First of all...thanks goes out to Wes. I bought a sowrdspine snook from him almost 2 years ago. As there is very little info on them I thought I would share my experiences.
The 100% proven swordspine (Centropomus ensiferus) arrived at about 3.5" TL in April or May of 2010. He has been kept in pure freshwater at a neutral ph and at a temp of 78 degrees the entire time. He moved with me from Montgomery, AL to Orlando, FL with no issues. He's been housed with a long list of fish throughout this time with no problems until recent. Fish list is as follows: yellow perch, dollar sunfish, bluegill, gibbiceps pleco, gold nugget pleco, bristlenose pleco, XXL fire eel, tire track eel, Alabama spotted bass, tinfoil barbs, TSN x RTC (for a short time), XXL red bay snook, asian bumblebee catfish, featherfin syno. As it's already been said by another MFKer, the swordspines are very shy and slow growing. This makes them very peaceful tankmates and should not keep them with more agressive fish...that is at first.
This is a very difficult species to get off of live foods, as well. I finally, in the last 2-3 months have gotten mine eating market shrimp. I had to put live shrimp in the tank at first (after a fishing trip). The snook loved them and now eats dead shrimp. No need to get the peeled and deveined...lol.
Now for the hic-up. As previously stated, these are very peaceful fish............until they become adults. I first noticed a couple of tinfoil barbs missing scales about 6 months ago. I thought mabe they were running into my power head or something. I finally caught a glimpse under the blue leds of the snook almost ramming them in their flanks with his pointed mouth as if he was herding them into a corner. I removed all tankmates when I was able to and kept it that way for a couple months. I decided to try an 8" bluegill as a tankmate because the people on the native forums say that they are very scrappy and even territorily agressive. The snook now has him hunkered in a corner. My observations see this as a fish that you either need to keep with a large group of fish or by itself when it reaches this stage.
I will say it has been the coolest fish I've kept by far with much personality. He's a solid 10" now.
Here's a couple of shots of him:
This one is about 3 months ago while still on live:
[YT]DDaS3WdD-X4[/YT]
Here's this morning after feeding:
[YT]tnT0I5MkvEs[/YT]
Once again, thanks Wes.
Justin
The 100% proven swordspine (Centropomus ensiferus) arrived at about 3.5" TL in April or May of 2010. He has been kept in pure freshwater at a neutral ph and at a temp of 78 degrees the entire time. He moved with me from Montgomery, AL to Orlando, FL with no issues. He's been housed with a long list of fish throughout this time with no problems until recent. Fish list is as follows: yellow perch, dollar sunfish, bluegill, gibbiceps pleco, gold nugget pleco, bristlenose pleco, XXL fire eel, tire track eel, Alabama spotted bass, tinfoil barbs, TSN x RTC (for a short time), XXL red bay snook, asian bumblebee catfish, featherfin syno. As it's already been said by another MFKer, the swordspines are very shy and slow growing. This makes them very peaceful tankmates and should not keep them with more agressive fish...that is at first.
This is a very difficult species to get off of live foods, as well. I finally, in the last 2-3 months have gotten mine eating market shrimp. I had to put live shrimp in the tank at first (after a fishing trip). The snook loved them and now eats dead shrimp. No need to get the peeled and deveined...lol.
Now for the hic-up. As previously stated, these are very peaceful fish............until they become adults. I first noticed a couple of tinfoil barbs missing scales about 6 months ago. I thought mabe they were running into my power head or something. I finally caught a glimpse under the blue leds of the snook almost ramming them in their flanks with his pointed mouth as if he was herding them into a corner. I removed all tankmates when I was able to and kept it that way for a couple months. I decided to try an 8" bluegill as a tankmate because the people on the native forums say that they are very scrappy and even territorily agressive. The snook now has him hunkered in a corner. My observations see this as a fish that you either need to keep with a large group of fish or by itself when it reaches this stage.
I will say it has been the coolest fish I've kept by far with much personality. He's a solid 10" now.
Here's a couple of shots of him:
This one is about 3 months ago while still on live:
[YT]DDaS3WdD-X4[/YT]
Here's this morning after feeding:
[YT]tnT0I5MkvEs[/YT]
Once again, thanks Wes.
Justin
