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Angelfish Combatible with Harlequin Rastaboras?
If not what about Lambchop/false harlequin rastaboras?

I'm planning to stock my 55g with:

9 cories,
3 False Julli cories,
4 panda cories,
2 albino cories,

10(Said above)Rastaboras
10 Ghost catfish
Maybe an angel?(The angel in my 29g would be moved to the 55g)
Any Combatibilty Issues?
If the Rastaboras are a no, What about common hatchets?
If the rastaboras are a No And I get the Hatchets, What Could I add For The Middle Level?

But even so, I still Feel That the Middle level Has too few Fish & Needs More,

What could i add instead of the rastaboras/hatchets?

Thanks!
R-Boy

Haven't heard of any compatibility issues with Harlequins and Angel Fish. Best person to ask about this would probably be Little_Fish (Ingo) - he has something like 80 lambchop espei in one of his aquaria and the photo he posted of them shoaling was stunning!

Paging Ingo ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

African Butterfly fish are different and stay at the surface.

Thanks Cali, Pmed Ingo..
Fish Guy, I like the african butterfly Look But, It would not be combatible with the fish i am planning to get, thanks anyway,

R_Boy

I would assume that Espei are compatible with an Angel, in particular if the Angel is not yet fully grown and the Espei are at least in the middle juvenile stage (let's say 1 inch or more). And the same would be even more true if you would get the regular Harlequins, as they are bigger than the Espei. The one thing I would assume you will not be able to have is fry, as the Angel most likely would find it and eat it, but hey - you may get lucky anyways.

If you are not in a rush with the purchase, read through my 125G log in the Planted Forum first, or - if you have access to the Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine - read the August 2006 issue for more info on Espei.

In a seperate note, try to find out more on the Glass Cats, Kryptopterus minor. Depending on the source, these fish get between 3 and 6 inches long and occupy the same space than the Espei would. Seems you are working on the edge of an overpopulated tank.

I hope this was somewhat helpful,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks Ingo, That was very helpful, As my Lfs Has Some Espei That has been there For a few months.

Thanks for the note on the glass cats,
Plus I've decided to change the stocking,
1 angel,
8 espei rastaboras,
6 glass catfish,
8 common hatchets,
9 cories,
As for the overstocking, I would be prepared to do 30% water change twice a week & Vacuuming the tank once a week too, so what is the verdict? Is it possible or not?
Thanks,

R_Boy,

my Lfs Has Some Espei That has been there For a few months

Now that makes me sad

How come they didn't sell? Go to my log and look at some of the Espei pictures, their colors are so striking and they are such lovely little fish, and not bad schoolers either (if they have enough space to swim around without bumping into each other).

I can only assume that the conditions in the LFS on't allow these fish to show their full potential (an oh so common problem). I bought a pair of Apistgramma viejita II a few months back and the store had another pair of them available, too. That pair is still at the store and looks a dull gray, very shy. My pair, on the other hand, had brightened up within just a few days and I am glad I got them. I wish other shoppers at the fish stores would make the effort to research fish that they see and only then judge if they are worthwile to be purchased.

Enough rambling for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Is it possible or not?

I didn't see your edited version of your last entry until I finished my entry.

I would say that it may work, given a good filter and that you stick with the frequency and volume of the water changes. But nevertheless, aren't common hatchets growing to over 3 inches as well (no expert here)? Also, do Glass Cats require some stronger current to be happy (no expert here either, ) ?

In any way, I assume you will stock slowly, so work your way up from the fish that are most important to you (all given that the tank is cycled, of course) to the lesser important ones. If you get the feeling that you may be pushing it then it would be time to stopp and to resist the urge to fulfill your initial vision.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

rastaboras

[Just a tiny nitpick] Its rasbora


I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

I'm now imagining what a tank full of Rastafarian espei might be like ...

Anything to help keep me amused in this oppressive heat


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I, too, had a picture in my mind of tiny fish with dreadlocks red, yellow, and green hats taking turns passing the ganja.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Ingo, The LFS orginally got about 40 espei, now there are only about 15 left,

Ingo I have read your log before,
Yeah, the pictures are stunning,
Thanks Ingo,

R_Boy

What a bunch of nitpickers

Actually the real name of the fish is Trigonostigma espei, so no rasp what-so ever

But it sure makes for a good fantasy on how fish with hair could look like

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sadly I've not found a 'hairy fish' in existence, but there IS a hairy crab - well, it's a crustacean, and it look slike a crab, but I gather the taxonomic details place it in its own Family because it's so unusual. A quick Google search on Kiwa hirsuta will reveal a VERY strange looking creature ...

One puzzle that's teasing me at the moment is this - if the fishes formerly known as Rasbora hetermorpha and Rasbora h. espei have now been moved into the Genus Trigonostigma (presumably because the body morphology differs substantially from the rest of the true Rasbora species), then what is going to happen to that favourite rarity of mine, Rasbora vaterifloris, I wonder?

Rasbora vaterifloris is deep bodied like trigonostigma heteromorpha, and indeed for a number of years was referred to by UK fishkeepers by the common name "Sri Lanka Fire Barb", because it looks at first glance as though it ought to be a Barb. However, it's possibly an instance of island isolation causing it to become an outlier in the Genus, because as far as I'm aware, it isn't found anywhere else in the world but Sri Lanka, and to make matters worse, its home waters are located in a part of the island that for a time suffered the less than delightful fate of being a central battleground in the civil war between the Sinhalese and the Tamil Tigers. Most fish collectors, sensibly enough, prefer to do their collecting in the absence of automatic gunfire and mortar exchanges, so poor old Rasbora vaterifloris has been absent for far too long for a fish which is, quite frankly, a vastly underrated catwalk star among the small Cyprinids.

Species summary for Rasbora vaterifloris

Thanks to the fact that it has a body shape which appears to be transitional between the 'typical' elongate Rasboras such as Rasbora borapetensis, and Trigonostigma heteromorpha, I suspect some taxonomic revision is overdue for this fish. If the situation in Sri Lanka has cooled to the point where this fish can be reintroduced to the hobby in some numbers, this would be VERY welcome from my standpoint, because among its desirable features is its small size - Fishbase lists it as a 4 cm fish, which would mean its demands on space are modest.

Incidentally, the picture on that species summary page must be a juvenile - adults are MUCH more resplendently coloured and utterly dazzling to behold. Some more photos (again somewhat washed out) can be found here]http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquarium/rasbora_vaterifloris.htm[/link], while [link=this page shows how resplendent the fish can be in a setting that suits it.

The name, incidentally, is derived from the fact that its intense colour resembles that of the flowers of the tree Vateria indica, known also as the Copal Tree or Dammar Tree, from which a resinous gum is extracted - the tree boasts resplendent flowers, and so the fish, whose colour reminded Dr Deranyiagala of those flowers when he described it, chose to name it in recognition of this - vaterifloris translating as 'flower of the Vateria'. The fish is also known as the Vateria Flower Rasbora in some circles for this reason ... a name which reflects its charm in a different manner to the other colloquial name, the Sri Lanka Fire Barb.

Ingo will, in all probabilty, beat me to the race to obtain this fish with ease - sigh.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Thanks Katieb, Lol.. what a interesting conversation this is getting to be....

Thanks to all,

R_Boy

Well I'll be the first to comment on the cories. I'm a true believers that cories are happier in shoals of 6 or more of their own kind. I'd stick to two types and go with atleast 6 of each type. In a 55g, you could do more, say 8 of each type. I'd personally pick the pandas and the albinos, because those are my favs. If you must have all 3 types, go with atleast 4 of each type...they'll be much happier.

Cories shoal mostly by type, as well as hang out with others that look like them. Those 3 types don't really resemble each other, so I'd make them all happy by having a group.

*Kristin*