Blind Cave Fish

[crazychris]

Does anyone else here have any of these? I've had just one for 2 years now and think he's just about fully grown, about 4" now, was small when I bought him. I love it, great fish. Not sure if he'll get any bigger. Some sites say they can turn nasty when adult and I've read some horror stories of attacks on other species but mine's fine and never bothers other fish. He feeds from the bottom and is the first to any sinking food and eats everything. I have to observe or my 6 Corys would never get any! He very rarely bumps in to ornaments and only occasionally collides with another fish. One thing, they're an extremely active species and always on the go, from one end of the tank to the other all day long.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi crazychris

I have two of these delightful fish too. They live in a 55 gallon tank with corydoras and one Bristlenose pleco. I've never had a bit of trouble from them as far as health or disposition.

 

[nmonks]

I'm going to disagree with a moderator here -- never a good idea! -- and suggest that blind cave tetras are anything but "delightful". Think very carefully about adding this schooling species to your community tank.

In general terms they're much like the normal variety of Astyanax mexicanus, which means they're similar to most other large characins in being boisterous, hierarchical, and potentially aggressive at feeding time. But blind cave tetras are sometimes distinctly nippy. While probably acceptable with fast-moving fish, or for that matter catfish that keep out of range, when combined with the likes of fancy guppies, angelfish, gouramis and bettas, they can be a real source of trouble. Possibly they bite whatever they bump into, and anything that can't avoid them, ends up being bitten repeatedly.

They are also uncommonly restless, and this can disturb those fish that need peace and quiet to settle or feed properly, such as gobies or Badis badis.

I'll admit they're great fish, and a while back PFK did an article on a "cave" theme aquarium for these fish, and it was really a lovely idea. They're also unusual in being characins that need cool, hard, alkaline water, and this does set them apart from the average community fish. But I'd always review the list of fish already in the aquarium before adding a school of these cave tetras.

Cheers, Neale

Hi crazychris

I have two of these delightful fish too. They live in a 55 gallon tank with corydoras and one Bristlenose pleco. I've never had a bit of trouble from them as far as health or disposition.

 

[crazychris]

Well I've only the one and can only go on my experience. He/she is fine and just never bothers any other fish and has been a great addition to my community tank. As I said, other people I have read about have had very aggressive ones, which, despite being blind, have attacked other fish when adult. Mine doesn't bite any other fish at feeding time. I tend to feed in three different places anyway so plenty of food for each fish. I agree that they're restless. Mine never stops for even a second!

 

[Inchworm]

I'm going to disagree with a moderator here -- never a good idea! -- and suggest that blind cave tetras are anything but "delightful". Think very carefully about adding this schooling species to your community tank.

That's perfectly OK, nmonks.

I was going to post more, and add a picture too, since some members might not know what they are, but the cat stepped on my keyboard and my post went up. Here's the picture:

I keep mine in a 55 gallon tank with corydoras and a bristlenose pleco and in the past they have been with glowlight tetras and gouramis. The only fish I ever had in the tank that had a problem was a male betta. That fish was terrified of them but was never actually bitten. He would move away when the blind cave tetras came anywhere close to him. I eventually had to move him from the tank because of this.

They are now at least 4 1/2 years old. I've never seen them even curious about any of the other fish, let alone attack them. They don't even pay any attention to each other. They are very active fish who swim back and forth looking for food. I could see that if they bump into another fish, they might think it's food and nip it, but I see no sign of aggression whatsoever.

 

[Darkfung]

I'm going to disagree with a moderator here -- never a good idea! -- and suggest that blind cave tetras are anything but "delightful". Think very carefully about adding this schooling species to your community tank.

That's perfectly OK, nmonks.

I was going to post more, and add a picture too, since some members might not know what they are, but the cat stepped on my keyboard and my post went up. Here's the picture:

I keep mine in a 55 gallon tank with corydoras and a bristlenose pleco and in the past they have been with glowlight tetras and gouramis. The only fish I ever had in the tank that had a problem was a male betta. That fish was terrified of them but was never actually bitten. He would move away when the blind cave tetras came anywhere close to him. I eventually had to move him from the tank because of this.

They are now at least 4 1/2 years old. I've never seen them even curious about any of the other fish, let alone attack them. They don't even pay any attention to each other. They are very active fish who swim back and forth looking for food. I could see that if they bump into another fish, they might think it's food and nip it, but I see no sign of aggression whatsoever.

 

[blindcaves]

Does anyone else here have any of these? I've had just one for 2 years now and think he's just about fully grown, about 4" now, was small when I bought him. I love it, great fish. Not sure if he'll get any bigger. Some sites say they can turn nasty when adult and I've read some horror stories of attacks on other species but mine's fine and never bothers other fish. He feeds from the bottom and is the first to any sinking food and eats everything. I have to observe or my 6 Corys would never get any! He very rarely bumps in to ornaments and only occasionally collides with another fish. One thing, they're an extremely active species and always on the go, from one end of the tank to the other all day long.

i have had mine now for about 9 or 10 years. they are'nt agressive at did nip fins when they were young but now they are old they like to swim around. very active fish