Tell me about the pink tail chalceus

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

I remember way back when I got my Charlie. The stuff i'd read hinted that they were predators and that they'd take small fish if the opportunity presented itself. But mine never bothered any other fish. It just lay still at the top waiting for food to drop in.

More reassurance, yay!
For curiosity's sake, did you ever have yours in with your Odessa barbs, roseline sharks, and clown loaches? Asking since those species will be or likely will be some of the exact fish going with mine.

I wonder if their inactive nature is also explained by their insect diet, since an insectivore is more likely to not scare its prey off if it is slow like a chalceus instead of fast like a bala shark? Would hold up to logic well.

I'd say by all means, go ahead and get one for your 1363 liter. Funny enough, the chalceus was the precise fish that made the tank I'm planning to have it in feel 'complete', so hopefully you'll get one more and have that same satisfaction.

By the way, your Charlie was a Charlene, at least according to Aquarium Glaser:

Chalceus erythrurus - Aquarium Glaser GmbH

We received bred specimens of this beautiful large tetra – the real one, with bright yellow ventral fins. Currently the fish are 7-9 cm long. The members of the genus Chalceus can be best compared with our native species of trout. Like these Chalceus prefer to feed on insects etc. that fall on...

www.aquariumglaser.de

Thanks for commenting esox!

 

[esoxlucius]

For curiosity's sake, did you ever have yours in with your Odessa barbs, roseline sharks, and clown loaches?

It's a little hazy but I don't think "Charlene" (lol) was ever in with my really small stuff, even in the early days, though obviously it would have been small itself then too, it was 3" when I got it.

By the time I started stocking my old 180g with small community fish the Chalceus had long been moved to my 360g where it was the smallest fish!

The big question of will a Chalceus go for top swimming small community fish is unfortunately one I can't answer.

My chocolate cichlid of all fish is the one which took a liking to my Odessas, lol.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

Fair. There's at least Backfromthedead's input, so you being unable to answer is fine.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Here you can see the mix of fish "laidback luke" cohabbed with. Everything from 3" tetras to a 9" JD.

 

[tiger15]

I finally brought the macrolepidotus and erythrurus together in the 125g. Chalceus are aggressive to its own kind so I have to wait for the latter to reach comparable size of the former. Thanks god they get along with no sparring I was afraid of . I took pics of both side by side for comparison. The macrolepidotus is 4 year old probably reaching full size. The erythrurus is one year old growiing at 1/2 inch a month and will likely surpass the macrolepidotus. The macrolepidotus has more pointed nose, tail and anal fins. The erythrurus has not only yellow but larger ventral fins, and the anal fin is closer to the tail. They are large tetra with cichlid demeanor and taking photo of them is easy as they are motionless like cichlid.

 

[tlindsey]

I finally brought the macrolepidotus and erythrurus together in the 125g. Chalceus are aggressive to its own kind so I have to wait for the latter to reach comparable size of the former. Thanks god they get along with no sparring I was afraid of . I took pics of both side by side for comparison. The macrolepidotus is 4 year old probably reaching full size. The erythrurus is one year old growiing at 1/2 inch a month and will likely surpass the macrolepidotus. The macrolepidotus has more pointed nose, tail and anal fins. The erythrurus has not only yellow but larger ventral fins, and the anal fin is closer to the tail. They are large tetra with cichlid demeanor and taking photo of them is easy as they are motionless like cichlid.

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Very nice pickups
Are male and female different colors?

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

Just as well that this thread was updated, because I had been meaning to.
The layout of my future custom tank where my future chalceus will ultimately end up in has changed, it's going to be 78cm wide instead of 61cm. But as a tradeoff for more width, the height has been reduced from 45cm to 37cm.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether this is OK for a chalceus?
On one hand, esoxlucius mentioned that he found his was a very inactive fish and didn't go below the top 15cm of the water column, so it's likely deep enough to allow comfortable general swimming for the fish. It may also restrict the urge to jump out, because the shallowness - although it does seem ok for general swimming - may not allow enough momentum to allow a scared fish to jump.

On the other hand, such a shallow tank could put it into a space conflict with my bottom dwelling clown loaches. They will grow into robustly built, active, and tall-bodied bottom dwellers, and with a full 6 of them in such a shallow tank, the chalceus may be cramped.
But of course I'm not certain of whether or not it would, which is why I ask.

Advice much appreciated, I know I've been asking for a lot of it in this thread!

 

[celebrist]

I think the extra width will be more beneficial than the height as they will have greater surface area to sit for hours between darts

 

[tiger15]

Very nice pickups
Are male and female different colors?

There is no sexual dimorphism I am aware of.

Just as well that this thread was updated, because I had been meaning to.
The layout of my future custom tank where my future chalceus will ultimately end up in has changed, it's going to be 78cm wide instead of 61cm. But as a tradeoff for more width, the height has been reduced from 45cm to 37cm.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether this is OK for a chalceus?
On one hand, esoxlucius mentioned that he found his was a very inactive fish and didn't go below the top 15cm of the water column, so it's likely deep enough to allow comfortable general swimming for the fish. It may also restrict the urge to jump out, because the shallowness - although it does seem ok for general swimming - may not allow enough momentum to allow a scared fish to jump.

On the other hand, such a shallow tank could put it into a space conflict with my bottom dwelling clown loaches. They will grow into robustly built, active, and tall-bodied bottom dwellers, and with a full 6 of them in such a shallow tank, the chalceus may be cramped.
But of course I'm not certain of whether or not it would, which is why I ask.

Advice much appreciated, I know I've been asking for a lot of it in this thread!

Your tank has more than enough width and depth as it is taller and wider than the fish, but don’t know if you have enough length. Chalceus are long and narrow fish, and appreciate a 6 foot tank at full size. Mine are already 9 inch, not sure how much more they can grow. They are fast fish, good jumper and easily startled, but prefer to stay motionless.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

That tank is going to be 2.42m long. Presumably that will be plenty, as it's 1/3 longer than a 1.83m tank,