Ideal Turnover/Flow Rate for Scombs

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Wiggles92

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Apr 25, 2009
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Having recently acquired a scombs (Hydrolycus scomberoides), I have one question for those of you that have experience with these fish: What is the ideal turnover/flow rate for these fish?

I ask this question because I keep seeing a high turnover/flow rate being recommended on here, but there was little current in the aquarium that it was kept in at the LFS that I bought it from; it had been living in said aquarium for at least a year or two with no problems.
 
Scombs don't need lots of current it's the gas exchange and increase in dissolved oxygen that these guys need. Oxygen exchange takes place more rapidly in moving tumbling water hence the high flo rates. You can never filter enuff water.

Scombs swim at all kinds of angles mostly horizontal. I'd be shocked if that scomb lived a year or 2 in a fish in any fish store as scombs cannot tolerate measurable nitrate.
 
The store might not have had a lot of nitrite.

Turnover rate depends on tank size, if you have a 20g of course you need a large turnover, but if it's in a 75 you don't need as much. I noticed some vampire tetras get nervous and hide when there is a lot of current in the water also, so just play around with it and see what gets the best response.

I kept two 6" vampire tetras in a 20g with a 20 gallon HOB and sponge filter for quite a while without any problems.
 
Otherone;5007462; said:
Scombs don't need lots of current it's the gas exchange and increase in dissolved oxygen that these guys need. Oxygen exchange takes place more rapidly in moving tumbling water hence the high flo rates. You can never filter enuff water.

Scombs swim at all kinds of angles mostly horizontal. I'd be shocked if that scomb lived a year or 2 in a fish in any fish store as scombs cannot tolerate measurable nitrate.
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Industrial;5007663; said:
The store might not have had a lot of nitrite.

Turnover rate depends on tank size, if you have a 20g of course you need a large turnover, but if it's in a 75 you don't need as much. I noticed some vampire tetras get nervous and hide when there is a lot of current in the water also, so just play around with it and see what gets the best response.

I kept two 6" vampire tetras in a 20g with a 20 gallon HOB and sponge filter for quite a while without any problems.
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This scomb was kept in a 55 gallon at the store. I'm not sure as to what the water parameters were, but it apparently lived with another scomb for a few weeks before that scomb was sold and lived alone since then.

I have an airstone in its aquarium (55 gallon) plus three HOB filters (not sure as to what they're rated for; the one is mainly just there for a bit more water circulation. I also have a pump running just below the surface to keep the surface very agitated to increase the oxygen in the water.

I'm making a wet/dry filter for its aquarium to replace the other filters, so I figured that I'd ask about the turnover rate and current level so that I have a better idea on how strong of a pump I should get.
 
are scombs very hard to keep. Many people are saying that they die in about a half a year or rarely a year.
 
lix.ma14;5008586; said:
are scombs very hard to keep. Many people are saying that they die in about a half a year or rarely a year.
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I don't know for sure. I just got mine a few days ago, so I don't have experience with them.

The LFS where I got mine had it in a 55 gallon aquarium with a light current (certainly not a high current), and they just tossed 100 rosy reds in the aquarium every other week for food. As I said in my media lounge thread about my scombs, they apparently have had it for a year or two, so they must have been doing something right.
 
Industrial;5007663; said:
The store might not have had a lot of nitrite.
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If the store had any Nitrite they'd be in deep crap that gas is extermely harmful to any fish let alone small soft scale tetras.

Problems with Nitrate are far more common usually because the tanks are bare bottomed, nowhere to house the denitrifying bacteria which is needed to change nitrate to harmless nitrogen gas.
 
Otherone;5013467; said:
If the store had any Nitrite they'd be in deep crap that gas is extermely harmful to any fish let alone small soft scale tetras.

Problems with Nitrate are far more common usually because the tanks are bare bottomed, nowhere to house the denitrifying bacteria which is needed to change nitrate to harmless nitrogen gas.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's why it was doing so well: The aquarium that it was in had gravel plus some driftwood and other decor, and there was a decent amount of circulation.
 
as otherone said i dont think a high current is needed. it just made mine want to hide more as well. i would go with overfiltering i have mine in an 85 with a 500gph canister filter and other than weekly water changes really dont have to do too much with it and lastly an air pump is a must. just my 2 cents im no expert but i havent had a single problem with mine so far
 
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