by wrisch/mendel.berkeley.edu (lisa wrischnik)
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997
To: apisto/aquaria.net
Hello,
Gary E. wanted to know about Nannacara taenia (sorry about the late
response).
I can't say that I know much about them myself - mine are shy, but I
have 6 of them in a 10 gal (with some cardinal tetras). I give them a
lot of cover, and they hide a lot.
One of my apisto gurus (David Soares) has a bunch breeding in a large
apisto community tank, and he says his are mean as hell. We both keep them
in very soft water (10ppm or so) and at low pH (5-6). Mine are all
fine, but no breeding - I'm sure the tank is way too small (I also
havn't noticed a tremendous variation in dorsal/anal finnage either, so
my sex ratio could be problematic as well). I had a pair of A. "4-stripe"
in a 10 gal, and they grew to a very large size,
but they wouldn't breed until I recently moved them into a 40 gal
community tank (David told me to give them a bigger tank, and he was
right).
Anyway, I hope that was some help. I've had them for several months and
the largest one is still only 1 1/4". Neat little guys - they look alot
like little N. anomala females but with added horizontal striping along
the body (and no orange color).
I know taenia are supposed to be from Eastern Brazil, but I can't
remember what else comes from that area (I'm wondering in what kinds of
shipments the taenia could be found as contaminants, for those of you
who also have a "thing" for little brown fish and want some of these).
I got mine at a wonderful store in SF called Ocean Aquarium. Justin Hau,
the owner, had tried to get A. "tucurui", and he got the taenia sent
instead.
Can't quite decide if I'm lucky or not on this one (boy those "tucurui"
are nice).
Lisa
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by Frauley/Elson <fraulels/minet.ca>
Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com
Ed Pon wrote:
So can you go into detail about what
> it is that your Nanacara Taenia and cacatoides were having so I can try
> it out? Thanks.
>
Hi Ed,
Actually, they're having sex, which seems to please them mightily.
On a more constructive note - taenia breed like anomala - they're dead
easy. The only problem is they do put the spawns in weird places, so you
can miss it. They hide a lot to begin with, even with schools of dither
fish. They guard the eggs well, but seem really incompetent at guarding
wrigglers. I've taken to stealing the wrigglers, or they just vaporize.
Diet: frozen bloodworms daily, flake in the afternoon, occasional live
brine shrimp or whiteworms, maybe weekly at best. I already gave the
water details in the previous posting. Plants seem essential - I keep
them in jungles. My weird trigger was a miniscule dose of chelated iron.
The cacas were guarding 3 month old fry (!) and hence weren't spawning.
I moved them to a community, but the 'iron' trigger was immediate. I
don't think it was coincidental. Maybe.
-Gary
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by Frauley/Elson <fraulels/minet.ca>
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com
Ed Pon wrote:
>
> >This is the first time I have heard of this new or different species of
> >Nannocara. Can some kind soul describe the Nannocara taenia for me and
> >compare
> >its appearance and other characteristics with those of N. anomala.
>
Hi,
I would say it is less spectacular than N anomala, but nicer than the
Linke photos. Females look like a smaller anomala, but males have the
female anomala shape, with a black (very black!) facial mask,
reddish-brown to burgundy stripes from the nose to caudal, over a cream
to liver colored body. The caudal sometimes darkens.
The most entertaining thing about the fish is rapid colour changes.
I've seen males pass under a crypt leaf, starting in full coloration,
but coming out in drab female coloration. The changes are instaneous.
Generally, males and females can be hard to distinguish, except when
excited. My males have been in full colour for a week since my
accidental iron experiment. They're quite beautiful, for the first time
in 2 generations of keeping them.
As a smaller fish, it's less aggressive to tankmates than anomala, but
they rip each other to bits if crowded. They like planted tanks, a lot.
-Gary
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