A few months ago I purchased a group of cloud archer fish. I am a big fan of the genus and had never seen this species before. I bought a group of 15, since i did not know how many would survive the transition. Turns out they did well. The last 4 I got were the last of the group and sick (pity buy) but I saved 2 of them. All said I bought 15 and lost 3. They were about 2 cm when purchased and now they range from 4-7cm and eat very well.
This is supposedly a freshwater species from Myanmar. I'm pretty sure they were farmed since they were eating flakes from day one and had to learn to eat worms. I have them eating pellets, blackworms, brine, regular mealworms, crickets, and occasional guppy. Sinking foods not useful since they only eat at the top, so frozen foods are messy.
I have had a problem with them I can't figure out. I occasionally will see an individual develop puffed scales on their back, along with mucus and pink hue to the area. It is always just one fish, and when I take that individual out and quarantine in salt water, it heals up in a week. The damaged fish is usually swimming lower than the others when afflicted. The first two were small, so I thought it was aggression, but the most recent victims were big ones. I never see them fight (which is why I bought a group) but they do passively aggress each other when in quarantine together. The salt water always fixes it, and when two are in quarantine together, no new wounds arise. The big tank also contains 9 small datnoids (1") and a starry night eel but they are exclusively at the bottom. The tank is 50gal (and obviously temporary).
I'm most suspicious that this is aggression, but I also wonder if they may need some salt in the water, since salt water seems to fix it (usg about 1.005). Everything I read says they are not a brackish.
Otherwise they are really great. They loosely school and are very shy, but they beg for food and are out all the time. I have not gotten them to shoot yet, but I'm putting some branches in soon so they can target crickets better.
(pics coming next message)
This is supposedly a freshwater species from Myanmar. I'm pretty sure they were farmed since they were eating flakes from day one and had to learn to eat worms. I have them eating pellets, blackworms, brine, regular mealworms, crickets, and occasional guppy. Sinking foods not useful since they only eat at the top, so frozen foods are messy.
I have had a problem with them I can't figure out. I occasionally will see an individual develop puffed scales on their back, along with mucus and pink hue to the area. It is always just one fish, and when I take that individual out and quarantine in salt water, it heals up in a week. The damaged fish is usually swimming lower than the others when afflicted. The first two were small, so I thought it was aggression, but the most recent victims were big ones. I never see them fight (which is why I bought a group) but they do passively aggress each other when in quarantine together. The salt water always fixes it, and when two are in quarantine together, no new wounds arise. The big tank also contains 9 small datnoids (1") and a starry night eel but they are exclusively at the bottom. The tank is 50gal (and obviously temporary).
I'm most suspicious that this is aggression, but I also wonder if they may need some salt in the water, since salt water seems to fix it (usg about 1.005). Everything I read says they are not a brackish.
Otherwise they are really great. They loosely school and are very shy, but they beg for food and are out all the time. I have not gotten them to shoot yet, but I'm putting some branches in soon so they can target crickets better.
(pics coming next message)
