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Jordanella questions


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#1 Guest_shoegazer_*

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Posted 11 January 2009 - 08:20 PM

Hi all,

New to the forums and new to killies in general (but not fishkeeping) and have a couple questions to run by you.

I recently received 5 Jordanella from a well-known online native fish supplier. They arrived in pretty sad shape...the water was dirty, as if straight from a pond, and smelled of death. The fish all had tattered fins and 3 of them already had tufts of fungus on the fins. Two died the following morning, the others seem to be ok. Now on the questions!

1) These things are some of the most skittish little fish I've ever seen. I walk by the tank and they disappear for a solid half hour and then any movement sends them back into hiding. There are no signs of this decreasing thus far. Did I misinterpret what Jordanella are like? Are they not a bold, readily tamed killie once established?

2) All the fish guides I've read show these guys reaching 2.5 inches. Does this represent a rare, enormous animal and I'm out of my mind to expect mine to reach this size? What would be "average' for them? Mine are >1 inch.

3) When I do see them, they are pretty cool little fish that seem to swim in short, methodical bursts and then suddenly rest on vegetation, staying completely still. To me, they're acting almost darter-like instead of being a water column swimmer. Again, did I misinterpret what Jordanella are like in this regard?

Any thoughts/insight are most appreciated.

Cheers,
-Nate

#2 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 11 January 2009 - 08:34 PM

Welcome to the forum Nate.

I don't think you're far off in your interpretation and I should caution you that I'm no Flagfish expert. I'm not sure I'd call them bold but certainly not terribly skittish.

If they are skittish now, they should come out of it.
2.5" seems pretty big but if you don't mind keeping them in a 55 gallon, I'd be willing to bet they'd grow to a large size. I think my fish reached about 1.75" in a 20 long.
The fish I've kept can be a bit "darty" when startled but I suspect this will subside once they've acclimated to tank life.

I'd guess your fish are wild caught or raised in ponds and recently harvested.

I hope this helps.

#3 Guest_shoegazer_*

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Posted 11 January 2009 - 09:55 PM

Good deal, I'm glad I wasn't too far off. Thanks for the info, and I meant to say that all of my fish were less than 1 inch.

#4 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 11 January 2009 - 10:46 PM

As mentioned, your fish must be pond raised to be so skittish. It's a shame they were in such terrible shape. I have kept flagfish for just over 3 years (so no expert either).
How long have you had them? How many males/females?
Mine are the opposite of shy. I have also noticed that if kept in m/f 1:1 ratios, they pair up and never leave each others side - quite fun to watch them this way. My oldest female is just under two inches. My oldest male that died this summer was just over two inches. My fish were kept in a 46 gal for a year or so. Then when I was down to only 1 male, 1 female, I moved them into a 12 gallon. They did fine in both, but were much more outgoing and fiesty in the 46. I wouldn't imagine they would get much larger than 2 1/4 inches, although I did see a 2.5 inch male in a display tank at my LFS.
Mine may be an exception, but I hope yours adapt to tank life and prove to be less shy.

#5 Guest_shoegazer_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 05:01 PM

Well I just received them this past Thursday, and I have 1.2 left from that group. They are extremely pale and drab compared to photos I see online, with only the black spot giving their identity away. I went ahead and ordered an additional pair today from a different vendor. It'll be interesting to see if there are any differences in behavior and color.

#6 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 07:23 PM

I wish you luck with your new batch. Hopefully things will turn for the better.

#7 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 07:54 PM

They color up when they get older, especially when kept nice and warm and given LOTS of green plants. They really should be in an algae infested planted tank. They graze like sheep all day long. Kept in a barren tank and fed flake once or twice a day, they are not at their best.

#8 Guest_shoegazer_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 08:37 PM

Good deal. I have them in a tank choked with plants and a large amount of hair algae. The hair algae is actually what got me interested in them to start with. They're slightly more tolerant of my presence this evening.

#9 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 12 January 2009 - 09:29 PM

Good deal. I have them in a tank choked with plants and a large amount of hair algae. The hair algae is actually what got me interested in them to start with. They're slightly more tolerant of my presence this evening.

I will vouch for them, I had about 8 of them in a 75 gallon heavily planted tank with metal halides and CO2. The first 6 months that tank was greener and had more different kinds of algae than I knew existed, but those flagfish did a number on the hair algae and were instrumental in helping the higher plants overcome the algae competition. They looked REAL nice too.

Posted Image

#10 Guest_Katydid_*

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Posted 24 April 2009 - 10:07 PM

Just dredging up an old post to say very nice Pic Kanus...

and whatever happened with your second batch of Flags? The FF is what actually got me interested in Native fishes, so I have a soft spot for them....

And curious....for thosewho do keep flags...Do you keep your tank near some sun to encourage any algae, or is that just asking for trouble....Still deciding where to put my new tank!

#11 Guest_threegoldfish_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 04:44 PM

I have a litle tiny tank in my front window that gets some fearsome hair algae on the pearlweed (interestingly enough, not on the bladderwort though) so what I'll do is cycle infested pearlweed from that tank with uninfested from the tank I keep the flagfish in. Between her and the mollies, it's usually cleaned up in a couple of weeks. My flag is wild caught and shows absolutely no interest in anything other than live food occasionally and algae, so I guess it's a good thing I have an algae source.

#12 Guest_skalartor_*

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Posted 16 June 2011 - 09:52 AM

Do you think j. floridae would be a good tank mate for elasomma zonatum? or are they to agressive?

#13 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 16 June 2011 - 11:50 AM

Do you think j. floridae would be a good tank mate for elasomma zonatum? or are they to agressive?

I am very curious about that myself because I'm looking for fish to put with my Elassoma gilberti. If anyone has experience mixing Jordanella floridae with Elassoma, please tell us.

Based on what people are saying online, I wouldn't trust the two fish together. It looks like whatever shares the water with J. floridae gets bullied.
According to http://www.aquahobby...la_floridae.php , "Tankmates should be either fast or able to defend themselves". Elassoma are neither of those things.

Edited by EricaWieser, 16 June 2011 - 12:01 PM.


#14 Guest_rickwrench_*

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Posted 17 June 2011 - 12:32 PM

I am very curious about that myself because I'm looking for fish to put with my Elassoma gilberti. If anyone has experience mixing Jordanella floridae with Elassoma, please tell us.

Based on what people are saying online, I wouldn't trust the two fish together. It looks like whatever shares the water with J. floridae gets bullied.
According to http://www.aquahobby...la_floridae.php , "Tankmates should be either fast or able to defend themselves". Elassoma are neither of those things.


A group of -female- fff should be ok in most community tanks. The females are passive and hang out in small groups, grazing, generally avoiding trouble/confrontations. Peaceful, keeping duckweed and algae in check, nice looking. I've found that the denser the plant growth in the tank the -more- skittish the females are.

Males, on the other hand can be very aggressive. In the seasonless aquarium environment, they are in constant nesting mode. They stake out an area about two feet in diameter, and defend it rigorously, against all species. Two males in the same tank, even large tanks(<100g), rarely works out for anybody. You usually end up with one tattered and one dead male fff.

If you are setting up a breeding group, get at least half a dozen females to spread the "loving" around. Also a very densely planted tank will help some of the fry survive.

I've got some pics of a nice happy male and some fry in my gallery.

Male in floating pennywort roots:
http://gallery.nanfa...fish29.jpg.html

Fry:
http://gallery.nanfa...ag-top.jpg.html

Rick

#15 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 14 January 2012 - 08:39 AM

I am very curious about that myself because I'm looking for fish to put with my Elassoma gilberti. If anyone has experience mixing Jordanella floridae with Elassoma, please tell us.

Based on what people are saying online, I wouldn't trust the two fish together. It looks like whatever shares the water with J. floridae gets bullied.
According to http://www.aquahobby...la_floridae.php , "Tankmates should be either fast or able to defend themselves". Elassoma are neither of those things.

i have a29 gal community tank with 3 male flagfish, a pair of golden topminnows, 2 banded sunfish, and unfortunately a bluegill,everyone seems to get along except the bluegill. I plan to remove him soon. I have a female flagfish recently caught in quarantine right now, i want to introduce her to males. First question, she is a lot smaller, maybe 1 1/2 in versus over 2 inches, do i need to wait till she grows a bit more? What is the average size of females compared to males? Should i put her in a separate tank with 1 male, or in the community tank? Do i need more females first? previously i put a timid 1 inch female in with my flagfish, and i suspect he murdered her. Generally my flaggies seem to be very timid when introduced, but after a couple of weeks they become quite gregarious, not really aggressive though, except for that one incident. i hope to build an outside pond and breed some flagfish this summer. i think they are great little fish.



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