What to look out for on scombs

[mike1987]

I am thinking i am going to try my hand at a payara,the scomb seem to be the cheapest and the slowest growers. so i think i will try at them. everything i see says be careful when they hit 12inches they die. ok, so be it. but what are the hard core tips. from people who have them. fast water? air stone? super filted water? i want to know it. everything i see tells me the differences between the types of payara's . i want to know about the scombs


please help me

 

[Industrial]

Scombs only reach 12-15" in the wild as well, so I wouldn't worry about premature death.

All payara are different. Tats naturally live in cataracts in whitewater, but mine preferred still water. And some fish from slow water, like current in their aquarium. That depends on the individual fish.

Payara DO need well oxygenated water. This doesn't mean water splashing out of the aquarium from powerheads, this means that they cannot be put in small aquariums like most other aquarium fish. A 12" scomb in a 55g doesn't cut it. You will likely need a 75 for a full grown scomb.

I keep my payara in water that is 78 degrees to 82 degrees. They seem to be more prone to ick in lower temperatures, and higher temperatures just aren't that natural and deplete oxygen in the water.

Also, payara are one of the most specialized piscavores. All too many new payara keepers cannot figure out why theirs isn't taking pellets. This fish are much harder to get onto anything but live fish than just about anything else that your store likely has.

I think scombs are cool. I had two tats thinking they would be better, but they were super waspish and would fang anything that moved and were also super skittish in my presence. Scombs seem to be much more calm.

Make sure you post some pics if you get them!

 

[Otherone]

1st thing to look out for is Ich - Payara stress during transport and new enviorments so make sure the tank your using to house a Scomb is not just cycled but fully matured - like been housing fish for a year or more. Depending on the size of the Scomb - 55 gal is minimum 75 is better 100 + even better yet and as the months go by a must. Over filtration and good surface aggitation is a must. Introduce tankmates slowly, very slowly and make sure they are of the non-aggressive type - you want the Scomb to be the Top Predator. Don't feed the Scomb Goldfish - use Rosies or Tetras if you can afford it. Odds are it's gonna be a long few years before he takes anything else. Only feed once a week - let him pig out like 20-40 rosies or 5-10 mollies, then do your 50% weekly w/c which is also a must.

My Scomb will be with me for 2 solid years on May 23rd, he got ich within the 1st week and was treated with cletted cooper - has never been sick again. He's between 9-10 inches long, shedds his teeth eternally gets along great with numerous species of both non and aggressive fish - very healthy and by far a prize fish. He lives in a 150 XL - 30" tall 5' long has 2 XP3 filters w/ ceramic rings NO CARBON, and scrubber pads - has a Marineland 90 HOB w/ ceramics and Marineland 1200 GPH Powerhead pointed up for surface movement. His tank decor is organic driftwood and 100 lbs of River rock both as a base and as boulders - good for housing BB. The BEST PART - his diet now is 10-20 Rosies once a week PLUS Silverslide Chunks and Arrowanna stix Daily - it took many many months for this but his tankmates showed him the food.

 

[mike1987]

Great Info. This is what i need.

cleanest of the clean water. and some a power head for movement on the top. and well oxygen water. no golf fish use rosies. I only plan on getting 1 or 2 at once. using a smaller tank for a grow out then once i know they are older and more stable i will move then to a big tank all to there own at first, Then may see what i can add, i manly only need them lol