Acestridium dichromum aka "Green Farlowella"

[celticfish]

http://www.rva.jp/pleco/green_farlowella.html

From what I gathered they live in leaf litter biotope.
Just like Apistos!
Rio Negro water parameter in leaf litter.
I suspect that they are quite temperature tolerant too.

According to akoh he's only seen them twice in his last 12 years "pleco-ing"!
They don't seem to do much other than hanging on the tank glass, verticle.
Very unlike the pictures in RVA, horizontal.

[Ah_ZhaN]

Here's some info with regards to Acestridium dichromum from PlanetCatfish
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=765

However, from NKS's shipment, they labelled them as Acestridium discus!
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=713
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...y.php?id=50557

[yorky]

Bought 3 on Friday.
1 died yesterday... hope the other 2 lives on.

Any progress from bros here?

[celticfish]

I'm at 50% from 6 pcs.
I came home a saw one on the gravel.
Thought, yipee they are acclimatizing.
Went to the tank for a closer look and...
One was doing the "back stroke" and the other "free style" on the gravel...
And they were the larger ones too! Dang it!

[DanGoh59]

Woah! Seems like quite a sensitive fish similar to the zebra and tiger otos. But it's unique green colouring mades me eager to still try for it if they are available. Similar to my quest for every availability if zebra and tiger otos even though they keep dying on me. Poison lah!

[celticfish]

After 50% loss from 6 pcs I have nothing to lose.
Idea from lyh, THANKS BUDDY!
I used a very small breeding trap so they cannot stick to the sides comfortably in a verticle orientation.
This forces them to a horizontal position to face the food at the bottom.
Then I crushed bits of spirulina tabs in and took this picture.
BUT, because their nose is long food they cannot get eat food near the edge.
So do watch for food stuck to the edges.
Checked this morning and the belly looks a little better.


Sorry the picture's DOF is not good but it was done in a hurry.

[yorky]

Calamity!
One of the 2 survivors got caught in the net badly while I was fishing them out to be housed in a small tank for feeding.
Took a while to be released as its prickly nose was trapped.
Looks like it won't survive the night..

[Quixotic]

Woah! Seems like quite a sensitive fish similar to the zebra and tiger otos.

Zebra otos being more sensitive are, in my humble opinion, no more than a myth. If you were to read some older posts, some aquarists are even having trouble keeping the normal otos alive for long. So which is actually more sensitive, normal or zebra otos?

Irwin/yorky, perhaps time to start a thread on these in the Freshwater Fauna section?

[lyh]

Calamity!
One of the 2 survivors got caught in the net badly while I was fishing them out to be housed in a small tank for feeding.
Took a while to be released as its prickly nose was trapped.
Looks like it won't survive the night..

Bro try to use a plastic container to catch them if you really need to transfer them. Last week when I went down to get these fellows, my friend told me that the hobbyist before me used a net to catch these fishes and it too got stuck. After it managed to disentangle from the net, it looked very restless.

Zebra otos being more sensitive are, in my humble opinion, no more than a myth. If you were to read some older posts, some aquarists are even having trouble keeping the normal otos alive for long. So which is actually more sensitive, normal or zebra otos?

Irwin/yorky, perhaps time to start a thread on these in the Freshwater Fauna section?

I think once a hobbyist got hold of the trick on how to stabilise the particular fish, this particular fish will no longer be that difficult to upkeep.

[yorky]

celticfish, I am down to one.
Would you like to have it?

[celticfish]

@ Quixotic,
I suppose the Oto's should get some common information on them going...


@ lyh,
I do agree with you on this point.
Though the "journey" (read cost) to get there is...


@ yorky,
Yes, please...
btw though most say it's a "no no", I usually use my hand to catch most of the small catfish I have.
I find that you subject them to less stress (time wise).
Also, as your finger tips are more sensitive, less chance of crushing them with the net.

[lyh]

Hi bro celticfish, how are your green farlowellas? Do they have full stomachs or is it partially sunken? I've only got one that is not sunken, the others have their tummy partially sunken.

[celticfish]

lyh,

Sadly, same same... the belly is not full looking yet.
But it looks better, not as sunken, than before I placed them in the trap.
As mentioned earlier, I crush spirulina and algae tab bit for them.
Leftovers removed daily but I wonder if they are omivorous or herbivours...
That's the problem with exotic fish like this one - zero information.
I'll continue monitoring and update this thread.
I'd only leave them in the main tank if they don't stay on the glass.
Otherwise I'm sure they will end up like the other three... doing the backstroke or freestyle on the gravel floor!

[Quixotic]

What pH are you keeping them at? I found information mentioning that pH should be low, around 4.5 to 5.5 (haven't validate the authencity yet).

Also, if the habitat is leaf litter biotope, would it help if you throw in a few ketapang leaves and see if they do better with these?

I'll post more if I find more information along the way.

[lyh]

What pH are you keeping them at? I found information mentioning that pH should be low, around 4.5 to 5.5 (haven't validate the authencity yet).

Also, if the habitat is leaf litter biotope, would it help if you throw in a few ketapang leaves and see if they do better with these?

I'll post more if I find more information along the way.

Bro would you mind posting the link of where you found the information? Thank you.

[celticfish]

@quixotic,
Any help with these fellas is greatly appreciated!

@ lyh,
I found some information to indicate that they live in a leaf litter environment like apitos.
The "problem" is that they also speculate that some species do that to aviod predators in the day.
And when night comes, they migrate deeper to sand bottom environment.
How to replicate that in an aquarium?!?
I don't think these guys are that complicated.
At this point getting them to eat is the first priority.

[lyh]

Hi bro, from what I observed, I guess your findings are somewhat correct. I've noticed that these fellows tend to stay by the side of the tank when they are scared, like during the day when they can see movements in the house, at night when lights are on and also when they see me observing them. I believe that they do look for food from the ground at night, otherwise their tummy would be very sunken by now since it is already slightly more than a week after I have gotten them. However, if they are suppose to be staying in a leaf litter environment, shouldn't we reduce the waterflow in the tank?

[SCOPE]

i brought 6pcs....within a week...all died on sunken stomah..
I was wrong as to put them into algae growing tank...maybe like what celticfish says...they find food in sand....

[celticfish]

lyh,
That is exactely the problem!
The two environments are so contrary it would be difficult to replicate both.
As you surmised, the tummies look okay then they should be eating.
I don't think mine were as they look sunken.
And after 50% loss better try something more drastic.
btw I have lost the link, PM me your email and I can forward the file to you.

@ Quixotic,
I have already placed cut ketapang leaves in the tank.
So far they just leave them alone.
At least the lone Oto appreciates it... its munching away at it!

[Quixotic]

Okay, hmm... if that is the case, then I am not convinced by the leaf litter being a means of avoiding predators... yet. Where is the information from?

The etymology of the scientific name is interesting. Acestridium is derived from latinised Greek 'agkistron' meaning hook, and dichromum is made up of two Greek words, 'di' meaning two and 'chromum' meaning colour. So the name is probably referring to the ability of the fish to camouflage by changing colour to green/brown (vice versa).

This paper on L200 also briefly mentioned A. dichromum, comparing the green colour with L200.

A. dichromum is capable of changing its base color to better match its surroundings with the green color present when the fish rest on plants, presumably for camouflage (Retzer et al. 1999).

For those interested, the scientific paper can be found here.
Werneke, David C.; Sabaj, Mark H.; Lujan, Nathan K.; Armbruster, Jonathan W. (2005). "Baryancistrus demantoides and Hemiancistrus subviridis, two new uniquely colored species of catfishes from Venezuela (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)" (PDF). Neotropical Ichthyology 3 (4): 533-542. Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia.

The changing of colour is already a camouflage for avoiding predators. So I need some convincing that the leaf litter is for the purpose, other than that leaf litter is just part of the biotope, no more no less.