Silver Needles

[DannyBoy17]

Alright, Im stuck. Im going to get some Silver Needle's for my 100g, so go with a few N.W Cichlids, but I don't know how many to get. I have a fairly large footprint, so Im thinkin 3, becuase they like to be in schools. I've got the suggestion that only one would work, and then again, another suggestion that five would be best.

What do you think?

DB

 

[CFC]

5 would work in a 100g tank, when kept singularly they are very nervous and jumpy. Just be sure to have a good supply of clean feeders as 5 needlenose will need a lot of guppies to make sure they all get well fed.

 

[DannyBoy17]

Really? I was thinking three, but I would love five. I just thought that might be pushing it if they are all going to be swimming at the very top. The ones I was looking at were roughly the same size as my little Oscar. Should I be growing one of the two out (Oscar or Silver Needle)? Im interested to see how they will behave together.

Thanks CFC, Im probably going to be looking to you for a lot of advice in the future!

DB

 

[CFC]

Personally i wouldnt recomend a oscar as a tankmate for needle fish, the large bulk of a oscar below them will make them very nervous and when the oscar is larger it may try to eat the needle fish. Smaller more peacefull Cichlids like Geophagus/Satanoperca, firemouths, acaras or severums would be a much better choice.

 

[DannyBoy17]

See that's what I thought at first. But then, I read a bunch of articles, and many of them said these fish could be kept with "Large NW Cichlids" in tanks over 90g.

DB

 

[CFC]

Well there can be exceptions to anything but i my personal opinion and experience needlefish will not do well if kept with large or aggressive Cichlids. Since you already have the oscar how about getting some Ctenolucius hujeta (rocket/slantnosed gar)? These are thicker bodied than the needle fish and are less likely to become snacks for a oscar but still occupy the same area of the tank and exhibit very similar behaviour.

 

[Paul_MTS]

I have a slant nosed gar and gets along fine with my oscar and more importantly my arowana.

I Wish i had got a few of them now as alot of articles say they only get to about 8-12" in captivity, but in the shop they had the full size of 28" written up.

Mine feeds well on mealworm, crickets, bloodworm and will even take a lance fish if you wiggle it at the surface.

Oh and here's a pic of mine, really easy to get pics of aswell seeing as they stay still for so long!!-

http/www.subrucian.prodigynet.co.uk/fish...-05/gar%203.JPG