Swampfish?

Do you have any information like the habitat, max length, and habits of the Swampfish?

Do you have any information like the habitat, max length, and habits of the Swampfish?

What genus and species are you referring to? Chologaster cornuta?

Edited by EricaWieser, 08 February 2011 - 10:45 PM.

Re Chologaster cornuta, swampfish, here's what I've been told:

"They get to about 2 inches. They are typically found in shallow water among debris or mud, or sometime fine vegetation that hugs the shore. Feed live blackworms and maintain them in an unfiltered jug crammed with java moss. Uland kept them in a similar fashion and they laid eggs for him. I would sit and watch after dark about once a month after a feeding and I would see them briefly so I knew they were still there. That, and the blackworms would be gone the following day. They cannot be kept successfully with other species in the tank or with any filtration, outside of a slowly bubling sponge filter. My guess is that they will not take any food that is not alive. They have very small mouths so that also limits the type food used. Blackworms worked well."

I would suggest trying frozen foods too like bloodworms. Most fishes find these irresistible. The reason you wouldn't keep them with other fishes is that they are passive and vulnerable and that they may not get any food. You might try feeding them at night (in the dark) if there are other species in the tank. They like to hide, so in a tank with hiding places, you may not see them when the lights are on. I'll get back to you when I get more info about why you wouldn't want a filter. I suppose to avoid having current in the tank. I would think that if the tank is large enough to have areas with light to zero current, they would be OK. I don't believe in pampering fish any more than is really necessary. If you think about it, an aquarium is a vastly more sheltered environment than any outdoor body of water.

What genus and species are you referring to? Chologaster cornuta?

Oh, okay, I see the topic description. Whoops, sorry. Topic desciptions don't show up on mobile devices. *apologizes*

To add to what itsme said earlier, here is a helpful paper:
http://www.bioone.or...LHOTSF]2.0.CO;2

And this is a handy site:
http://www.fishbase....ary.php?id=3061

Those two sources should give you all the info you requested.

Oh, okay, I see the topic description. Whoops, sorry. Topic desciptions don't show up on mobile devices. *apologizes*

To add to what itsme said earlier, here is a helpful paper:
http://www.bioone.or...LHOTSF]2.0.CO;2

And this is a handy site:
http://www.fishbase....ary.php?id=3061

Those two sources should give you all the info you requested.

Thanks again for all of the help!

Re Chologaster cornuta, swampfish, here's what I've been told:

"They get to about 2 inches. They are typically found in shallow water among debris or mud, or sometime fine vegetation that hugs the shore. Feed live blackworms and maintain them in an unfiltered jug crammed with java moss. Uland kept them in a similar fashion and they laid eggs for him. I would sit and watch after dark about once a month after a feeding and I would see them briefly so I knew they were still there. That, and the blackworms would be gone the following day. They cannot be kept successfully with other species in the tank or with any filtration, outside of a slowly bubling sponge filter. My guess is that they will not take any food that is not alive. They have very small mouths so that also limits the type food used. Blackworms worked well."

I would suggest trying frozen foods too like bloodworms. Most fishes find these irresistible. The reason you wouldn't keep them with other fishes is that they are passive and vulnerable and that they may not get any food. You might try feeding them at night (in the dark) if there are other species in the tank. They like to hide, so in a tank with hiding places, you may not see them when the lights are on. I'll get back to you when I get more info about why you wouldn't want a filter. I suppose to avoid having current in the tank. I would think that if the tank is large enough to have areas with light to zero current, they would be OK. I don't believe in pampering fish any more than is really necessary. If you think about it, an aquarium is a vastly more sheltered environment than any outdoor body of water.

Okay, very interesting. Thank you.

Yes, apparently the filtration thing is an issue of current in the tank. They like slack water. Guess they are not strong swimmers. Seems odd for a fish!

One more thing re Chologaster: use leaf litter and/or sand on the bottom, NOT coarse gravel. If spooked they'll wriggle down into gravel, but can get stuck and die. They're just not made for coarse-gravel habitats.

One more thing re Chologaster: use leaf litter and/or sand on the bottom, NOT coarse gravel. If spooked they'll wriggle down into gravel, but can get stuck and die. They're just not made for coarse-gravel habitats.

I don't usually use gravel anyways, but when I do it's always a sand/gravel mix. I would really like to set up a tank for them but I've always wondered, how do you prepare leaves for a tank? I want to eventually narrow myself down to one display tank and change something about it each season, i.e. leaves in fall, colder temps in winter, rising temps in spring, and warmer temps in summer with lots of algae and plant growth. I also want to mimic daylight hours.

Yes, apparently the filtration thing is an issue of current in the tank. They like slack water. Guess they are not strong swimmers. Seems odd for a fish!

So for filtration I would just use a low power sponge filter or simply rely on the plants?

So for filtration I would just use a low power sponge filter or simply rely on the plants?

Others have relied on plants since they had maybe one or two fish in the tank only. It will depend on how many fish, how many gallons and how much you feed. Temperature, lighting and plant density and species will also be variables. I would say in a large enough tank, an air-driven sponge filter would be fine. You could also do no filter with sufficient plants, light and few fishes. Actually, our power was out for three days last week, and the filters were off for a whole week. I have three large tanks with _lots_ of plants, lots of light and lots of fishes. I stopped feeding. The fish have been fine, though hungry of course. I got the filters cleaned and running today. Fed the fish. Hopefully all will restabilize with no disasters. We'll see.