Brochis Thread...

[jollysue]

EDIT: The first four posts in this thread have been cut from this thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1893767

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Cool, Inchy. We could have a Brochis thread and discussion. Invite lljdma

Maybe Chibi will get some.

So Chibi, see anything that looks like them?

 

[lljdma06]

Cool, Inchy. We could have a Brochis thread and discussion. Invite lljdma

Maybe Chibi will get some.

So Chibi, see anything that looks like them?

I would most certainly come! I have had some developments that would warrant a Brochis discussion.

It really does look like B. multiradiatus to me as well. Good find, especially if they are cheap. If it is indeed multi, don't let on that you know, you can possibly get a good deal out of them. Most places have no clue what they are selling.

 

[Barracuda518]

Sorry Inchworm, I just read where you were asking for some pictures:

Brochis multiradiatus:

Brochis multiradiatus between 2 Brochis britskii:

 

[jollysue]

I see you have a fella trying to move his tank with his nose, too, Barracuda. It's odd just two of the same ones keep their noses torn up all the time.

As lljdma says, "Dumb as posts!" But I still like them anyway. I just have to find suitable housing.

But oh yeah, Barracuda, great looking fish. They look really good.

 

[Barracuda518]

Thats actually an older picture...They have all healed since, but I still see them like that every once in a while.

 

[Inchworm]

My B. multiradiatus aren't dumb, but they do share a similar problem. Look at this picture which showed one of their noses at its worst:

I've never seen anything like this in my tanks before. I was thinking perhaps it was something wrong with the sand substrate in their tank even though the same sand doesn't seem to bother any of the corys. I have them in a bare bottom tank temporarily while I treat them and redo their tank using my old standby #3 gravel.

There is a little bit of problem with their fins too:

I can knock it back, but I can't seem to get rid of the problem completely. It's frustrating to say the least.

 

[Barracuda518]

Yeah, that does look bad. I know they dig like crazy in my tank. It looks like yours are too and I think you are right that it has something to do with the sand. My biggest one always has a little spot on its nose, but it also runs into things sometimes and it goes crazy at feeding time. He/She is around 4.5" at the moment.

I lost 2 of mine to what looks like a swim bladder problem. The others show no sign and the ones that were affected died about 2 months apart.

Im using that Eco Complete plant substrate and it doesnt seem to bother them.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Barracuda518

I'm awfully sorry to learn you lost some of them. I still have all of mine, but I lost one of the C. narcissus that are in the tank with them. It had no symptoms at all, but I found it dead one morning. There's no way I can tell if it was related to the problem the brochis are having.

I've assumed that it's a bacterial infection of some sort (possibly having set in after irritation by the sand) and swim bladder problems aren't inconsistent with that. Did you treat them with anything?

The first picture was taken while it was in a salt bath, which did a lot to help at the start. I also treated them with tetracycline at that time. They looked good when I stopped the antibiotic and the spots on their noses were healed and shrinking. After a couple of weeks it started up again. The second picture was taken then while I was moving them over to the bare bottomed tank.

Digging is normal behavior for corys too, but I never see them tear up their noses (or fins)like this.

 

[lljdma06]

My Brochis splendens, especially my large ones, which were wild-caught, did not have the same problems, but they did have problems. I had two sets. The first were a group of very 6 large ones that were wild-caught, which proceeded to die very gradually in the months after I purchased them. Most of them died from accidents. They, for some reason, really enjoy getting directly under a falling piece of wood. Even my platies, also not the sharpest tools in the shed, have better sense. I lost the last one from that group a few weeks ago, but that one went along with my final C. pulcher. I tested the water, did extra water changes, even treated incase it was something, but it didn't work. I suspect, as they were extremely large, that I just got the senior citizens of the school. To keep the numbers up, I purchased two small ones from a large chain store, and go figure, these are doing extremely well. When I lost the last two big fish, I moved these little guys to my 20g with my peppers and they've not looked back. Eventually, I'll rebuild the school, but I'm extremely picky about the specimens I grab up and I may stay with smaller individuals.

Here's a few photos of my Brochis in their prime. I liked photographing them at night.

They are dumb as posts. You're in denial, Inchy. It's ok, you're among friends. We'll support you.

It is interesting to note the scarring on the snout. I wonder if it isn't the sand? Mine didn't have this, but I use very small grain gravel. Perhaps the sand grains are actually more sharp than the more rounded gravel? Something to consider.

llj

 

[Inchworm]

Hi lljdma06

Nice pictures!

...Most of them died from accidents. They, for some reason, really enjoy getting directly under a falling piece of wood.

Falling wood in the tank............hummmm. I don't seem to have this happen. Does this happen in your tank often?

...I lost the last one from that group a few weeks ago, but that one went along with my final C. pulcher. I tested the water, did extra water changes, even treated incase it was something, but it didn't work. I suspect, as they were extremely large, that I just got the senior citizens of the school.

I suspect you're right about that. When we get mature fish, there is no way to really know their age. Perhaps the change in environment is harder for them too.

...They are dumb as posts. You're in denial, Inchy. It's ok, you're among friends. We'll support you.

Nah! they're not dumb; they're just laid back. They act just like big corys.

It is interesting to note the scarring on the snout. I wonder if it isn't the sand? Mine didn't have this, but I use very small grain gravel. Perhaps the sand grains are actually more sharp than the more rounded gravel? Something to consider.

That could be, but then it should effect the corys in other tanks too, and it's not doing that. Also notice that it's not the delicate barbels that are being eroded, it's the ends of their noses. The gravel in your tank looks like what I'll be going back to. Both sand and that fine gravel have something to recommend them.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi lljdma06

Nice pictures!

...Most of them died from accidents. They, for some reason, really enjoy getting directly under a falling piece of wood.

Falling wood in the tank............hummmm. I don't seem to have this happen. Does this happen in your tank often?

I'll explain. As a planted person, I've had to rescape the 36g quite a few times. This often involves rearranging the wood. Sometimes when you think you've got a stable setup... It's also a corner bow, which means I have a blind spot or two in the tank where it's really hard for me to see if a fish is under anything, and man, it's always the Brochis.

Back on Brochis. Perhaps the skin on the nose is actually more fragile than the barbels, or susceptable to peeling and scraping. Otherwise, maybe they are indulging in a bit of tank ramming.

Thank you, I like those pictures too. I'll see what some stores have this weekend and maybe I can build up the school in the 20g a bit. Right now, I don't like corydoras with anything other than other corydoras, otos, and platies (of all things!). The platies, however, are really docile and slower moving. The cories and Brochis are super gentle and don't even touch the smallest fry. Of the fish I own, Cherry barbs would probably also work well. Other fish just seem a bit too boisterous, eventhough they are listed as acceptable tankmates, making the catfish reclusive.

I really need to install some moonlights for the 20g.

llj

 

[jollysue]

I was hoping you would split the thread, Inchy. It seemed like it would help with the continuity and to get us started. So thanks for your good mod work!

I only had one brief problem with my splendens when I got my first group from the lps. They got a fungus from overstocking and I lost one along with a sterbai and some harlequins. But I have not had trouble with them since, or when I added the wild caught group.

I'm thinking that maybe your wild caught were deliberately chosen for their large size, lljdma, because those are what you were looking for at the time. I know that you also got the last ones from a batch, as I remember, as well. I am sorry about that loss. I know you liked them and were proud of them.

As far as the multis are concerned, I have my 6 in a 25 usg tall with an Eclipse hood. I am sure mine tear up their noses when I don't keep them totally overfed with black worms. When I miss their feeding schedule, get low or run out of worms and give them something else--even frozen blood worms, that is when I come in to see the 2 bulldozers with their noses torn up again. They never quite get healed up. As long as I overload them with blackworms they don't try to move everything--including the tank glass--looking for live insects. They seem to think they are mini HULKS. Fortunately the filter cartridge in the Eclipse hood is easy to change with all the worms I have to keep shoveling at them.

So my plan for the future is a tank with a larger footprint, a deeper substrate that they can nose into where lots of worms can hide and only cloth plants with the weighted bottoms which they can move to their heart's content. Hopefully that way I can keep them well stocked with wiggly live things so they don't miss a meal when I am off their schedule.

I haven't lost any of the multis, but I did use a mild Mardel product right away when I saw what they were doing with their noses. (Just for reference, this is the product I used: Maracyn Plus. I have found it useful early on and preventative in these kinds of cases, and it does not disrupt the nitrigen cycle.)

How do the Britskis do, Barracuda?

Maybe I can get up some new pics this weekend.

 

[Coryman]

Removed under protest

Ian

 

[jollysue]

Thank you, Ian. I will impliment some of these things today. I do have some more sand, that I keep forgetting I have. and I will deepen it today. I will also put a large group of cloth plants in that they can hide in and also move around when it strikes them. At present they have a large drift wood log with lots of moss. But I am sure they try to move it and also worms will hide under it. I tried planting the tank, but they tore everything up right away. So I will look for something that the moss will attach to but is not heavy and put a load of cloth plants in.

Sadly I cannot change their tank yet.

 

[jollysue]

The Brochis seem to like the new decor better. When I went into the fishroom today, they were all moving around in the artificial plants. But whenever I turn the tank lights on they all come over to the open spot where I drop the food and start wiggling their noses up and down the glass. So I will still need a tank with a larger footprint, I believe. I also think they respond to the reflections in the glass and try to get to the other multiradiatus reflected there.