods for the filter feeders thouh.
 
I saw dark feces today, so they're eating something. I do notice them taking the bloodworms better now. They suck in huge mouthfuls of bloodworms and sand, then chew like crazy before spitting all the sand and part of the bloodworms back out. These guys are pretty amazing. They are also aggressive at feeding time, though I haven't seen them do any damage to each other or tankmates. They open their mouth really wide and dart at tankmates, scaring them away from food.

I contacted Jeff about getting a couple more. If they're extremely rare, it'd probably benefit me to get more than 3 just in case I actually have enough success to try breeding.
 
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