New Pickup (trachycorystes trachycorystes)

[koltsixx]

Lol not sorry, just learned some new stuff about the trachy which is always a good thing. Thanks for the in depth response.

No problem, I'm glad it wasn't too bad a read and that you got something out of it. Thanks for taking the time, not too many do.

Thanks Kolt. Always a treat to read your accounts. Lots of meat.

Good luck to the OP.

I underestimated my Cephalosilurus apurensis size and vigor. My trachy's rear half spent some time in the apu's tummy. Never recovered. It was all black and very stylish. ~6"-7". $70 from Ray Chan, Amazing Fish, CA, before shipping. My first one.

I want to try again for sure. Even though they are just like jaguar catfish - their beauty is matched only by their maniacal dislike of light.

No, Thank you; Viktor. I appreciate that.

Sorry to hear you lost your first one. They really can be enjoyable once settled and that maniacal dislike of light can only be overcome with the promise of food. Mine handfeed and allow petting while being fed. I've designated one corner for food and now when they sense it they immediately head to that corner hovering at the surface awaiting their meal. I just wish they'd breed for me already.

How big was the Apu? I mean I know Apu have huge mouths but a well fed Trachy can be almost as wide as they are long. Had to be quite a sight.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

You probably mean the trachy circumference can roughly match their length. That's not a problem for the apurensis. One can ~ fit a fist in a mouth of a 1-footer. Mine only had a few inches on the trachy. The only thing that really stopped it was the dorsal fin, I think (I didn't witness it).

Perhaps this is completely unrelated but my silver aros spawn only in super soft water - KH and GH each are 1 degree or less. 1-2 degrees or more and they don't.

This is dangerous to many other fish as with such poor buffering ability, the pH swings too much and in general, many other tropicals, esp. non-Amazon, cannot adapt to such soft water (close to straight RO) even after a long while.