GeneralBrackish;3602902; said:
I've kept Archer fish for about 5 years now and had pretty good succes with them. My first time around with these guys wasnt great tho. I found that they are a little harder to feed than most other brackish fish for starters. My first two i couldn't get to eat prepared foods (bloodworms or flakes), they would ignore them while all the other fish in the tank devoured them. You started out right with feeding them live or frozen foods. It's apart of their natural instinct to hunt for their food which is always alive in the wild. Also I notice that they dont like competing for their food with other tankmates.
I think I have been very fortunate regarding their eating habits. Mine have been interested in live foods, and they scoop up the pellets and flakes I feed to the other fish--but like you said, if another fish even touches the food they planned on, they'll ignore it thereafter. For some reason, they want their food untampered.
GeneralBrackish;3602902; said:
Second Archers need plenty of open space for swimming with not much disturbance to the surface of the water ie., floating plants. I wouldnt suggest NOT putting any other surface-dwellers in their tank simply because they are far from aggresive and wont defend themselves from other fish. Rather they will retreat to a corner and stave if competition for food is overwhemling(that waas my second mistake). The best companions for these fish are Scats, Monos, Puffers, and Chromides. The R. spotted catfish will have to go I agree, if you plan on keeping them long term only because you will need to raise the SG over the next few years due to the fact Archers need a higher SG as they grow.
Yeah, the catfish was only in there temporarily. The tank is highly planted, and I wanted him in there to keep food off the bottom. Nonetheless, I have since acquired some Scats, Barbs and Monos, and now nothing reaches the bottom of the tank. I'm just hoping my scats dont eat my plants to the roots. I have heard of bad experiences with puffers (especially figure 8's), as when they start maturing, they chomp the bellies out of their tankmates. I am hesitant to obtain a puffer for that reason.
GeneralBrackish;3602902; said:
Third, they are extremely sensitive to water quality. Water changes of 20% a week I would recommend instead of a once every two week water change. Because they always hang near the top of the tank a protein skimmer isnt ness. but a little water movement is encourage.
In my brackish tanks of old, I use to make teterriums excatly to the deminsions of the tank itself, then binding it to the top of the tank, apearing as one whole unit. Placing tangled branches and vines in it to appear like overhanging branches in their natural habitat. This made it much easier to feed them. Just buy some crickets or fly larve, place them in the teterrium and watch the Archers do their spitting!!!
In General you need PEACEFUL, non-aggresive fish that can tolerate changes in salinities. They will also need a tank set-up as close to their natural habitat as possible with freqeunt water changes.
I hope I was of some help........
*Note- If you are trying to breed them it will be damn near impossible. Archers go out to SEA to spawn, which indicates they will probably have to be at the higher end of the SG scale for this to happen, which may take a few years for you to build up the SG. These fish are tough to breed! Not as willing as most cichlids.
Fortunately, this aquarium is number 14 in my collection, so it gets a weekly water change along with the rest of them on Saturdays. Water quality hasn't presented itself to be a problem for the most part--I will be concerned when I go out of town for extended periods of time though. Some other information I have read suggested starting archers while young on 1tbs salt per gallon, and raising it 1tbs each year until the 6th year when the fish is reaching maturity--6tbs per gallon being 0.5 tsp per gal from seawater--which is where they live their adult lives during breeding. The exact same is true for Scats and Monos, so I assumed they'd make great tank mates. The scats are a bit on the aggressive side, though--fortunately, their aggression isn't focus fired, and they keep each other busy enough.
I like your idea of doubling the aquarium, although my tanks are all too large to achieve that idea in my home. I might have to come up with something similar... maybe a screen built inside a canopy or such.
I'm not trying to breed them, but I would like to know how many should be kept together. My pet store has two more for sale... and wondering if I should bump my total up to 4 archers, rather than two.
