Aba Aba

[Jogalyn]

Can you keep two aba aba together? I heard this is a no-no.

 

[nmonks]

Heard the same thing, but then again, never heard from anyone who's tried! But Kodera et al* report that they have been bred commercially, so presumably mature specimens can cohabit (for a while, at least) in suitably large aquaria (ponds?).

Cheers, Neale

* "Jurassic Fishes" -- a must-have book if you're interested in oddballs of this type.

Can you keep two aba aba together? I heard this is a no-no.

 

[Chad]

That's a big fish! I've never kept one due to the size but from all I've read about them and the few specimens I've seen they are quite aggressive even to their own kind when not given enough space for each fish.

 

[aether.ed]

Heard the same thing, but then again, never heard from anyone who's tried! But Kodera et al* report that they have been bred commercially, so presumably mature specimens can cohabit (for a while, at least) in suitably large aquaria (ponds?).

Cheers, Neale

* "Jurassic Fishes" -- a must-have book if you're interested in oddballs of this type.

Can you keep two aba aba together? I heard this is a no-no.

Ive heard its a no no but this is said about a lot of fish and as Neale says it may just never have been tried. I've found that usually with aggro fish if you get them young and you raise them in the same confines from tiddlers they can grow up to accept each other as they wont know any different. Also ive found that aggro can vary greatly between various fish of the same species so nothing is set in stone. (ive seen siamese fighter males living peacefully in the same community tank with no issues). My problem here is when dealing with groups of fish 2 is rarely a good number and one fish inevitably gets bullied. If it is even possible you may find like other aggro/semi aggro fish you will need 3 or more to spread the aggression and a suitably large tank. It would most certainly be an experiment but may not be doomed to failure like others may think. (i have 6 featherfin synos, everywhere i read states they are aggressive territorial solitary fish but I've had em since 1-2inch pups now 10-11inch monsters and they get on just great!).

Oh and that book Mr. Monks mentioned "Jurassic fishes" is well worth a purchase if you are interested in these ancient beauties. A great source of reference!

To be honest id only try it if i had a tropical pond. Out of intrest what size tank are you thinking? I have an mbu puffer that would be completely dwarfed by an adult aba aba and im looking at a 10ft x 4ft footprint for my next tank for him. Id shudder to think what you would need for an aba aba or even a group of them maybe 1000s of gallons. You are brave to even consider it and for that i salute you!

Ed