Hello everyone from Singapore

[chickennublet]

Hi everyone from Singapore.

I'm not very much of a cichlid guy (and I hope I can be forgiven for this) but I decided to make an account today because I noticed that there is a wealth of information here on these forums and I would be obliged if I could tap on this treasure trove of knowledge.

I recently acquired a small group of Gastrodermus hastatus and I would like to set up a tank around them and being able to ask questions here on their habitats would be very helpful indeed.

I've only been keeping fish for around 6 years and currently maintain 3 tanks, two of which are plant heavy and the last of which will be a permanent home for the little Corydoras. My favourite group of fish are the Corydoradinae subfamily.

Thank you for having me!

 

[MacZ]

If you're looking for info on G. hastatus, look up Apistogramma borellii. They can be found together with Hyphessobrycon elachys.

 

[chickennublet]

If you're looking for info on G. hastatus, look up Apistogramma borellii. They can be found together with Hyphessobrycon elachys.

Thank you. The tetras are something I am considering as their tank mate but I would also like to try keeping pencil fish so I'm a little undecided at the moment.

 

[chickennublet]

Hello everyone.

I recently acquired a group of 13 or 14 (I lost count) Gastrodermus hastatus (previously Corydoras) and I would like to set up the tank around them.

On top of the new acquisitions, I also have two G. hastatus who have been living with their much larger cousins in another tank for 2 months now but I decided to remove them as they will probably do better in in their own tank which brings me to today.

They are currently in a 45 by 30 by 30cm tank filtered by a sponge filter and a very small internal filter. The only other thing living in this tank now are a bunch of red cherry shrimp which are there because I unceremoniously dumped all the water from my canister filter on another tank into this one when I was setting it up. I won't be able to remove all of them unfortunately so they will remain in there as the only alien element. Substrate is just sand at the moment.

I have been trying to look up where G. hastatus occur and I understand that they can be found in the Amazon river and also in the Guapore and Paraguay rivers. Not sure if I'm correct and I think I am probably being overly general here.

In terms of tank mates, I am considering the following but will have to pick just one of them as I don't have that much space in this tank:
1. Nannostomus digrammus
2. N. eques
3. Hyphessobrycon elachys
I am hoping if someone could confirm that these fish occur in the same areas as G. hastatus please!

I am also unsure about what plants occur in their habitats. I will probably get either Limnobium laevigatum or Pistia stratiotes, and will have to look up what other plants I could keep in this tank. I probably will not be too strict in respect of plant choice so am thinking of a variety of Echinodorus species and possible Hydrocotyle leucocephala.

I would be very grateful if anyone could let me know whether I am on the right track or if I am far off, and perhaps suggest some other tank mates I could consider or maybe an area I could focus on basing this tank on.

Thank you!

 

[chickennublet]

Oh, thank you too for the tip, I just realised that looking up info on A. borellii would help me learn more about G. hastatus too!

If you're looking for info on G. hastatus, look up Apistogramma borellii. They can be found together with Hyphessobrycon elachys.

 

[MacZ]

1. Nannostomus digrammus
2. N. eques
3. Hyphessobrycon elachys
I am hoping if someone could confirm that these fish occur in the same areas as G. hastatus please!

1. No.
2. No.
3. Yes!

 

[Mike Wise]

I've not heard or read of any Nanostomus species occurring the upper Madeira/Guapore nor the Paraguay/Parana (I could be wrong). They are mostly found north of the main channel of the Amazon in South America.

 

[MacZ]

I have seen some on footage from the Para drainage but no species you'd find in the trade.

 

[chickennublet]

Thank you both @MacZ and @Mike Wise.

I did a bit of research yesterday mostly using fishbase and seriouslyfish also could not find occurences of Nannostomus species in the Paraguay and Guapore. Will be dropping the idea of keeping pencils with them. Although I was under the impression that the type specimen for G. hastatus was collected in the main channel. Could I know where they are more prevalent?

Please correct me if I am wrong on this but If I decide on Hyphessobrycon elachys then I should be doing more research on the Paraguay river and the Pantanal, yes? I will very likely pick these as their tank mate since they seem to be the best fit considering their small size and how they supposedly tend to school together. I'll probably also add a small group of Otocinclus spp after a few months.

Not sure what tank mate I could consider for a Guapore river biotope.

Plants I am considering at the moment:
1. Helanthium tenellum which I will plant in the sand
2. Myriophyllum mattogrossense
3. Echinodorus spp. (not sure what kind but will try to avoid the ornamental varieties)
4. Salvinia molesta (not sure if I can find this locally)
5. Hydrocotyle leucocephala

Shall be planting most of these in containers in aquasoil in it will try to hide them with wood and botanicals.

The water is currently quite stained, probably from a combination of new driftwood and the handful of Catappa leaves I added in there. Probably won't harm the fish but I understand that they inhabit clear waters so i'll be doing more water changes until the water clears up.

Sorry for continuing this topic in the Introductions forum! Please let me know if I should move this post elsewhere.