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Cyprinodon Variegatus

Started by Guest_NVCichlids_* , May 20 2011 01:13 PM

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10 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 01:13 PM

I was reviewing some notes from a friend of mine who is going to FL/GA this year collecting and he was looking to bring back a bunch of different fish. he complied me a list of fish and I found these listed. How do these behave in tank and what are they really compatible with? He also stated he is able to get some pipefish and my hogchokers, would these all thive together?

also, does anyone have any pictures of their setups with them?

#2 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 02:10 PM

Pupfish are great little fish. The males show really nice bluish color with salmony pink fins when in color. They are very active and spend a lot of time chasing each other around though I have never noticed any fin damage from the "playing". THese fish do best in hard fresh or brackish conditions with a mud or sandy substrate.

All this being said, they will not do well with the hogchokers and especially the pipefish, or I suppose I should say the latter fish will not do well with them. The pupfish are aggressive feeders and are very active. The other two species are neither of these. Both the pipefish and the hogchoker will need to be fed nearly individually. They also both do best on live foods. I did well with live blackworms for the hogchokers and I understand the pipefish need to be fed live brine shrimp at least initially. I have never kept pipefish so hopefully someone will be able to chime in with more info on them.

#3 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 03:18 PM

Thanks for that info dustin! What size tank would you recommend for Cyprinodon Variegatus only? I really was hoping to keep them all together, but can definately set up separate tanks for each! Are they more of an open swimmer and no structure needed, or vals, or completely planted, driftwood a + or -?

#4 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 03:36 PM

They're typically found in areas with little submerged vegetation. THe two places we catch them are more or less mud flats wehre the water is only a couple inches deep over pluff mud. There is Spartina grass in patches but I'm not sure the pupfish use this. I would suggest a mud or sand substrate with some shells or rocks. They will do well in a ten gallon depending on how many you plan to keep.

#5 Guest_Ken_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 08:42 PM

I was reviewing some notes from a friend of mine who is going to FL/GA this year collecting and he was looking to bring back a bunch of different fish. he complied me a list of fish and I found these listed. How do these behave in tank and what are they really compatible with? He also stated he is able to get some pipefish and my hogchokers, would these all thive together?

also, does anyone have any pictures of their setups with them?

I have kept and raised pipefish and Dustin is correct as far as them wanting live food. I rarely fed LBS to them though because of the low nutrition they had, Instead I fed them live Mysis that I raised.

#6 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 10:25 PM

I haven't kept Cyprinodon, but I've observed them in the wild around the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They are very bold and curious; they shied away from me when I was wading, but would come right up to me and try to pull my leg hair out when I was snorkeling. The large males are flashy and like to show off. I often saw them in mixed schools with mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus). I bet mummies or other large, tough Fundulus species would be the best tankmates for them. Other fish I saw with them include eastern mosquitofish, lined topminnows, rainwater killifish, juvenile snappers, pinfish, tongue soles, flounder, pipefish, and some sort of blenny. Of these, I think the first two might be suitable tankmates (but again, I haven't tried these combinations).

My observations on their habitat use are a little different from Dustin's (maybe a function of locality and competitors present). Cyprinodon (and F. heteroclitus -- I seldom saw one without the other) seemed less substrate-specific than other fishes in the area; they could be found over open mud or sand, around rocky jetties, in brackish ditches and creeks, in seagrass, Spartina, or mussel beds, in water of any turbidity, from waist-deep to barely deep enough to submerge the fish. They seemed to be absent only from the surf zone and deeper waters.

#7 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 21 May 2011 - 10:24 AM

I think hogchokers will be fine with them. You do need to feed more to make sure food is getting to the bottom, but I've kept hogchokers with sunfish and shiners in the same tank.

#8 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 21 May 2011 - 02:18 PM

I think hogchokers will be fine with them. You do need to feed more to make sure food is getting to the bottom, but I've kept hogchokers with sunfish and shiners in the same tank.

But unlike sunfish and shiners, CVs spend a lot of time cruising energetically at an altitude of 2mm above the substrate. That activity would seem more likely to be bother hogchokers. (I've kept both, but not together.)

Because of the activity, and territorial behaviors, I'd keep CVs in a 20L or larger, something with a decent footprint. In my area, CVs are typically found with, or in very close proximity to Fundulus grandis (southern mummichog, more or less), F. similis (very shallow/shorelines), native mollies, and Adenia xenica. (Plus baby mullet and baby drum.) Those seem to get along well enough in a mixed tank, although the AXs are a bit less aggressive feeders.

#9 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 23 May 2011 - 12:06 PM

thanks guys for all the help thus far! I like some of these combos!

I just got today a free 38 gallon tank (36x12x20 tall). I really like the mummichogs, and the f. similis as well.

Is this new tank the wrong dimensions for these fish as a whole?

#10 Guest_JamesH_*

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Posted 14 June 2011 - 08:51 AM

I have kept several species of pupfish and I have found that the more floor space you give them the better they do. I kept both red river and CV in 30 or 40 breeder size aquarium. Something with a 36x18 foot print. Overall height did not seem to be a issue with them it was more floor space. I would put in some rocks and I used black pvc T's for cover and a playground sand as the substright.

#11 Guest_baker46947_*

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Posted 16 July 2011 - 08:37 AM

I have kept several species of pupfish and I have found that the more floor space you give them the better they do. I kept both red river and CV in 30 or 40 breeder size aquarium. Something with a 36x18 foot print. Overall height did not seem to be a issue with them it was more floor space. I would put in some rocks and I used black pvc T's for cover and a playground sand as the substright.

I am waiting on some sheepshead minnows and have set up a 40 gal breeder tank for them. the substate is gravel (size is about 1mm) and 2" deep. It has partcial use of an east window. Can I have flagfish in with them? I am working on getting the saline levelup for Cv's but not sure if flags can take that. Randy