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What exactly is the deal with these fish? I have a 55gal community tank and desperately want a fair size (say 12-18) school of these fish. I think that they are absolutely stunning. However, in my quest to amass this school, all I have met is frustration. First, whenever I go to the LFS (which is one of the best on the East Coast), they are not always in stock because they apparently do not sell well. If they are in stock, they are sick and I am warned not to buy them. Once or twice, they were in stock and actually healthy, and again I was warned about buying them. Supposedly they are difficult to keep, and the store will not gaurantee them. However, on two separate occasions I bought them anyways. Half died within a week or so. However, the remaining fish are now bog, healthy, and thriving. Plus, there was a spawn, as I now have two little emperors swimming about the tank. Are these fish actually that finicky? Or are they possibly from a questionable source? I would appreciate any comments from those with experience in emperor keeping.

Emperors are quite hardy to water conditions howerever they are extremely sensitive to illnesses. They seem to have practically no immune system and will come down with just about anything at the drop of a hat. I had the same problems and after buying 6 trading 2 dead ones back in for 2 new ones I ended up with 1 lone female. She's lived a year though and I finally found a male. Now I have several baby emperors which are healthy.
I don't know if it's their breeding, how they are handled in transport, or if they are just sensitive to illnesses despite careful handling but once you can keep them alive past about 3months they do great and really don't seem to care what the water conditions are since they spawned when I was using well water with ph 8.0 and hardness around 16dh.

Also emperors are one of the few nonschooling tetras. They will never swim about together in your tank but prefer to scatter into pairs or trios. Some even stay by themselves most of the time.

I think that a lot of the trouble is that they're problem fish for stores to keep. In my experience, they tend to not do well in shops, and get sick quite easily. This makes it difficult for stores to keep many alive, and deters them from ordering the fish more often. Though I find that people love the looks of this tetra, they don't care for the price tag (not too much higher than other tetras, but people are cheap) and the fact that they are not in good condition a lot of the time. Emperor tetras aren't that difficult to care for if you can get them used to your tank water long-term, and keep them safe from any stressors which may lead to disease.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I personally haven't had much trouble with them -- they seem much hardier than my beloved Blue Emperors. (I'm just coming to realize, however, how much better-stocked California fish stores are than those in most of the US and the world -- and that may well include a supply of particularly healthy Emperors.)

You might have a better chance buying on line directly from a distributer/importer. First get it in writing that if you are not satisfied there is a 100% refund.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

I have a small petshop aquarium ver handy and ar as good as any large LFS reason it is owned by the people behind the counter and will return any stock delivered which is not up to standard. They will order in any thing special you require and you pick it up before it goes into theie tanks thus reducing more stress.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

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Emperor Tetras Nematobrycon palmeri are hardy fishes once acclimatised to an aquarium, but sometimes have a tendency to suffer from transport shock. Which is why dealers tend to be fussy about them. Although in the case of my LFS, when he's had them, they've been relatively problem free because he took some care acclimatising them. Again, the beauties of a small LFS run by someone who knows their fish

I'd recommend setting up a decent sized quarantine tank (even if only temporarily), keep an eye on them in that (be prepared to medicate at a moment's notice!) and while you're quarantining them, feed them LOTS of live food if you can get it. Nothing helps build up fishes for a new home like regular live feedings! If you can give them live Daphnia on arrival, and keep feeding them live Daphnia at least once a day for a week, this will go a LONG way toward boosting them and building them up, and it'll also fire up their immune systems to help them weather any disease storms that strike.

Once you've done that and quarantined them safely, transfer them to their permanent home, and again, feed live foods during the first few days after the transfer period. Ideally, of course, keep feeding them live foods and who knows, you'll get them to spawn!

As for water conditions, they're pretty undemanding so long as they're not subject to careless pH swings or extremes, and despite being bona fide South Americans from soft, acidic water, will live in most reasonable aquarium water without complaint once acclimatised. And yes, they make a stunning display once they're settled!

My advice? Go for them - but CHECK THE PROVENANCE OF YOUR STOCK before committing yourself to a purchase! If they look as if they'll keel over in the next couple of days even if you give them an intensive care ward to look after them, walk away and hunt down some healthier ones. Of course, this should apply to ALL fish purchases, but with a prized and sought after fish, it's more vital still.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002