flagtail or chalceus

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esoxlucius

esoxlucius

Balaclava Bot Butcher
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2015
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I'm soon going to be taking my 7" RTGG out of a community tank (balas, clowns, tinfoils and dennisons) and putting her in a tank of her own. This frees up a bit of bio load in my community tank so i want to put in another mini monster to take her place. I love the flagtail prochilodus and from what i've read about them one would fit nicely into my set up. However i also love the pink tailed chalceus. Although they are classed as being aggressive i've heard they're ok with other fish of similar or larger size (i'd buy a small 3-4" one if i got one). Would i be ok with this fish or am i asking for trouble further down the line when it gets to 10" or so and starts nibbling on my dennisons? Do i opt for the flagtail to save me a load of grief?
 
esoxlucius said:
I'm soon going to be taking my 7" RTGG out of a community tank (balas, clowns, tinfoils and dennisons) and putting her in a tank of her own. This frees up a bit of bio load in my community tank so i want to put in another mini monster to take her place. I love the flagtail prochilodus and from what i've read about them one would fit nicely into my set up. However i also love the pink tailed chalceus. Although they are classed as being aggressive i've heard they're ok with other fish of similar or larger size (i'd buy a small 3-4" one if i got one). Would i be ok with this fish or am i asking for trouble further down the line when it gets to 10" or so and starts nibbling on my dennisons? Do i opt for the flagtail to save me a load of grief?
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A flagtail won't stay mini too long, if your tank is small I would go with a chalceus.
 
I have both, both being around 7", I would say the Flagtail is the more interesting and attractive fish, the chalceus just kinda lurks around the top of the tank, comes alive when you feed, especially crickets and worms
 
jwh said:
I have both, both being around 7", I would say the Flagtail is the more interesting and attractive fish, the chalceus just kinda lurks around the top of the tank, comes alive when you feed, especially crickets and worms
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Is your chalceus one of the smallest fish in your tank, does it show any aggressive behaviour towards tankmates?
 
Yes it is one of the smaller, but not the smallest fish, very mellow, just hangs about, not aggressive at all, does not seem to really care about its tank mates.
 
Flagtail! Chalceus are boring... Compared to a flagtail... They have no personality and are kinda dumb... Like dithers... The flagtail will come up and follow you around, beg for food, swim through the whole tank, and be very interactive with you... All the while being the best algae eater ever... The chalceus sits in the upper water column basically frozen until it's time to feed or it gets scared... Chalceus aren't bad... They just don't hold a candle to a flagtail in all aspects. The only time I would want a few chalceus is to fill a top water void. Which will actually look good in your tank with your stock. ;) In my experience the pink tail chalceus is not aggressive except to fish they can swallow. Which means they aren't being aggressive they are just feeding. Lol. Flagtails can get really rowdy. I've had a flagtail that just wouldn't stop harassing everything!!! Constant harassing of his tankmates that weren't pushovers or are generally left alone (ex. Arowana, clowns, etc)... The pink tail's I had were cowards and acted like an upper water silver dollar.... Bunch of dithers. Slowly moving to freak out dashing out of everything's way.
 
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Thanks fot the input guys, plenty to think about. I'm actually in two minds whether to get both! Once i've rehoused my RTGG i think the bio void will be nicely taken up by these two new additions. And when they get bigger and my bio load goes through the ceiling i'll have to get another big tank. Happy days!
 
I find my pink tail to be neither dumb nor aggressive. He is also not very active as other posters have said. I am considering getting a large group of them to see if they are more active when it's not feeding time. I have heard stories about flag tails acquiring a taste for slime coats. I have no personal experience with them however.
 
I have and like both. The only negative to the flag tail is they can become slime eaters. That can kill a fish pretty quickly.
 
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