Piranha, Exodons, Barracuda

[sryan0609]

couple of questions.........

1. referring to the exodon, what exactly is the point of a scale eater? could you just tell me about them?

2. how do you think a freshwater barracuda (4") would do in a red-bellied piranha tank? bad idea?

3. im thinkin about getting black piranhas, are they worth it, are they 'cool'?

any help would be great
thanks

 

[invader]

1. The "point" of a scale eater is... nothing. It's just what these fish do. They eat scales of other fish. They will eat any normal fish food, but if you put other fish with scale eaters, you're just asking for them to be stripped to the flesh.
2. This has been answered to exhaustion in your other thread.
3. What is "cool" to you may not be "cool" to others. It's your choice.

 

[Colin_T]

Scale eaters are fish that have evolved to take advantage of other fish. They are a parasite as such and will take pieces of flesh, fin or scale from other unsuspecting fish, instead of hunting for food in the more traditional sense.
Most fish go around looking for insects or other fish/ shrimp to eat. They chase after, catch and eat these things. Scale eaters are fish that mimic other types of fish and swim around in the same school. Then when the other fish aren't looking the scale eater will bite a piece off another fish. Usually it is a bit of tail but it can also be scales from the side of the fish. The scale eater acts all innocent and the victim swims away minus a bit of fin.

Barracuda and red bellies don't mix. The barra requires different water quality to the piranha and if it survives and doesn't get eaten, then it could turn on the piranha and kill it.

 

[sryan0609]

1. The "point" of a scale eater is... nothing. It's just what these fish do. They eat scales of other fish. They will eat any normal fish food, but if you put other fish with scale eaters, you're just asking for them to be stripped to the flesh.
2. This has been answered to exhaustion in your other thread.
3. What is "cool" to you may not be "cool" to others. It's your choice.

1. is it bad for the fish to hae no scales..like is it really that big of deal?

2. yea ii know but i think im gonna try it bc i realy wanna get a barracuda, but thanks for the advice

3. when i say 'cool' i mean like, are the fairly aggressive, just basically fun to have?........and also you wouldnt happen to know how long it takes for a black piranha to startin getting its blackish ollor, would you?

Scale eaters are fish that have evolved to take advantage of other fish. They are a parasite as such and will take pieces of flesh, fin or scale from other unsuspecting fish, instead of hunting for food in the more traditional sense.
Most fish go around looking for insects or other fish/ shrimp to eat. They chase after, catch and eat these things. Scale eaters are fish that mimic other types of fish and swim around in the same school. Then when the other fish aren't looking the scale eater will bite a piece off another fish. Usually it is a bit of tail but it can also be scales from the side of the fish. The scale eater acts all innocent and the victim swims away minus a bit of fin.

Barracuda and red bellies don't mix. The barra requires different water quality to the piranha and if it survives and doesn't get eaten, then it could turn on the piranha and kill it.

ugh..........really? damn i really wanted to get one, they look sweet...when you say different water quality do mean just better water? so i could just keep the water more clean? And what r the odds of the barra. eating the piranha?

 

[Colin_T]

fish have scales to protect their skin. If the scales have been removed the fish is more susceptible to diseases, parasites and other injuries (ie: damage from swimming into a rock or driftwood). Also the fish won't be as streamlined with scales missing. The fish has evolved to swim with scales and when they are missing, it is more at risk of getting sick and dieing.

Barra come from hard alkaline water with salt in. Piranha come from soft acid water and don't like salt.

 

[jonny_dw]

fish have scales to protect their skin. If the scales have been removed the fish is more susceptible to diseases, parasites and other injuries (ie: damage from swimming into a rock or driftwood). Also the fish won't be as streamlined with scales missing. The fish has evolved to swim with scales and when they are missing, it is more at risk of getting sick and dieing.

Barra come from hard alkaline water with salt in. Piranha come from soft acid water and don't like salt.

You can get freshwater barra's but it would never work in a piranha tank. Im getting fed up of all these same threads with the same point.

 

[Truck]

Im getting fed up of all these same threads with the same point.

yeah me too! why not expand on another already existing thread of yours?

 

[jonny_dw]

Im getting fed up of all these same threads with the same point.

yeah me too! why not expand on another already existing thread of yours?

Think we should get a mod to close a few, Hello fellow Derbyshire dweller lol

 

[Truck]

derby = awesome

 

[jonny_dw]

derby = awesome

Damn right lol

 

[sryan0609]

fish have scales to protect their skin. If the scales have been removed the fish is more susceptible to diseases, parasites and other injuries (ie: damage from swimming into a rock or driftwood). Also the fish won't be as streamlined with scales missing. The fish has evolved to swim with scales and when they are missing, it is more at risk of getting sick and dieing.

Barra come from hard alkaline water with salt in. Piranha come from soft acid water and don't like salt.

You can get freshwater barra's but it would never work in a piranha tank. Im getting fed up of all these same threads with the same point.

thats what a meant, a freshwater barra, and why wouldnt it work.....and idk why i didnt add to another thread and i dont know why ur angry about it? and u shouldnt have closed the other one, that was the one with most info and most helpful

 

[rdd1952]

The answer to why a barracuda wouldn't work is in post number 5:

Barra come from hard alkaline water with salt in. Piranha come from soft acid water and don't like salt.

I closed the other one because there was no new info coming on that thread. The original topic was about where to buy fish and had turned into something totally different and off topic.

 

[sryan0609]

The answer to why a barracuda wouldn't work is in post number 5:

Barra come from hard alkaline water with salt in. Piranha come from soft acid water and don't like salt.

I closed the other one because there was no new info coming on that thread. The original topic was about where to buy fish and had turned into something totally different and off topic.

ok....and i thought that a frashwater barra. would work, or is it brackish?

 

[nmonks]

Colin is confusing the real barracudas (Sphyraena spp.) with the freshwater "barracuda" of the hobby, usually species of Ctenolucius. While Ctenolucius is a fairly common aquarium fish, I have yet to see any marine aquarium store selling Sphyraena spp.

In any case, Ctenolucius are gregarious freshwater fish that are mostly active by dusk and dawn. They're reasonably easy to keep given a big, quiet tank with lots of shade (floating plants or long Vallisneria leaves will do nicely). They do not combine well with aggressive tankmates. They are very shy and nervous, and have to be kept in groups of 5+ specimens and in a nice, big tank so they can't smash themselves up. Although they prefer live food such as earthworms and river shrimp, they can be reasonably easily weaned onto frozen foods, and this is essential for long term success. Ctenolucius hujeta is the most common species in the trade. Although bigger in the wild, 20-30 cm seems typical in aquaria.

Cheers, Neale

Oh, for the Original Poster. [1] Exodon are great fish for aquarists who want a "feeding frenzy" type aquarium but don't have the space for piranhas. At about 15 cm, tops, a school of a dozen specimens doesn't require a particularly big tank. In smaller groups they tend to be cannibalistic, so I wouldn't recommend keeping less than twelve. Exodon eat anything, including pellets, but the fun comes from throwing in a frozen lancefish or whitebait and watching them go berserk. They absolutely do not need live food! [2] Ctenolucius cannot possibly be kept with piranhas. [3] Black piranhas, Serrasalmus rhombeus, are not sociable and not even all that active. Singletons can be kept in fairly small aquaria (~100 gallons) considering their size but they can't be mixed with anything. While they look nice, they're pretty boring, and are one of the more dangerous species in terms of biting the aquarist. Unless you're a very experienced and dedicated piranha-keeper, it's a species that probably won't appeal.

ok....and i thought that a frashwater barra. would work, or is it brackish?

 

[CFC]

The species most commonly reffered to as FW baracudas are members of the Acestrorynchus family, Ctenolucius species are usually reffered to as tropical gars, that is at least within the predatory fish keeping community.

Acestrorynchus are shy nervous fish which are difficult to feed as they rarely take anything other than small live fish. They require very large aquariums in relation to their size with a 6x2x2 tank being the smallest that could be recomended for keeping them as adults.