Monocirrhus polyacanthus, Eigenmannia virescens and Luciocephalus pulcher

[Lam_wn]

Hello,

Firstly, regarding the South American Leaf Fish, Monocirrhus polyacanthus... I have been searching for this fish for a long time already but cant find it. The last time I bought one was at JE217.

Took a long time getting it to feed and it would only take very small midwater fish - rejected catfish and platies - it only took the baby feeder mollies. Unfortunately, it contracted some disease from the sick feeder fish less than 1 week after it had begun feeding and died immediately...quite disappointing.

Anyway, have not seen it available in SG ever since. Hoping bros here can private message me if they spot it and price for Monocirrhus polyacanthus (not Nandus nandus!)

And I remember an article on this fish somewhere on this forum but can't find it anymore. I would like to consult owners of this fish regarding long-term feeding strategies - is it wise to invest on a separate feeder breeding tank, or splurge on feeders?

Secondly, also like to find out more information on green knife fish, Eigenmannia virescens and its availability in SG, and other hobbyists' experience with it.

Thirdly, more on Luciocephalus pulcher (the pikehead), hobbyists' experience with it, and information and availability.

Generally, the fish mentioned above are soft water fish right? I have been planning on setting up a tank dedicated to some of these wierd fish. I understand they are peaceful fish and should be mixable, but are there any suggestions for this?

I wanted to plant the tank lightly and use large quantity of driftwood and ADA soil substrate for the acidity. Would I need to consider a 'larger than normally recommended' filter because of the carnivorous diet? Would an external canister filter be sufficient?

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks all!

[Quixotic]

I am quite sure I have seen M. polyacanthus in some of the LFS before but they come in irregular shipments.

No experience with them though, but if I remember correctly, I have read that they can be trained to take non-live food. The technique is to use stir the food in front of them to make them think that it is alive. I'll post the links if I manage to retrace the articles.

A couple of old threads on AQ,
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...t=polyacanthus
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...t=polyacanthus

Have never seen E. virescens before, but then, I don't look very closely at these though.

As for L. pulcher, here is a recent discussion which may be helpful.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...hlight=pulcher

[Shaihulud]

My 2 remaining pikeheads are doing well. One is growing bigger and bulkier than the other, i would post picture if i have a camera. I have not wean them off live feed, since they are unresponsive i gave up. I feed them neon tetras or other non feeder designated fish, feeders die too quickly and mess up the tank, i generally buy $6.00 worth and dump them in a tank each week.

I bought my pikeheads at $2.00 each, the bigger ones cost $5.00 each. They are in stock in Y632? a few days ago.

[Lam_wn]

Hi,
thanks for the 2 great replies.
Just to find out more, are they heavy eaters?
Like how many neons would they consume daily? Because I think that would be a factor to consider too?
thanks

[Shaihulud]

They feed alot actually, $6.00 worth is 50 neon tetra, so they eat approximately 4 a day but neons are small relative to pikehead. You could feed them bigger and much cheaper feeders like mollies and platies which i used to feed them with.