Rio Xingu biotope inquiry

[exasperatus2002]

I've been kicking around the idea, if my wife lets me set up a 2nd tank, I'd want to do a Rio Xingu biotope. Not much on net that I can find other then zebra tanks. Zebra's are not going to happen with my my budget.

If you were to set up a Xingu tank, what would you stock it with? so far I can find info on ;
Centromochlus schultzi
Corydoras xinguensis
Theres several pleco species I like but probably will be priced out of contention or just are not available.

What open water fish would you recommend besides Moenkhausia chlorophthalma & M. plumbea?

[PlecoCrazy]

What size tank are you planning on setting up?

[exasperatus2002]

What size tank are you planning on setting up?

It would be either a 55 or 75 gallon tank.

The pleco's I like are-
L-016, L-333, L-250, L-236, L-173,
L-172 & Hypancistrus sp. 'Lower Rio Xingu'.

[PlecoCrazy]

Here is a good article on PFK. Lots of different things on there.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/c ... php?sid=70

I think a 75 Gallon would be the best giving you 18" depth. The plecos don't seem to spook near as much in the deeper tanks and allows more options with decorating. Discus would be a good option with the fish you're interested. I'm not sure how easy it is to get some from the Rio Xingu though. There are some nice pike cichlids but I think the are too aggressive for the little plecs you're looking at. Geophagus would be a good group to look into. However, if you're planning on breeding the plecs I can tell you from experience the geophagus will eat any baby pleco it can get but won't bother the adults.

I've not seen L016 available often but

L030

would be a good alternative and more readily available.

L333 and Lower Xingu are probably the only other two plecos on your list that would be reasonably priced and available.

All other fish on your L list would probably yield as high of a price tag as Zebras or more and are very hard if not impossible to source at the moment.

[racoll]

If you were to set up a Xingu tank, what would you stock it with? so far I can find info on ;
Centromochlus schultzi
Corydoras xinguensis
Theres several pleco species I like

In the wild, you won't find the L number plecos in the same habitat as the

Centromochlus

and

Corydoras

.

The plecos will be in the deep water channels and the

Centromochlus

/

Corydoras

will be in the shallower, wooded side channels and streams.

As a result, they'll probably prefer cooler water than the plecos too.

[MatsP]

Geophagus would be a good group to look into. However, if you're planning on breeding the plecs I can tell you from experience the geophagus will eat any baby pleco it can get but won't bother the adults.

The choices of Geophagus (eartheaters) from Rio Xingu is rather limited, and I'd say they grow too big for a 55g tank. A 75g tank, perhaps more feasible.

Geophagus argyrostictus is a smaller species, reaching 6-7". Most other eartheaters (from Rio Xingu) grow too big for a 75g tank.

Of course, again, the eartheaters are not going to live in the same areas as Plecos.

--
Mats

[PlecoCrazy]

You guys make some good points regarding a true biotype. I was mearly trying to give him some ideas of other fish from the Xingu Basin but there are many bio-types in that area. I guess exasperatus2002 needs to tell us what part of the Xingu basin he's interested in.

I'm pretty sure I've seen pics where people have caught some larger Characins in the same area but I could be wrong. Maybe some other can chime in with some species that live along side the plecos to help out.

[sidguppy]

there's some video underwater footage on youtube; its very inspiring

you can see for example the Gold nugget in the wild and in some shots there are both characins and cichlids visible

if you would try to build a rheophile tank with species like Baryancistrus and hypancistrus in there, and you would like to add characins and cichlids that occur with them; think about Leporinus, Leporellus, Hemiodus and Brycon for the larger characin species and for cichlids you can think about several Crenicichla species and the oddball Retroculus.

I've kept Retroculus and this is a funny peaceful and fairly large fish.
it's a shoaling species, rarely imported and as such expensive; but worth the money.
hardier than you might suspect and not that difficult to keep if you make sure current and oxygen are adequate.

however: fish like the ones mentioned should not be kept in any tank smaller than 100-125G, especially Brycon, Leporinus and Crenicichla sp Xingu need even larger tanks.

for smaller set ups Hemiodopsis and Characidium or dwarf pikes like Crenicichla sp Bellycrawler are great fish for the rheophile tank.


one of the oddest things I've seen in fast water footage of the Xingu is Potamotrygon!

[exasperatus2002]

Well, I wanted to have mix of fish from the same river with the plecos being the key species. I wanted to mix the others so the tank doesnt look "empty" and have listen to my wife complain that theres nothing in the tank. She's not an aquarist. Unless its got alot of gaudy decorations & lots of fish in it then she's not happy. I keep African rift lake cichlids & Syno's now. She hates that its a tank of rock & sand. But she likes the pretty fish. I also set up a small molly tank for my daughter, that they can decorate how they want.