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Silver Hatchets

andy

Member
Joined
14 Sep 2007
Messages
261
Location
Lewes, East Sussex
In my quest for the perfect community of fish, i'd like to go for the following in my impending new tank ( 57" x 22" x 24")

Largish shoal Cardinals (50 +)
Largish shoal of Rummynoses (up to 50)
Silver Hatchets.

The theory behind the selection is.....
Rummys are fast shoaling fish which swim all over the tank,
Cardinals are slow shoaling fish which tend to congregate towards the middle or bottom of the tank
Hatchets are mid to upper water level shoalers which look superb in among some of the taller plant species.

Now ive only kept a few Hatchets many moons ago but ive read that they will just disappear over the months until they have all gone.....and then you find them all down the back of the tank one day !!!!. Although my hood wont be open, i have them so there's an open strip all along the back to allow condensation and hear ro escape and for hoses etc to enter the tank.

has anyone successfully (or unsucessfully) kept a shoal of them....and are they really that prone to flying out of the tank ?

Many thanks

Andy
 
Hi Andy

I has 6 Marbled Hatchets, and yes they did leap out of the tank! I had a Hood on the tank, but over the past year I have found 3 of them on top of the tank braces, and one of them on the floor (never did work out how !)

My last 2 are fine, but I do think they'll jump one day. My new tank is going to be completely open, and I certainly wouldnt put any in there.

Tony
 
hellohefalump said:
I think I read somewhere that the key to keeping hatchets in the tank, is to not have anything else that might startle them. Because when they're startled, they jump.

So that's a no-no with the 30" arowana then !!!!!! :D

Thanks guys
 
I've kept lots of hatchets over the years and they are great fish. However, like killifish (other favourites of mine) they will jump and get through the smallest gaps. If kept with tank-mates that startle them I have had them also jump so hard against the cover glass that they have killed themselves repeatedly crashing into them. As the ones in the shops are all wild fish too they really do better in soft water IMO/E.

I'm afraid you may need to rethink the top swimmers for your tank!
 
Re: Silver Hatchets/ upper level fish

So any suggestions what to go for. Ive thought about any of the Danios but i feel these are too similar in character to Rummynoses.

One fish that i love and they do tend to keep to themselves is harliquins. I have 8 at the moment so maybe they'll be the answer unless someone can come up with anything better.

Ta muchly !!!
 
What do you mean Danios are too similar in character to Rummy-nose Tetras? If anything, I'd say Harlequins are more similar, Harlequins tend to stick more to the middle strata of the water column, whereas Danios at the top.
 
Glowlight danios are nice and swim in quite a tight shoal all over the tank, but predominantly in the top third. Quite active though.

Apologies for recommending them again!
 
Thomas McMillan said:
What do you mean Danios are too similar in character to Rummy-nose Tetras? If anything, I'd say Harlequins are more similar, Harlequins tend to stick more to the middle strata of the water column, whereas Danios at the top.

Similar shape and fast swimming. When i said im picky....i meant it !!! :lol: and eventually the rummys will end up swimming with the danios....i find harliquins tend to keep to their own and tend to be a lot slower.

I might even eliminate that third species all together and increase the cardinals and/or rummys.

Andy
 
I would say the best thing to do is just have the two species - more Cardinals though because they tend to spread out mroe and then have fewer Rummies and they'll form a tight shoal and swim amoungst the Cardinals.
 
I would personally agree with Thomas to be honest - less is more and all that. However, I always find White Cloud Minnows always stay at the top. The colours might be too similar to the Rummy-noses though?
 
amy4342 said:
I would personally agree with Thomas to be honest - less is more and all that. However, I always find White Cloud Minnows always stay at the top. The colours might be too similar to the Rummy-noses though?

I Do like white clouds Amy but they prefer cooler temps (20 C or less).
 
Personally I'd have one huge shoal of tetras (probably the cardinals) and then have a big shoal of Nannosotmus eques Rocket Pencilfish. They spend their time pointed upwards at 45 degrees nearish the surface. They drift around the tank like strange little UFOs. Great fish!
 
Ed Seeley said:
Personally I'd have one huge shoal of tetras (probably the cardinals) and then have a big shoal of Nannosotmus eques Rocket Pencilfish. They spend their time pointed upwards at 45 degrees nearish the surface. They drift around the tank like strange little UFOs. Great fish!

Mmmmm...hadn't thought about Pencils :D
 
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