Have you kept any hoplosternum before? Please share personal experiences and advice!

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Was gifted a hoplo, specific species unknown, after a fish event yesterday.

I really like him, but the more I read about them, the more I'm thinking I either need a massive tank for a group of conspecifics, or at least a pair. Then apparently they're generally peaceful, but will eat other fish if they fit in their mouths (and mine is currently in QT with teeny pygmy cories and plecs I really don't want him to eat! And have to carefully choose what other fish they live with.

I said yes because a friend had shown me a pair she got that lived with her cory gang, they were lovely, fine with her cories and other fish, fun fish. So when I was offered him for free at the end of the sale, I said yes, thinking he could join my cory gang.

This is why you research fish before getting them!!

Tempted to break QT since the fish are from other hobbyist breeders, not stores or mass farmed abroad. Could move pygmy cory babies in with my colony, baby plecs into the 57g, leave him in the 22g alone until I figure out whether I'm able and willing to design a tank set up for him and can get a mate or group, and what size tank a group of five(!) would need, and what could go with them... or I could rehome him to another local hobbyist.

I like him, but I like my peaceful nano fish, the 240L is already the largest tank I have, and while I could consider a bigger tank later down the line, it's not really practical right now, and would be a big change to my plans for a fish I was given, rather than one I planned to get.

Will be getting photos for a proper ID of which species he is, but looking for general personal experience and advice while I read up on these guys and fret about whether to set up another QT tank for the mini fish in with him or to go ahead and plop them in my main tanks. If he's likely to eat smaller fish, he'd have no problem fitting those in his mouth.

 

[Colin_T]

I had a group (4-5) of Hoplosternum thoracatum in a 4 foot tank. They grow to about 5-6 inches. Males have a thicker pectoral fin ray that is orange when mature. They have tiny mouths and don't harm anything that doesn't fit in their mouth. They eat virtually anything offered to them. They make a bubblenest in floating plants.

Be careful using medications on them because they die easily from chemical poisoning.

Make sure you quarantine them because they normally come from Asian fish farms.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I had a group (4-5) of Hoplosternum thoracatum in a 4 foot tank. They grow to about 5-6 inches. Males have a thicker pectoral fin ray that is orange when mature. They have tiny mouths and don't harm anything that doesn't fit in their mouth. They eat virtually anything offered to them. They make a bubblenest in floating plants.

That's good to hear! I'm gonna take some pics of him in the tank, then try putting him in a glass container or something to get good clear shots for ID purposes.

But now very worried for the baby plecs and pygmy cories.. they're so tiny! Don't want them to get eaten!
Can't put betta in 5 gallon with my ix young prized new blue dream neocaridina shrimp in case the betta eats them. 1st generation bred from Indonesian import, so mid-sized fins, can move fast, and shows some hunting behaviour.

Betta is in 12.5g alone, don't know his temperment yet (was going to test using some of my wild type cull tank shrimp before trying him with anything else. Don't think a betta and a 4 inch hoplo should be together, even just for QT...?

But same fear of moving the baby plecs, pygmies and RHL into the 12.5g with the betta. He could kill them if so inclined, they're so small.

Still have the 240 and 220L Romas outside... but don't have the room or stand set up ready for them, and they'd need a good clean and a full set up. Could work long term for a pair, or if I decide to get a group of hoplos.. but that's a big change from my previous plans of large numbers of nano fish in a large, heavily planted tank.

But... lots of tanks going for cheap on gumtree. A larger tank soon could be a possibility...?

But in the meantime, please help me juggle QT so everyone is safe!

I know Wiki is a rubbish and unreliable source, but not much info on SF, so scanned the wiki page and freaked myself out. Was ready to go net out my babies!

Be careful using medications on them because they die easily from chemical poisoning.

Make sure you quarantine them because they normally come from Asian fish farms.

That's good to know, and I'll keep in mind, thank you so much for sharing your experience!

How did they get on when you had a group? Do they sort a hierarchy sorta like botiid loaches? Or pal about?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Planetcatfish has pics of a lot of the Hoplos here so you might get luck and find a pic that shows yours.
https://www.planetcatfish.com/index.php

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

G

Planetcatfish has pics of a lot of the Hoplos here so you might get luck and find a pic that shows yours.
https://www.planetcatfish.com/index.php

Perfect timing!

I was just in another tab making a thread to upload pics of him! Have a mutual friend of ours eager to help ID him/her too, she told me to upload even the blurry ones, 'cos they can have distinctive features. And I'm not a skilled photographer! lol

 

[Colin_T]

How did they get on when you had a group? Do they sort a hierarchy sorta like botiid loaches? Or pal about?

They were fine together and lived under the same piece of wood. They came out whenever food was added to the tank. The only time they became territorial was when one of the males made a bubblenest and the others just stayed away from it. And they didn't stay that far away, they sat on the gravel under the nest, which was on the surface in Water Sprite plants (about 14 inches of water between the nest and substrate).