Tell me about the pink tail chalceus

esoxlucius

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I wish you'd get with the programme and start talking in gallons and feet and inches instead of fecking litres and metres and centimeters, lol.

I'd say your length and width are over and beyond what's required, which is great. But that is a measly depth imo. It may or may not hinder your proposed stocking plans now, but I'd be thinking more long term. That depth may limit what you want to do in future.

Is there no way you can keep the length and width, but go 24" depth too? That would be a great sized tank.
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Lol, I sure wish this site would go metric. So much easier than imperial due to being designed to 10s for everything.

Thank you for your input on length, width, and depth. I was concerned about the depth at first too.
But based on what Redshark1 told me, 37cm will be enough for even adult clown loaches (his don't go above the mid level of his 45cm tall tank much, and based on how much mine prefer the length and width to the height of their tank, I suspect mine will end up like his as adults).

I also asked the pet store whether or not the depth would be enough. They said for big clown loaches, the depth of the tank should be 2-3 times the body height of the fish (consistent with how Redshark's loaches behave regarding depth), which 37cm fulfills nicely.

The remainder of my future stocking doesn't worry me on depth. It's going to be horseface loaches, yoyo loaches, and black kuhli loaches, all of which are either significantly smaller than clown loaches/chalceus or significantly more bottom oriented.
Thank goodness I'm not into fish as deep bodied as angelfish lol.

I don't think I could go for 61cm depth even if I wanted to. The reasons for this being:

-The doors to the room where the tank will go - and it's the only room in the house where it will fit - are no more than 49cm wide. So any tank that goes through those doors has to have one of its dimensions 49cm or less, and the length/width of this future tank can't be one of those dimensions because the fish wouldn't have enough space.

-If I went much taller than 37cm, weight would start to become an issue seeing as how it's on a top floor.
I'm also trying to ensure the final tank has as much floor space for its volume as possible while still being tall enough for the fish, so that the weight is distributed over a wider area. It's the same principle as wearing snowshoes.
And this 681 liter will have significantly more floor space for its volume than the 2 standards of 1.83m x 61cm x 61cm (69%) or 1.83m x 47cm x 76cm (219%). That helps weight support a lot.
 
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tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
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Lol, I sure wish this site would go metric. So much easier than imperial due to being designed to 10s for everything.

Thank you for your input on length, width, and depth. I was concerned about the depth at first too.
But based on what Redshark1 told me, 37cm will be enough for even adult clown loaches (his don't go above the mid level of his 45cm tall tank much, and based on how much mine prefer the length and width to the height of their tank, I suspect mine will end up like his as adults).

I also asked the pet store whether or not the depth would be enough. They said for big clown loaches, the depth of the tank should be 2-3 times the body height of the fish (consistent with how Redshark's loaches behave regarding depth), which 37cm fulfills nicely.

The remainder of my future stocking doesn't worry me on depth. It's going to be horseface loaches, yoyo loaches, and black kuhli loaches, all of which are either significantly smaller than clown loaches/chalceus or significantly more bottom oriented.
Thank goodness I'm not into fish as deep bodied as angelfish lol.

I don't think I could go for 61cm depth even if I wanted to. The reasons for this being:

-The doors to the room where the tank will go - and it's the only room in the house where it will fit - are no more than 49cm wide. So any tank that goes through those doors has to have one of its dimensions 49cm or less, and the length/width of this future tank can't be one of those dimensions because the fish wouldn't have enough space.

-If I went much taller than 37cm, weight would start to become an issue seeing as how it's on a top floor.
I'm also trying to ensure the final tank has as much floor space for its volume as possible while still being tall enough for the fish, so that the weight is distributed over a wider area. It's the same principle as wearing snowshoes.
And this 681 liter will have significantly more floor space for its volume than the 2 standards of 1.83m x 61cm x 61cm (69%) or 1.83m x 47cm x 76cm (219%). That helps weight support a lot.
I wish US would go metric as the rest of the world.

Depth is the least of concern for Chalceus as they are shallow fish never venture 6 inch below the surface. Long and shallow tanks have proportional spacious foot print ideal for plants and most fish except tall fish like angels and discus. Loaches are the opposite of Chalceus staying at the bottom and seldom venture to the surface. Clown loaches are the largest of all but grow at slow pace and won’t reach full grown for decades. Loaches are fun fish but not as hardy as Chalceus as they are susceptible to ick and hard to treat. I lost dozens of clown loaches over the years from periodic ick outbreak.
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Agreed on everything you said, I could hardly have worded it any better.

Bravo is really all I can say.
 

Backfromthedead

Potamotrygon
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Jul 12, 2017
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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.

View attachment 1494436

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View attachment 1494439
Excellent! Beautiful specimens as well. Keep us posted with long term results.
 

goldnero

Feeder Fish
Dec 26, 2022
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Hello my friend, I had a solitary pink tail in a similar size tank.
Despite what I've read my fish was pasive and kept with a group of clown fish a very large plec, red tail shark and tinfoil bars also large.
Never had a problem with it and it grey "BIG'.
soon become my favourite fish.
I could chuck a cup full of frozen peas in my tank and he would scoop them all up until he couldn't shut his mouth.
A great fish. I'm actually looking for one in the UK at the moment as recently got into fish keeping again.
Hope this help, Regards, Kevin Jordan
 
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Deadeye

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Hello my friend, I had a solitary pink tail in a similar size tank.
Despite what I've read my fish was pasive and kept with a group of clown fish a very large plec, red tail shark and tinfoil bars also large.
Never had a problem with it and it grey "BIG'.
soon become my favourite fish.
I could chuck a cup full of frozen peas in my tank and he would scoop them all up until he couldn't shut his mouth.
A great fish. I'm actually looking for one in the UK at the moment as recently got into fish keeping again.
Hope this help, Regards, Kevin Jordan
Welcome to the forum!
 

Jexnell

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jul 17, 2017
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Hello my friend, I had a solitary pink tail in a similar size tank.
Despite what I've read my fish was pasive and kept with a group of clown fish a very large plec, red tail shark and tinfoil bars also large.
Never had a problem with it and it grey "BIG'.
soon become my favourite fish.
I could chuck a cup full of frozen peas in my tank and he would scoop them all up until he couldn't shut his mouth.
A great fish. I'm actually looking for one in the UK at the moment as recently got into fish keeping again.
Hope this help, Regards, Kevin Jordan
Welcome to the fishy family!
 

tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
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Oct 1, 2012
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Updated pics of my Chalceus. The 3 year younger yellow fin has outgrown the macrolepidotus. Both reach about 8 inch, and the yellow fin is slightly longer and bulkier, and may have more to grow. They remain peaceful to each other and all tankmates. Chaceius are predatory tetra, and I’m surprised they eat peas.

C19D72AF-D050-444E-82C3-A22364390240.jpeg

AF268980-5260-449A-9EEE-0E6D5E07495F.jpeg
 
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