ID: Fish - Indostomus spp.

[EvolutionZ]

hi guys, anyone can help ID-ing this fish? i got it from c328 yesterday..
thanks..

[hwchoy]

one of the Indostomus spp. probably I. paradoxus from Myanmar.

[Quixotic]

Do take note that these fish will mostly take live food exclusively. If you have time, here is some information about these fishes, http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=16915

[EvolutionZ]

thanks for the ID guys,

quixotic: its the 2nd day i got it.. 2 small piece inside haven't really started eating yet.
im feeding them frozen dahpina.. hopefully it will eat them.

[Ah_ZhaN]

I've tried to train my indostomus spp. to accept frozen/dry food, but to no avail. You are probably left with the choice of feeding live food.

[EvolutionZ]

hmmm.. thanks bro, think i'll go get some live daphnia or brine shrimp soon =)

[celticfish]

Just a thought won't they might be in danger of predation from your yamatos?
It looks awfully small and you can tell the yamato is not large either...

[stormhawk]

Something about this little guy tells me it could be I. crocodilus?? My guess is good as anyone, because it's so difficult to tell the 3? species apart. That said, they take nothing else except moving live food. Due to the small mouth size, they will only take baby brine shrimp or live daphnia. In Singapore's case, the "ang boon" we normally come across are Moina species. They are excellent food for these little fellas.

Other options for feeding might be frozen Cyclops but a high chance they won't touch those unless they are actually "moving" in front of them. Maybe a twirl or two with a long stick should suffice to interest them in eating the frozen stuff.

Gravid females will contain greenish eggs which you can see right through the belly armor, which is a little translucent. They need species tanks to thrive, and will not survive long in community tanks unless the other fish fauna are small and just as slow moving as these guys.

Yamato shrimps are suspect at times. Given a chance they will predate on smaller fishes. The Indostomus do not pose a danger to any other inhabitant of the tank, but given a chance they will try to pull off a bite or two on any shrimplets. They are pretty much benthic critters, but at times will move at all levels of the water column.

I see you have a dwarf croaking gourami (the sparkly fella) in one of the pics with the Yamato and the Indostomus spp. That gourami MAY become a threat to the little Indostomus. Those little gouramis can be tiny terrors, if there is only one or two in the tank. They are very nasty little buggers..

[illumnae]

i agree about the sparkling gouramis. just last night i saw one of mine trying to eat a nerite snail that's twice its size...the snail eventually had to bury itself under the soil to get away from this guy...so you may want to be careful that your new fish isn't harassed

[EvolutionZ]

thanks guys for your advice..
this fishes are really shy.. i see them less than 2 times a day. most of the time they are hiding.. so far i haven't see any of my 4 sparkling gouramis attacking them yet..

[stormhawk]

The sparkling gouramis might be too busy chasing each other. If the numbers are too few, they will begin a pecking order amongst themselves. In doing so, the weakest of the gouramis will usually be the one that ends up dead from all the squabbling. I hope your gourami and the Yamato leave the little Indostomus alone. Their only form of defense are those sharp spiky fins and their armor, but looking at their caudal peduncle, a single nip by one of the gouramis will immobilise the little Indostomus.

If you don't have sufficient hiding spaces, I'd suggest using some small tubes that only fit the Indostomus. That way they can hide in peace, without harassment from the shrimp or the gouramis.

[EvolutionZ]

thanks stormhawk.. i do have lots of hiding spaces.. among the blxya is more than enough for them =)