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About a month ago Jorge got some pygmy corys, oddly enough from the place he's now working. When Kihm bagged them, he apparently scooped up a little guy that is by NO MEANS a cory. When we got home, there he was in the bag. It looks like a small CAE, but doesn't have a sucker mouth. Last week we were at another store and saw the same fish (or at least they seemed to be), and they were labeled "darter tetra". Neither one of us has ever heard of such. Anyone have any experience with them? They're so cute!

[link=http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_characidium.php]http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_characidium.php" style="COLOR: #FFFFFF[/link]

[link=http://www.plantedtank.net/dartertetra.html]http://www.plantedtank.net/dartertetra.html" style="COLOR: #FFFFFF[/link]

><>Dani<><

Never seen them before, but I've read a *little* available info on them on the past. They are supposedly fairly rowdy with each other, so they should be kept singly or in large groups, to dilute the aggression by any dominant fish. These Characins won't mind being kept all on their lonesome.

They're supposedly pretty fair algae eaters, though that'll depend on what type of algae we're talking about. I think that brown algae is their favorite; and though they do eat algae, they pick at it more than go all-out trying to devour the stuff.

Found you another link: http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Characidium.html

They're pretty uncommon fish, so you'd be wise to snatch up a group. They're pretty interesting.

Last edited by sirbooks at 27-May-2005 21:46

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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."

They've turned up fairly often at Capitol Aquarium in Sacramento, and I bought some for the library tank that I maintain a few years ago. They comprise an entire family of Characins, and are quite cute little things (although not much in the color department); they do indeed hop around on the bottom exactly like marine Scooter Blennies. While I finally lost mine in one of the occcasional disease outbreaks that keep bedeviling that tank, they also seemed fairly tough. I'm a bit surprised that nobody here seems to have heard of them.

Characidium fasciatum is a name from the venerable Innes book. Though I suspect that in the case of the venerable tome, the name may apply to a different fish. Worth checking though.

However, there are several species of Characidium in circulation. So which one you acquire if you do find them (they tend not to be a mass-circulation fish to put it mildly) could be anyone's guess unless you have a tame professional ichthyologist to help you sort out the identification woes. Made all the more difficult by the fact that from what I can gather, many of the Characidium species are pretty much alike in appearance.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Sorry to disappoint you Dude_dude, but those Darters are NOT Darter Characins! They are in fact small members of the Perch Family (Percidae) that are native to North America, and are a LONG way removed from the Characidium species ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

If you have given up all hope of ever finding them, then, as has been mentioned, you could always turn to the similarly amusing antics of true percids, which don't require heaters, are peaceful (a bit quarrelsome with conspecifics, though), and sand dive like no other American FW fish.

Bit like the marine Wrasses are they then C_o_L??? Only they can sand dive with amazing skill and speed ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yeah, those twinspot clown wrasses are amazing .

okay, ive been in touch with a darter fanatic, & he says that darters can fit into 5 gal tanks! He said that I could put a female betta with A Rainbow Darter or an Iowa Darter, If you put Least Darters in, you could probably put two or three in.. But he did say that he wasnt sure if I could get darters in australia
:#(:#(

hope I helped
dud

Last edited by dude_dude at 31-May-2005 06:02

Dude, those are definitely not the darter Characins that we’re talking about. Those are the perch-like darters common in many U.S. waterways.

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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."

Dude, even with the smallest darters, such as swampies, I would not put more than a trio in a five gallon.

Also, as has been stated already, we are talking about darter characins, not darters.


Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 31-May-2005 21:26

eep he he im sorry guys my bad , I should start paying more attention


Last edited by dude_dude at 01-Jun-2005 03:31