7 replies to this topic

[Betta132]

My 65g is undergoing some stocking changes due to some aggression issues. At the end of the changes, I'll have either one male longear sunny or a M/F pair, and a warmouth. I'd like to have a bit more variation, so I'm looking for suitable tankmates. Thing is, warmouths have earned their name. Mine is about 4" at the moment, and he was trying to eat some >3" shiners- hence why I moved said shiners. I'm pretty sure he could have eaten them if he wanted to. 

I'm reasonably certain my warmouth is a female- there's no orange on its anal fin. I could be wrong, though, since it's young. I'm assuming it's going to reach something like 7" long, maybe a bit larger, and I'm somewhat concerned about how big that mouth is going to get. 

These are some fish that I'm considering, and I'll likely only pick one species: 

Mexican tetras (4" long, but tall-bodied)

Creek chub (possibly- what size do they typically reach in captivity?)

Madtom (not tadpole, too small, but maybe freckled or stonecat if I can find one)

Logperch (maybe- tank is low-flow, but I've found logperch while diving in 7' of water in Lake Travis- no flow there)

 

The madtoms are looking like my best option. Mexican tetras are possibly too small, creek chubs are possibly too large, and logperch are skinny, small-ish, and possibly high-flow fish. A tadpole madtom would probably get caught in the warmouth's throat, and freckled madtoms are also on the smallish size. Stonecats evidently reach about 8" in aquariums, sometimes larger, so they'd be far too big for a warmouth to swallow. 

If the stonecat is my best option, what's the best way to ID them? We have various types of bullheads, and I don't want a bullhead in my tank. Waaay too big. 

[Michael Wolfe]

Sandwich says, "Yum!"

 warmouth sandwich.JPG   76.29KB   2 downloads

• Seriously, the tetras should not even be considered.  
• Sandwich grew up with some margined madtoms that were bigger than him, so he never at them.  
• I think a tadpole now would be hidden or digested.  
• A creek chub over 5 inches might be OK.  They also have a large mouth and could get to be 9-12 inches in your tank over a few years.
• Logperch might make it, but you would need a 5 inch one and would have to feed it enough to grow and keep up with your WM.

[Betta132]

I've seen some pretty chunky mexican tetras, which is why I asked. 

I don't think I can legally get a 5" logperch. I know where to find them that big, sure, but I'd have to catch them while diving- which is illegal. 

 

Looks like a madtom (other than a tad) is my best option. One concern: Exactly how big is the mouth of an 8" madtom? What are they capable of eating? 

Also, where's a good source? It looks like our area only has tadpole madtoms and freckled madtoms, which are even smaller than tads. I'm not picky about species, I just want a reasonably hardy madtom that grows too big for a warmouth to eat and hopefully won't spend all day stuffed under the driftwood. I know madtoms aren't active, but I know there's a decent number of catfish that at least sit out in the open.

Edited by Betta132, 25 September 2015 - 07:50 PM.

[Michael Wolfe]

a golf ball

 

so seriously look at about 37 seconds and maybe a couple of other times in the below video.

 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Netting my local streams a 4-6 inch logperch is kind of average. I imagine yours are not far different. Go get a couple!

[Matt DeLaVega]

Sorry, smaller rivers would have been more correct.

[butch]

Even with big logperchs, a warmouth can easily swallow a 5-6" logperch no problems. After all, warmouth do indeed has a huge mouth and they're predatory/piscivorous.

[Betta132]

The logperch around here can reach 7" long, but even then, they're so skinny that a particularly large warmouth could probably gulp one right down. Mine is currently only about 4", so anything I add will have some time to grow, but I think I'll skip the logperch. 

 

What about one of the sculpins? Aren't there a couple that reach about 5-6" or so? They're fairly thick-bodied and they have big fins, so I doubt a warmouth could manage to gulp one down- or would even identify one as a possible food source. Sculpins are lumpy and strange and not very fish-like. They aren't native to Texas, but I'll take anything native to this general area of North America, especially something as weird as a sculpin. 

 

Theoretically, could I keep a madtom and a sculpin in the same tank, if I added more caves? Catfish kind of just pile into caves together, they don't seem territorial, but I don't really have any experience with sculpins. 

Edited by Betta132, 26 September 2015 - 01:17 PM.