# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  Tucanoichthys tucano

## illumnae

I recently managed to acquire a school of these fellas from a Brazil shipment. Very understated tetra that is absolutely beautiful after it settles in. My wife loves their "rosy cheeks" haha  :Very Happy: 

I'm keeping them as dithers in my Rio Negro tributary stream biotope setup.

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## bennyc

Very nice photos taken! They are rare and expensive  :Smile:

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## Aventador

What a beauty! :thumbup:

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## Don90

Any idea how to sex them? I bought 10 about 6 months ago and they all had varying degrees of red on their fins once they reach their max size. My diplotaena has been spawning non stop in the tank but no luck for these tetras.

Yours looks very young.

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## Oliverpool

> Any idea how to sex them? I bought 10 about 6 months ago and they all had varying degrees of red on their fins once they reach their max size. My diplotaena has been spawning non stop in the tank but no luck for these tetras.
> 
> Yours looks very young.


I have been wondering as well. I got 6 from the first batch at GC and 10 from the 2nd batch. They have grown quite abit now. But all of them look quite similar in body shape and colour. Cant be I got all males....unless the breeder did it on purpose so that we could not breed them :-(

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## gcce

Do they accept pellets & flakes readily? thanks

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## illumnae

No idea how to sex them sorry. Mine take pellets readily.

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## Oliverpool

They take pellet readily. Not fussy on food fed. However they love worms or brine shrimp eggs and when fed them, they will eat till they have a super big bloated tummy.

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## stormhawk

As with all tetras, the ones more rounded are female. For further info see this entry:

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...chthys-tucano/

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## nickky23

i have 5 of them as well, wanted to get more from GC but they not selling theirs anymore. really exotic fishes. love their rosy cheeks as well  :Smile:

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## marle

Any sightings of this fish in lfs at the moment? Looking to acquire some  :Smile:

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## illumnae

Hong Kong should have - I've regularly seen them in my past 3 trips. I'm going again next week  :Very Happy:

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## nickky23

> Hong Kong should have - I've regularly seen them in my past 3 trips. I'm going again next week


i went Hong Kong in October, but failed to see this fish? Can share which shop? Maybe I missed one of them given the density of the shops in that street haha.
thanks in advance

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## illumnae

They are at a shop called Green Concept in their shrimp tanks

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

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## nickky23

oh, that shop sounds familiar.. will go in and search in detail next year when I go Hong Kong  :Very Happy: 
thanks!

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## qool

Yes always see them in the CRS tank. But be warned that shop opens for business quite late around 1 pm. So if you are rushing for flight you may want to buy 1 day before. Overall very stable I have brought them and bring them back from there. The shops sells the fish at $3 sgd cheaper then Singapore price  :Grin:

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## illumnae

Just got back from HK. Green concept has them, as does a 2nd floor shop called CO2 aquarium. CO2 sells them cheap! 10 for hkd 1400

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## nickky23

> Just got back from HK. Green concept has them, as does a 2nd floor shop called CO2 aquarium. CO2 sells them cheap! 10 for hkd 1400


CO2 aquarium?! I got add him in my FB haha. ok I will PM him now and ask  :Very Happy: 
thanks for the info!

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## qool

Illumnae which staircase did you take to reach this shop too many staircases very confusing  :Huh?:

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## nickky23

oh, I did not visit the shop. i added Co2 aquarium Facebook thru a mutual friend.
but for sure I will go visit him next year when I go Hong Kong.

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## qool

Anyone knows if the co2 aqarium offer is still on?

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## nickky23

tucano is again available at GC. I bought 4 yesterday.

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## marle

> tucano is again available at GC. I bought 4 yesterday.


better to wait a few days for the tucano to be stable.

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## nickky23

yes, most of them are still swimming 'sideways', or lying on the gravel. thus i spent around 30 minutes standing on that wooden stool and trying to pick the best I could see haha.

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## marle

Tucanos are more stable. Time to hoot

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## marle

the alpha male for this fish can be quite territorial

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## illumnae

Lost my initial 25 to ich, now just topped up 40 more. I love this tetra, very sociable and begs for food like cichlids!

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## qool

Just came back from C02 aqarium they are indeed selling at the special price for 10 of these cute fishes. Getting 10 of them too good to miss the deal.

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## nickky23

did you ask the shop master to pack it for flight? or you bring your own packaging? I will be going down this May. can't wait

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## qool

I haven't won't be packing till 29th. This batch came in Nov and are stable the owner has been feed them Ada gold Ap1. Be sure to get panda loach too they are damn cheap here compare to Singapore.

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## qool

Just packed them today now their tank left 4 only. Understand they imported from taiwan side wonder if gc one were from there too. Also packed 8 young panda loaches for hkd 100 only.

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## illumnae

Haha glad someone made good use of my CO2 Aquarium recommendation  :Wink:

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## qool

Illumnae thanks for the recommendation! Co2 aqarium is a nice place quite a number ofbuceps to choose from. The 2 owners are much more friendly then some other hk shops. Surprisingly also accepted some bargaining.....  :Razz:

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## qool

Illumnae thanks for the recommendation! Co2 aquarium is a nice place quite a number of buceps to choose from. The 2 owners are much more friendly then some other hk fish shops i visited. Surprisingly they also accepted some bargaining.....  :Razz:

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## marle

a very greedy species. are cardinals or neon tetra as greedy?

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## qool

They are so greedy that when I just place my pincer in the water they will all gather there waiting.

But since they are so greedy makes you wonder if they are tank bred rather then captive.

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## marle

> They are so greedy that when I just place my pincer in the water they will all gather there waiting.
> 
> But since they are so greedy makes you wonder if they are tank bred rather then captive.


ahaha.. same behaviour man. GC's source also from taiwan. i think maybe same batch

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## qool

JZX seems to be bringing them in after CNY. Worth a look to see how much they are selling. Tempting to change my other tanks resident from rasbaro to them.  :Roll Eyes:

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## marle

> JZX seems to be bringing them in after CNY. Worth a look to see how much they are selling. Tempting to change my other tanks resident from rasbaro to them.


good move by JZX. good for hobbyists.

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## qool

Any updates on the tucano purchases any losses? anyone had success with their breeding yet?

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## marle

no losses so far. easy species to keep. greedy some more. BUT, no signs of breeding. Keeping in a mossy tank with gex soil and at room temperature.

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## marle

anyone managed to breed them?

recently saw a bunch of these for sale at good pricing. tempted.

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## nickky23

what's the good price that you saw? I also did not manage to breed them, and seems like have only one year life span..

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## marle

> what's the good price that you saw? I also did not manage to breed them, and seems like have only one year life span..


around 2 red notes

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## nickky23

hey, thats a pretty good price. Its not $29 right? The last I saw at AQ Chamber few months ago is selling at $30 (if I remember correctly).

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## whitedash

keen to get them too. how many should I keep in a 1ft cube?

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## Urban Aquaria

> keen to get them too. how many should I keep in a 1ft cube?


Since they are small fishes, perhaps a group of 10-15 should be okay... though with their premium pricing, i guess the question is more about how many can you "afford" to keep in a 1ft cube.  :Grin:

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## marle

> hey, thats a pretty good price. Its not $29 right? The last I saw at AQ Chamber few months ago is selling at $30 (if I remember correctly).


those i saw were exactly 2 red notes each, one my favourite tetra~~

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## whitedash

Cool, I'll get 10 pcs maybe. Tank is ready for them!


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## ahkiatz

Very pretty fishes. Finnage will get red when they are stable.



this is when i got them during Aquarama period. Now their cheek and finnage are more reddish.

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## cool

hi guys, just happened to browse AC facebook and there is new stock for tucano tetra and a few more other rare tetras.
hope it help those who are looking for this nice fish.

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## Orcishwarrior

Aquatic Avenue Has them too :Grin: super well fed

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## cool

Did u get some of them?

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## sixhunter

> Since they are small fishes, perhaps a group of 10-15 should be okay... though with their premium pricing, i guess the question is more about how many can you "afford" to keep in a 1ft cube.


haha yea, i was shocked at the price too when i inquired  :Shocked:

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## marle

anyone knows who is selling this now?

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## Orcishwarrior

Aquatic Avenue has them

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## marco

How much do they cost?

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## kalkwasser

These are seasonal, hard to come by. The last time I saw them was about 1 year ago.

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