Re: NFC: More on the (black)banded Sunfish

["Scott Olson" <olson7 at hotmail_com>]

Just to expand a little on Mark's comments:

Chaetodon is a beautiful, graceful species.  They are very gentle and cannot 
stand the company of aggressive tankmates for long.  Any fish housed with 
them should be similarly gentle and calm.  I learned to my sorrow that they 
cannot live in the same tank with obesus for long.

They absolutely require soft, acidic water for viable maintenance.  A pH of 
about 5.0 is just about right.  If it contains humic and/or tannic acids - 
as from peat or Tetra's Blackwater Extract, so much the better.

The other enneacanthids also require at least moderately soft, acidic water. 
  They can take inappropriate conditions longer than chaetodon, but still 
thrive much better (and live much longer) in water that approximates their 
native environment - which is to say in most cases a pH of 4.5 to perhaps 
6.0.

The best course is to test the water at the collecting site and try to match 
that in your aquariums.

Good luck!

Scott


>From: Mark <mbinkley at columbus_rr.com>
>Reply-To: nfc at actwin_com
>To: nfc at actwin_com
>Subject: Re: NFC: More on the (black)banded Sunfish
>Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 17:58:07 -0400
>
>Enneacanthus chaetodon (Baird) - blackbanded sunfish
>Enneacanthus gloriosus (Holbrook) - bluespotted sunfish
>Enneacanthus obesus (Girard) - banded sunfish
>
>All three of these are native to New Jersey.  You can see photos at
>http://jonahsaquarium.com/picgallery.htm   Chaetodon is the least
>aggressive, obesus the most.  They are all relatively easy to keep, though
>I have had problems with chaetodon over the long term.  They may require
>soft and/or acidic water.  Not sure.  Live or frozen foods are readily
>accepted.  Some may be weened onto dry and freezedried foods.
>
>Mark
>Columbus Ohio USA            <))><
>mbinkley at columbus_rr.com
>
>


_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com