Hepsetus Odoe

[rixy]

anyone on the site own a hepsetus odoe.if so,how big is it??what do you feed it onhow did you get it off live food.plus have you got some pics please.thanks mark.

 

[CFC]

Ive kept odoes a couple of times, my first lot were all 2-3" juveniles and all died within a month of buying them for an unknown reason. My second lot were bigger at around 6" each, they do not like each other and i lost the weakest of the trio within a week due to fighting, the remaining two lived in harmony for about a year before the stronger of the two unceremoniously ripped the other in half one night.
The one i had left got to about 10 inches over 18 months or so but was one of the victims of the velvet outbreak i had last year which decimated my fish room

There a few poor quality pictures of mine on the site in members aquarium pictures.

 

[nmonks]

PFK ran a nice detailed summary here, on there web site:

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...p?article_id=35

Given these are big, nervous, jumping fish I can't say I'd reckon them worth keeping unless you have a gigantic tank. Far more fun to get something smaller, like Exodon paradoxus, that you can keep in a reasonable numbers and comfort, and easily get to watch their predatory behaviour on anything halfway edible you throw in the tank! If it must be something Africa, there are some Phago species around at the moment. They're smallish (around 20 cm) and hardly move at all, but very pike-like and basically hardy, though they are fussy about their diet and you will need earthworms, river shrimps, etc while you settle them in.

Cheers, Neale

 

[rixy]

thanks for the info cfc and nmonks .trimar has 2 for sale at the moment.i saw them on saturday.

 

[CFC]

Phago species are extreemly specialised feeders and not really suitable for home aquarium upkeep, they feed almost exclusively on the fins and scales of other fish and as such need large fully scaled feeders which they snip pieces off of with their sissor like mouths, i kept one for a short while and the only thing it would eat was the tails of male guppies which was unpleasent and against my ethics, sadly but fortunately it was another fish lost in the big velvet epidemic i had last year but it is not a fish i would consider keeping again.

Hepsetus easily covert to frozen foods like whitebait and lance fish so feeding is not a problem with them in my experience.

 

[nmonks]

Fair enough; I'd heard differently, that they can be trained onto chunky live foods. In the wild they do eat live insects as well as small fish and fish fins (e.g., see this Fishbase entry for Phago loricatus, under Food Items). It may well depend on the species, with some being more difficult than others.

Cheers, Neale

Phago species are extreemly specialised feeders and not really suitable for home aquarium upkeep, they feed almost exclusively on the fins and scales of other fish and as such need large fully scaled feeders which they snip pieces off of with their sissor like mouths, i kept one for a short while and the only thing it would eat was the tails of male guppies which was unpleasent and against my ethics, sadly but fortunately it was another fish lost in the big velvet epidemic i had last year but it is not a fish i would consider keeping again.

 

[rixy]

thanks for your advice guys.im probably going to get the smaller of the 2.thanks

 

[rixy]

got the smaller of the 2.hes on prawns and lancefish already .thanks everyone for your advice.

 

[rixy]

just an update on my odoe.hes settled in really well.my main tank is in my hallway so lots of people walk/run past it all day long.odoe is not nervous at all.he stays at the top of the tank mostly during the day and night but can sit on the bottom of the tank with my other fish.hes not even flared up or gone to nip any of my other fish.i feed him every 2 days on prawns and lancefish and hes a greedy sod.very,very interesting to watch as he cruises around the tank.

if anyone wants something a little different then i would suggest an odoe without hesitation .