trying a new fish, & a new to me seller... fingers crossed...

[Magnum Man]

Crenuchus spilurus ( Sailfin Tetras ) I have 10 ordered, coming from Hawaii...

how they are supposed to look now...

At maturity...

anyone tried these guys???

 

[GaryE]

I loved them but found them a Cichlid-like tetra. That makes them really interesting beasts.

They held territories along the bottom, and took time to adjust to non living food. They weren't great in a community because feeding was an issue, and fish that don't like the food lose it to community mates. I had only 2 pairs, and they got their own tank, which was a big part of them settling in.

I questioned if they ever really took to non living foods, as I supplemented them with brine shrimp nauplii when I could. They may only have eaten prepared foods when starving, and I didn't want to starve the poor guys. They never asked to be in a fishtank, after all. It was a long time ago. I may also have fed them whiteworms. That I can't remember. They were 2 fishrooms and 20 years back.

It's an odd fish - tough but not easy to keep because of the food issue. I've seen them on the list for a Quebecois store that specializes in wilds recently, and have been very tempted.

 

[Magnum Man]

this from the Hawaii seller...

Diet: Omnivorous - enjoys a varied diet including high-quality flakes, small pellets, and live or frozen foods such as daphnia, brine shrimp, and bloodworms.

I actually have another one coming from another seller ( 11 total ), & their comment...

Diet: Omnivore and micropredator. Will readily accept most frozen and prepared foods in the aquarium

 

[GaryE]

My experience was they liked to hunt their food, and they had to learn the stuff that didn't move was edible.

Males squabble a lot. Make sure you have a lot of broken sightlines with that one. It wasn't a shoaler here, although my group was small. They used to be quite expensive back then...

Seriously fish says "In the aquarium it may learn to accept dried foods of a suitable size but should ideally be offered daily meals of small live and frozen fare such as Artemia nauplii, Daphnia, Moina, grindal worm, etc." https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/crenuchus-spilurus/

Never trust a salesman, although the frozen says they'd probably get to flake. I had live food for when they first wouldn't eat prepared, so maybe I gave up too soon.

When the males had their turf wars, they were cool to watch. It's a shy fish.

Now I want some again. It would cost me $45 for 6, but $170 in shipping. Nope.

 

[Back in the fold]

You’re going to go ahead and get them huh ? Be sure and keep us updated with all the gory details and plenty of pictures . This is an unusual fish that many have never and will never see .

 

[Innesfan]

Wow. Good for you. Haven't seen these in years. And they look great. Eager to hear your experience with them.

 

[Magnum Man]

they look to have big mouthes for the size of the fish, like they gulp bigger foods???

 

[CassCats]

They also supposedly need very, very soft water to thrive longterm. Below 90ppm GH

 

[Magnum Man]

they'll be going into my South American Tetra tank, eventually and all of my tanks start with 100% RO water... will see the condition of the fish, coming from Hawaii, and a new seller... they may end up in a 10 gallon to start, depending how they look

 

[Innesfan]

they look to have big mouthes for the size of the fish...

Yes! A point Innes scored photographically in 1935. Also in his final line of the description.

 

[GaryE]

I knew I'd seen more info somewhere, but I didn't go that far back.
The print info is contradictory. I found them hardy, though I never pushed it. Some sources say they're very fragile. The territorial behaviour thing is everywhere.
My friend who had them had a 4 foot long, 1 foot high tank that had only them - he thought 8 of them. It was years ago.

Remember with a source like Innes, easily fed didn't mean what it means now. Flake was low quality, pellets not invented, and frozen was impossible. They almost all made their own mixes or cultured live foods.

 

[Back in the fold]

They almost all made their own mixes or cultured live foods.

Yes , Dr. Innes’ recipe for his prepared food is in the book .

 

[Innesfan]

They almost all made their own mixes or cultured live foods.

And they collected live foods. There are photos in the book of same. And in his long-running magazine, "The Aquarium," there were countless how-to articles about collecting daphnia, tubifex etc, where to find them, and how to make the tools needed to harvest them.

 

[Mr Limpet]

They’re not a good community fish because they’re an extremely shy species and can’t compete for food with more outgoing tank mates. They do best in a species tank or with small characins. I kept a trio in a heavily planted 10 gallon, and fry would occasionally emerge from the Java moss. I’ve found them to be extremely hardy and resilient; one of my females is over 7 years old. Mine ate everything, including flakes, ravenously; they especially loved Grindal worms. The males’ large mouths seem to be used for displaying to each other. I highly recommend them.

 

[GaryE]

Thanks @Mr Limpet . Now I want that fish to keep them properly this time. I like fish where fry appear from the java moss.

For food - the Montreal club used to organize 2 or 3 wild food collecting trips every year. They kept that up until the 1980s, when urban sprawl finished off the last few collecting spots that were easy to get to. Collecting food was a regular part of the hobby for decades. I did two 'harvests' a Spring until COVID, as I knew a small vernal pond that survived behind some new million dollar mcmansions. The terrain was too rough for developers, or for older aquarists to climb down. When the locals would get mad at my friend and I fishing in 'their' woods (public land), we would tell them we were mosquito researchers and signs were there would be monstrous numbers that summer. It was part of the fun.

In my new environment, there are lakes and woods all around. I've explored a bit, but haven't found a spot yet. I'm going to find a fishless Spring pond bursting with daphnia, mosquito larvae and fairy shrimp one of these days.

I used to freeze 5 to 10 pounds of food in sheets some years. All for about 3 hours of fun "work".