The ultimate Other Characins collection- what would it be?

[Chicxulub]

I'm not talking about rare or cool, I'm talking apex predators. The biggest and baddest that the tetras have to offer. This is a concept that we need to figure out for the hobby.

I'm thinking that it would be the 'big five'. The big six are the six types- notice I didn't say species- of tetra that are apex predators in their natural environment. This list would be...

Goliath tigerfish


Tanzy tigerfish


Brevis tigerfish


Armatus payara


Aimara wolffish


Golden dorado


The reason that I'm not breaking dorados down by species is because of how incredibly similar they are. Even we in the hobby have trouble telling the goldens apart. There's also the issue that S. brasiliensis is virtually absent from the hobby. On the other hand, even the uninitiated can tell the three tigers apart, especially if the TATF is showing vittatus like colors like they tend to do in an aquarium. Vittatus and forskahlii aren't part of this because they're mesopredators that are suppressed by other tigerfish species.

What are all of your thoughts on the subject? I think we need to recognize the top dogs in the tetra family. Tetras have some of the biggest and baddest apex predators in the freshwater world. What do you all think about this concept? This could be cool to see who can get the whole grand slam or big six or whatever first!

 

[ecoli73]

My neon tetras terrifies my coworkers at the office.


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[lix.ma14]

I think piranhas deserve some recognition. not a top 5 but definitely an honorable mention.

 

[Chicxulub]

I think piranhas deserve some recognition. not a top 5 but definitely an honorable mention.

No P is an apex predator though. I'm trying to iron out the apex preds of the group.

Basically, non-P key characins. I'll edit the title...

 

[DB junkie]

I think that considering the housing requirements of these monsters it's going to prove difficult to keep a few happy let alone "all" of them.

I see some of these fish having personalities that "clash"......

Sure would be interesting to see the outcome though.

 

[Chicxulub]

I think that considering the housing requirements of these monsters it's going to prove difficult to keep a few happy let alone "all" of them.

I see some of these fish having personalities that "clash"......

Sure would be interesting to see the outcome though.

Exactly. LOL.

I'm hoping someone could do it. After all, the 50+ pound fish are VERY old. I think having all six or whatever we come up with could be feasible for someone with a 10x4 tank like you.

The personalities would be the problem I think. I expect it would be hard enough to keep the three tigers together without anyone getting killed (and I'm about to try...), let alone trying to mix the SA monsters into the picture.

ALSO, I just realized that I have to fix the OP from big five to big six. The big five are in reference to African big game hunting and I kinda got the terms twisted up. >.<

 

[DB junkie]

Honestly, I see a 10x4 as nothing more then a stepping stone. It may work for a bit, but I still don't think it's enough. It would be nice if I had a house bought before my fish outgrow my big tank, and I hope this happens, but if it doesn't I bet it may become bad news for a few of these species......

I'm still curious if they would all be fine long term in the same water parameters...... I can't help but be stuck on the stupid water thing.....

 

[Chicxulub]

Honestly, I see a 10x4 as nothing more then a stepping stone. It may work for a bit, but I still don't think it's enough. It would be nice if I had a house bought before my fish outgrow my big tank, and I hope this happens, but if it doesn't I bet it may become bad news for a few of these species......

I'm still curious if they would all be fine long term in the same water parameters...... I can't help but be stuck on the stupid water thing.....

I agree completely. When I built my 8x4, I knew going into it that it was a growout, too.

Ultimately, I'm going to have an enormous wall tank in my final house that I buy in the next 2-3 years. I want to try to find something already made like bigrich545's 4,000 gallon tank, but I'll build one if I have to. There's that one fellow who recently built a big tank, I think about 1200 gallons, out of cinder blocks and poured concrete for about $2500. I figure that I can get 4-5k gallons for less than ten grand which would be ideal, ESPECIALLY if I can get my mortgage to pay for it lol. Hey, stranger things have happened!

At this point, I'd be happy if I can make the big three tigerfish work. I think I'd have a reasonable chance of making all six work though. I'm going to settle in St. Mary's, Georgia which has MUCH better water than we do up here. The water down there is way more neutral with far fewer TDS.

 

[Pole]

I wouldn't try it. those characins will probably kill each other, particularly the aimara. plus I forsee problems with growth rate aggression and out competition. however, if it was carefully calculated it could be possible.


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[nathanzhang]

I'm not talking about rare or cool, I'm talking apex predators. The biggest and baddest that the tetras have to offer. This is a concept that we need to figure out for the hobby.

I'm thinking that it would be the 'big five'. The big six are the six types- notice I didn't say species- of tetra that are apex predators in their natural environment. This list would be...

Goliath tigerfish
View attachment 953000

Tanzy tigerfish
View attachment 953014

Brevis tigerfish
View attachment 953011

Armatus payara
View attachment 953015

Aimara wolffish
View attachment 953017

Golden dorado
View attachment 953018

The reason that I'm not breaking dorados down by species is because of how incredibly similar they are. Even we in the hobby have trouble telling the goldens apart. There's also the issue that S. brasiliensis is virtually absent from the hobby. On the other hand, even the uninitiated can tell the three tigers apart, especially if the TATF is showing vittatus like colors like they tend to do in an aquarium. Vittatus and forskahlii aren't part of this because they're mesopredators that are suppressed by other tigerfish species.

What are all of your thoughts on the subject? I think we need to recognize the top dogs in the tetra family. Tetras have some of the biggest and baddest apex predators in the freshwater world. What do you all think about this concept? This could be cool to see who can get the whole grand slam or big six or whatever first!

View attachment 953000

View attachment 953011

View attachment 953014

View attachment 953015

View attachment 953017

View attachment 953018

i thought vittatus was the second largest togerfish species