I had been working on Characodon lateralis "Los Berros" and sucessfully bred this species three times already and sucessfully created fry flocking with the adults in same tank. So Id like take next step by work on Characodon audax "El Toboso" as I heard they are very aggressive. I just dont know if they can do fry flocking in same tank. I like to learn your knowledge on this species and get some lessons from you'all.
I have observed lots of aggression in El Toboso colonies consisting of 4 - 20 fish in 10 or 15 gallon tanks jammed full of floating plants. Fry appeared regularly with groups of 4 - 10 surviving to become juveniles. Females almost never survived to one year when a large female was present in the tank.
The "lesson" you should take from this is don't try to create a colony of this fish in a small tank. Everything else I wrote should be considered anecdotal. Consider this just one ignorant fishkeeper's story (and we all stretch and mangle the truth to one degree or another!).
I have observed the opposite Los Berros have hunted down and killed every fry in the main colony but the fry are now breeding in a smaller tank and the fry are surviving.Audax are breeding in a 20 gallon tank and the fry are growing and breeding in the same tank,I think it's how you start the colony most of mine are started with fry and grown on together,i cannot say that larger fish have successfully turned into a colony but i have never been able to do so i don't think that fish behave the same for all fishkeepers
I'll second the behavioral variance, even for the same fishkeeper of the same species from the same line.
I've had X. captivus twice. The first time they were gentle as lambs. I even kept them in a community tank eventually. They largely ignored other species.
The second time I obtained them from a fishkeeper who had obtained hers from my above mentioned population. This breeder took their preservation very seriously and gave them excellent care, including a big species tank.
After quarantine, the fish went into a community. The big female promptly ripped the fins off a Guppy. It has long fins, fair enough, so I moved her in with Mollies. She had another female's tail down to a stub in no time. Alright, a species tank it is. There the colony thrived until I donated them to a school, where they remain in a species tank.
I don't know why they vary so much in temperament, but they sure can!
I have heard about other fishkeepers' goodeid colonies are varies in the behavior even if its same population. When I had Goodea atripinnis group I was told that they were peaceful towards to each other....turns out that my adults were very aggressive to each other and eventually kill the rest of adults leave to only an adult male and a group of juvies surviving. I had Orangetail goodeids (aquarium strain) had murdered every offspring they so I got rid of them then I got another location of Orangetail (or known as Yellowtail) goodeid and they leave their own offspring alone.
Hello there, I know this thread is a little old, but I have a nice pair of Characodon Audax that I would trade for a few of your Characodon lateralis if you dont mind. I had this line going for about 2 years every spawn yeild about 5-10 frys. They spawn every 60-80 days or so..I keep them in groups of 8-10 in a 10 gallon tank with plenty of hiding spots for the frys... heavily planted with plastic plants and Java Moss...I usually crack about 3 clay pots and lay them to form a little hut where the adults can not get to the frys, and feed the whole tank baby brine shrimps when I notice frys of audax. I have tons of snails to take in anything extra that the frys and adults cant take in. I know it sounds sloppy, but this was the only way I can get these guys to breed for me. I usually pull the frys out in about 4 weeks into their own little tank and again, I keep them with plastic plants, moss, and clay pot. If you can keep skiffia bilineata's, to me, you will be fine with these guys. At the moment, I only have about 4 pairs left and can only offer you one pair. I thought about quitting the hobby and got rid of a lot of nice fishes, these are the only ones that I have left just incase I would ever get back in the hobby...let me know if you want to do the trade... Thanks!
