Got 10x of these cuties at 3 inches from Charles of Lone Star Rare Exotic Fish Co.
Huge thanks and shoutout to him!
Huge thanks and shoutout to him!
Harlequin lancer catfish at Fish Story
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
Lost 2. Sold 2. 6 remain. Usually don't dwell side by side but don't seem to squabble. 13 month growth is about 6-7 inches:
Hey, ThebiggerThebetter,
My impression is over the past decade this fish has become more common in the hobby (even found its way to Australia somehow) but still very little is written about it even on Planet Catfish.
My instinct is to treat it like a Black Lancer, but not only are they not the same genus, but also all male Bagrichthys are aggressive to their own kind per the Shane's world articles on them. This doesn't seem to reflect in your writing about Bagroides melapterus nor what little else I seemed to find on Monsterfishkeeper.
So with this in mind I have 3 questions about your experience with this fish.
1) While not schooling and not aggressive, is this a fish that actually show any actual changes to behaviour when keep with other Bagroides melapterus or do they literally not care about tank mates of the same species? I am getting a general impression of 'friendly loner' by taking everything I have read and heard togther... but want to confirm.
2)Just how shy is it? It seems like they are reasonably visible in your videos (even the ones with the decorations in the tank you ususally see 1 or 2) but is that instead a matter of clever tank design?
3) The tank I am setting up is a tank where I SUSPECT the tank boss will be an Oscar (obviously we all know the stories of the Oscar who lets a smaller fish bully them, but in THEORY they should be the biggest fish in the tank when it fully setup). Do you think one or more Harliquin Lancers could be safely kept with the typical Oscar? And how long would it take for them to reach the 5-6 inch mark? (That seems to be the Oscar safe size in most cases)
(The tank in question is unlikely to have other Cichlids in it. Maybe some Angelfish. I sadly can't give other details at the moment as the decision will be a joint one between me and someone who knows very little about fish. The Joys of sharing a house and introducing a hobby to someone new. I can say it is 6'x2'x2' though.)
Thanks in advance
My impression is over the past decade this fish has become more common in the hobby (even found its way to Australia somehow) but still very little is written about it even on Planet Catfish.
My instinct is to treat it like a Black Lancer, but not only are they not the same genus, but also all male Bagrichthys are aggressive to their own kind per the Shane's world articles on them. This doesn't seem to reflect in your writing about Bagroides melapterus nor what little else I seemed to find on Monsterfishkeeper.
So with this in mind I have 3 questions about your experience with this fish.
1) While not schooling and not aggressive, is this a fish that actually show any actual changes to behaviour when keep with other Bagroides melapterus or do they literally not care about tank mates of the same species? I am getting a general impression of 'friendly loner' by taking everything I have read and heard togther... but want to confirm.
2)Just how shy is it? It seems like they are reasonably visible in your videos (even the ones with the decorations in the tank you ususally see 1 or 2) but is that instead a matter of clever tank design?
3) The tank I am setting up is a tank where I SUSPECT the tank boss will be an Oscar (obviously we all know the stories of the Oscar who lets a smaller fish bully them, but in THEORY they should be the biggest fish in the tank when it fully setup). Do you think one or more Harliquin Lancers could be safely kept with the typical Oscar? And how long would it take for them to reach the 5-6 inch mark? (That seems to be the Oscar safe size in most cases)
(The tank in question is unlikely to have other Cichlids in it. Maybe some Angelfish. I sadly can't give other details at the moment as the decision will be a joint one between me and someone who knows very little about fish. The Joys of sharing a house and introducing a hobby to someone new. I can say it is 6'x2'x2' though.)
Thanks in advance
Hi Drachos
My impression is over the past decade this fish has become more common in the hobby (even found its way to Australia somehow) but still very little is written about it even on Planet Catfish.
***Yes, mine is too. I've never seen them for sale from 2008-2023.
My instinct is to treat it like a Black Lancer, but not only are they not the same genus, but also all male Bagrichthys are aggressive to their own kind per the Shane's world articles on them. This doesn't seem to reflect in your writing about Bagroides melapterus nor what little else I seemed to find on Monsterfishkeeper.
***We lost one about half a year ago out of the blue to what appeared strongly as harlequin on harlequin aggression. Never before, nor after. That was odd. Also coincided with the general time of courtship and breeding (not that the harlequins ever showed any such behavior explicitly). It was a bigger one of the 6 too. I suppose females are bigger but have to check. So 5 left.
So with this in mind I have 3 questions about your experience with this fish.
1) While not schooling and not aggressive, is this a fish that actually show any actual changes to behaviour when keep with other Bagroides melapterus or do they literally not care about tank mates of the same species? I am getting a general impression of 'friendly loner' by taking everything I have read and heard togther... but want to confirm.
***Apart that one occurrence, our group has appeared peaceful but they do NOT share hides nor generally can you see them in vicinity of each other, even during feedings they rarely leave their hides I guess because the feed is brought to them by the current.
2)Just how shy is it? It seems like they are reasonably visible in your videos (even the ones with the decorations in the tank you ususally see 1 or 2) but is that instead a matter of clever tank design?
***Seem to NEVER want to frolic in the open for us. So yes, very shy. Even in our usual dim light. IDK about clever but my goal in this tank has always been to eliminate or minimize places where a fish of their size can remain totally hidden. They cannot find 5 places to be totally hidden haha so 1 or 2 can usually be seen in their hides.
3) The tank I am setting up is a tank where I SUSPECT the tank boss will be an Oscar (obviously we all know the stories of the Oscar who lets a smaller fish bully them, but in THEORY they should be the biggest fish in the tank when it fully setup). Do you think one or more Harliquin Lancers could be safely kept with the typical Oscar?
***We've never had this combo. In general I don't see why this could not be tried.
And how long would it take for them to reach the 5-6 inch mark? (That seems to be the Oscar safe size in most cases)
***For ours it took about a year but the tank was fed very generously.
(The tank in question is unlikely to have other Cichlids in it. Maybe some Angelfish. I sadly can't give other details at the moment as the decision will be a joint one between me and someone who knows very little about fish. The Joys of sharing a house and introducing a hobby to someone new. I can say it is 6'x2'x2' though.)
***
decent size tank.
My impression is over the past decade this fish has become more common in the hobby (even found its way to Australia somehow) but still very little is written about it even on Planet Catfish.
***Yes, mine is too. I've never seen them for sale from 2008-2023.
My instinct is to treat it like a Black Lancer, but not only are they not the same genus, but also all male Bagrichthys are aggressive to their own kind per the Shane's world articles on them. This doesn't seem to reflect in your writing about Bagroides melapterus nor what little else I seemed to find on Monsterfishkeeper.
***We lost one about half a year ago out of the blue to what appeared strongly as harlequin on harlequin aggression. Never before, nor after. That was odd. Also coincided with the general time of courtship and breeding (not that the harlequins ever showed any such behavior explicitly). It was a bigger one of the 6 too. I suppose females are bigger but have to check. So 5 left.
So with this in mind I have 3 questions about your experience with this fish.
1) While not schooling and not aggressive, is this a fish that actually show any actual changes to behaviour when keep with other Bagroides melapterus or do they literally not care about tank mates of the same species? I am getting a general impression of 'friendly loner' by taking everything I have read and heard togther... but want to confirm.
***Apart that one occurrence, our group has appeared peaceful but they do NOT share hides nor generally can you see them in vicinity of each other, even during feedings they rarely leave their hides I guess because the feed is brought to them by the current.
2)Just how shy is it? It seems like they are reasonably visible in your videos (even the ones with the decorations in the tank you ususally see 1 or 2) but is that instead a matter of clever tank design?
***Seem to NEVER want to frolic in the open for us. So yes, very shy. Even in our usual dim light. IDK about clever but my goal in this tank has always been to eliminate or minimize places where a fish of their size can remain totally hidden. They cannot find 5 places to be totally hidden haha so 1 or 2 can usually be seen in their hides.
3) The tank I am setting up is a tank where I SUSPECT the tank boss will be an Oscar (obviously we all know the stories of the Oscar who lets a smaller fish bully them, but in THEORY they should be the biggest fish in the tank when it fully setup). Do you think one or more Harliquin Lancers could be safely kept with the typical Oscar?
***We've never had this combo. In general I don't see why this could not be tried.
And how long would it take for them to reach the 5-6 inch mark? (That seems to be the Oscar safe size in most cases)
***For ours it took about a year but the tank was fed very generously.
(The tank in question is unlikely to have other Cichlids in it. Maybe some Angelfish. I sadly can't give other details at the moment as the decision will be a joint one between me and someone who knows very little about fish. The Joys of sharing a house and introducing a hobby to someone new. I can say it is 6'x2'x2' though.)
***
decent size tank.