I believe my new fish is actually chalceus guaporensis due to the humeral spot and apparent 7 rays on the pelvic fin. I may need to study it more as it grows to make sure it only has 7 though.
my new pink-tail
- Thread starter Backfromthedead
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The more you dig, the muddier it becomes with this species, that's for sure, lol. When I bought mine back in 2016 as a "pink tailed Chalceus" I thought it was a single stand alone species. But now there are FIVE that roughly fall under that generic name, pink tailed Chalceus.
And when the outward physical appearance between the five, at varying stages of development, merge into one another, then you have one big headache determining which is which, lol.
My head goes a bit fuzzy when you have to start looking at ray counts, lateral line counts, jaw bone length etc etc to pin down the true identity.
Let's just say, ALL five of them are a cool fish, lol.
And when the outward physical appearance between the five, at varying stages of development, merge into one another, then you have one big headache determining which is which, lol.
My head goes a bit fuzzy when you have to start looking at ray counts, lateral line counts, jaw bone length etc etc to pin down the true identity.
Let's just say, ALL five of them are a cool fish, lol.
Some aquarists want to be part time taxonomists LOL. All PTC are cool, and more cichlid like than tetra in demeanor. They are aggressive to their own kind, and prefer to stay motionless rather than constantly swimming like typical tetra. I’ve seen PTC in dealer tanks attack one another, locked jaw and many have broken nose. Mine are surprisingly peaceful to each other, and I guess they recognize they are different species.
Well I suppose I am a "part time taxonomist". I didn't get a bio degree just to crapshoot fish IDs lol.
I'm simply trying to collate some info and cultivate some knowledge here on MFK about these wonderful fish. Thanks for all the help.
My $0.02 is that the inactive nature of this fish is a good thing. Easy to admire, doesn't require a lot of tank depth (so ideal for those with very shallow tanks), and doesn't need a ludicrously big tank due to high activity.
I would not call them inactive. They tend to hover and then explode into action at intervals. This new ptc i have is a much more actively swimming fish than the first one I had, another factor in why I want to settle the species debate.
When mature they can bolt across a 6' tank with one burst whilst you blink. When confined in a smaller tank and spooked they will bounce off the walls like a racquetball. I would say a 5'x2' or 6'x18" footprint for a mature ptc is passable.
I know I've posted this video about 50 times the last couple months, but here you can see a mature ptc in a 6'x18" tank, not a constant mover but definitely not inactive either, definitely not a fish you would want in a smaller tank than this imo:
Mine don't cruise, but prefer to stay motionless, but can dart from one end to another if disturbed. Now with a second species introduced, they don't bother each other, stay calm and motionless most of the time. A cruising PTC would resemble arowana, specially the dark scale species.
Mine would sit motionless for most of the day. Then at dusk he would actually swim about some.
My friend kept 6 Macros in a 200g, and ended up with only a couple left. I wasn’t sure if two different species of PTC would get along so I grew out a second species to comparable size before introduction. Apparently they recognize they are different and get along.
I’ve seen PTC in public aquariums and they cruise individually at slow pace. I guess in smaller home aquariums, they prefer to stay motionless. They also look a lot bigger in public aquariums than the 9 inch max out size in my 125g.
