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Fast facts on Cochliodon hondae
FOREWORD:
you’ll find this “Fast Fact Sheet” not that fast (or short) but
you have to consider that this fish is sort ot “UFO” (read it as
Unidentified Fish Object!)
to me. Therefore
I felt the need to add a bit more of information. Let’s go, then, in
detail …
Biotope:
This is likely one of the few
"guaranteed" information I happen to have on this fish:
it has been caught my myself and other members of the Amazon River
expedition I took part
in, at Cocha of Yanashi (Cocha = Lake) in the Rio
Orosa related body of water in Peru (Amazon Basin). It was
August 1st 2000, a
day hard to forget, believe me!
Tank:
Its
first tank (where the fish
was
conditioned once back at home) has been
an
125 lt (about 33 US gal).
Tank
mates were
always
fish coming from the same area.
As
a matter of fact
collection
has been great during this
trip. It is
currently hosted
in a 360 lt (about 98 US Gals) Amazon tank. Since this fish has proved to
be utterly nocturnal and shy I’ll
have to get
a separate on/off switch
for the lamps in its
tank
and exchange of
one of the two white lamps with an actinic one to achieve a more gradual /
softer turn on/off of lamps and a dimmer environment.
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REMARKS:
This fish, that has been tentatively
"labelled" as above (from our
expedition-leader and local peoples), is supposed to be an adult specimem. Of course I can neither deny nor confirm the exact
identification of the fish. Should I, for any reason, get more information
on the matter I’ll update this sheet.
Water
chemistry:
Strange as it may seen we found a pH of 7.0 (see my article on the
peruvian trip for more info).
Anyway, at
the beginning I used some peat extract in
its
tank: it brings
the pH of the
water to a neutral value and
turns it
quite brownish,
too.
Not that nice (to say so) to look at - but my fish's
well
being always comes first! After almost a year the fish is used to a much
clearer
water (of suitable chemistry to
the best of
my knowledge) and seem to thrive.
However, it is
still awfully shy!
·
NOTE:
you have to
keep into account that at the point this particular fish was
collected, if you
dip your feet in the water till
the
anckles you’ll NOT see your
toes!
Spawning:
Of course there
is no chance
to accomplish that with a
single specimen (and I regret it)! Even
though,
compared to our beloved malawians, spawning a loriicarid is not that easy
(with
the possible exception
of members of
the
Ancistrinae group
as far as I know).
I’m trying
to achieve
that
in another
tank but this
is a another plan;
no result till now …(in
case you were wondering)
Food:
We came been back (in Italy)
from Peru on August 9th 2000.
Since that
date I’ve NEVER seen him feeding in any way! Since a fish cannot starve
itself
for such a long period I’ll, simply, mention
the
supplied food: fresh vegetables, sinking tablets and wafers, flakes and
pellets. Since he is (is
it a male?) doing well then
this is
not (a real) problem. In
order to satisfy my curiosity I would just like to know what this fish
really likes to eat !
Tank Mates:
a large number of Amazon fishes such as: Pterophyllum
scalare (angelfishes);
Apistogramma agassizi (from Paucarillo creek); Hypessobrycon socolofi
(Bleeding heart Tetra), Corydoras, other loriicarids, Rineloricaria sp.,
Amblydoras hanckoki (Talking catfish) without
any
detectable
problems
till now (cross
your fingers for the future).
Many of the
fish
mentioned
before are still
sharing the same tank
with it.
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NOTE:
Only “odd” thing I’ve to mention is the fact this fish came from the
Amazon along with a similar specimen. About two/three weeks
later
– when conditioning was supposed to be over with no troubles for both of
them – I found the other
one
dead (to my
deep
sorrow!) with no signs of having been bullied.
I still don't know if
this was a result of settling
“territorial matters”
or an
undetected illness. For the sake of truth I have to add most loriicarids
are territorial
against conspecifics in their
own way,
which includes far
more aggression that even
African cichlids
are
able to show.
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