Ctenopoma Congicim

[pica_nuttalli]

a guy's got two pair available on Aquabid. i'm interested in the ctenopoma genus and these sound nice and tiny. however, i'm not having much luck finding information on them with just a quick yahoo search.

anybody have any input to offer? neal? cfc?

 

[Dwarfs]

Not much info out there, but they are very cool looking.

They will probably need similar water parameters to other ctenopoma, and would probably need a very well planted tank/a tank with a lot of nooks and crannies to hide in.
They don't get too big either, so as long as you can give them good water and food they'd probably be fine

 

[nmonks]

From the aquarist's perspective, they're identical to Ctenopoma fasciolatum. Peaceful, grow to about 8 cm long, eat anything wormy or small shrimpy. Suitable for a community tank.

Both species change their colours, and can be easily mixed up outside of breeding, and the females of both are probably indistinguishable. Supposedly, the markings on the males in breeding conditions are distinct: Ct. congicum has dark vertical bands on the flanks, while Ct. fasicolatum is lighter and has a wavy pattern of light and dark scales. I'm not convinced importers reliable distinguish the two species.

Nice fish. I kept my Ct. fasciolatum in a community tank with African tetras and Synodontis. Fed mostly on bloodworms. No aggression among the four individuals that I could discern.

If you can, get a hold of Jorg Vierke's "Bettas, Gouramis, and other Anabantoids". Very useful for keeping and identifying these oddball labyrinth fish.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[pica_nuttalli]

do you think that there would be aggression problems with the paradise fish in the 60g? (4'x1'x2') i'm reallyreally tempted to get them... just need to get rid of my blasted kribs and red-eye tets!

 

[nmonks]

The Ctenopoma would be fine, but paradise fish can be unpredictable. In a big tank like yours, I'd certainly give it a try.

Cheers,

Neale

do you think that there would be aggression problems with the paradise fish in the 60g? (4'x1'x2') i'm reallyreally tempted to get them... just need to get rid of my blasted kribs and red-eye tets!