Differences between Payara[转载]

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[url=http://my.poco.cn/items/item_details.htx&item_id=59568117] Co-Authors: Xander13 (Alexander), Vamptrev (Trev), DB Junkie
Photos by: Xander13, Vamptrev, Tigirinus
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by Alexander

From: www.monsterfishkeepers.com
 

Payara, Hydrolycus Sp

General Captive care notes

Distribution & Habitat:

Fast flowing rivers in South America, Venezuela. Some of the largest Armatus caught are found in lakes such as Lake Guri in venezuela.

Biology:

Payara are silvery fish that come in a whole range of sizes, from 11inches up to more than 24inches. They live in warm, fast flowing waters that are highly oxygenated. They catch Ich easily and have delicate skins.

Water Conditions:

pH-It’s better to let it adapt to your water pH than try to change yours to match its needs. They do fine in pH of 7.0-8.0

Water Temperature-They do like warm water between 80-88degF is fine. Also the owner likes it too as Payara easily get Ich (and the warmer water along with salt cures ich). Just remember, these fish need lots of oxygen in their waters, and warmer water can hold less oxygen, so a strong air pump is a very worthwhile addition to the tank.

Current- Payara are river fish, and fish from rivers need high currents in their home. A strong pump should be used to provide sufficient water movement in the tank.

Food/Feeding:

Payara will readily accept live foods, although some persistence and starving (try not to let him go for more than 2 weeks without food) might be necessary to wean him off live and onto meaty prepared foods like shrimp/prawns.

Increasing growth rates:

An extract on increasing growth rates.

'I noticed a huge growth spurt on mine was actually when he was in my sump when I was re-doing my 600. Reason being is that I had my pump (Dolphin Amp 3000) re-directed to my 125 sump. You can imagine the current being pushed through. The Armatus was basically forced to swim against the current. The constant activity helped burn & digest the food faster increasing his bolism. Soon as I threw Goldfish in their it was quickly eaten. I believe an Armatus does not require heavy current, but helps in his growth since he\'s constantly burning food faster. Now, that he\'s back in the 600 he does not strike at goldfish as fast as he use to.'-R1_Ridah (2007)

Hazardous tank mates:

Plecos are not encouraged to be added as tank mates while the payara is small, if they get attacked/their slime sucked off by the Plecos; it\'s going to be fatal. It’s just not worth the risk.

 

Hydrolycus Armatus



Captive Max Size:

2ft++.

Growth Rate:

Their estimated (unestablished) yearly sizes are --1st yr: 12inches, 2nd yr: 16inches, and gain around 2-4inches per year after that. You can expect slow growth rates up to 5inches, and then it’s between 0.5inches to 2inches pre month, depending on water conditions, temp, feedings etc.

Tank mates & Temperament:

The temperament of these fish depends greatly on individual specimens, some Armatus are fine with tank mates, and some are not. The general rule of thumb however, is that Armatus are very aggressive fish. Armatus can be mixed with other large fish, as long as they are large enough not to be eaten. You’ll be amazed at how much an Armatus can stuff down its belly. I’ve personally had my 14inch Armatus down a 7inch catfish, and another member had his 20inch Armatus eat a 10inch tank mate. So as long as it’s not small enough to be swallowed, you could give it a try. However let it be noted that Armatus tend to be very territorial and fend tank mates off their territories vigilantly. They also have a dislike for silvery fish, tending to kill other Payaras. Despite this, there are many people I know (personally and on forums) that have kept Armatus communities in relatively small tanks.

Tank size:

There is no standard fixed size you should keep an Armatus in. Just bear in mind that these are extremely strong, skittish, claustrophobic fish that require a very large footprint. When maxed out (more than 24inches), I’d say a good sized tank would be at least 10ft by 4ft. However, this is not necessary for an Armatus to survive. A good friend of mine had two 14inch Armatus and two 12inch African tigerfishes in a 4ft by 1.5ft tank, with no problems at all, he just upgraded the tank recently. Having said this, it is not advised to keep armatus’s in small tanks. “Housed in small tank you will never get the same activity and personality than having him in a bigger tank where he feels comfortable. Which is very noticeable. Provide enough footprint for this specie and you will enjoy.”-R1_Ridah(2007). A good sized tank for your average 12inch-18inch Armatus can be anywhere from 4x2x2 to 6x3x2. It’s more or less up to you to gauge if he has enough space.

Identification:

1-They normally swim at a levelled position

2-Have much larger tails, broader bodies, a downturned head and generally larger fangs

3-Red/orange adipose fin

4-Black slash behind gill plate

5-White edged caudal fin

6-Clear caudal fin base turning to black (but red variants have been coming out as of late.)

7-Quoting JD7.62,

'The key to IDing an Armatus vs. tat is the adipose fin. That is it. The adipose of the Armatus is orange. A tats adipose fin can also be orange BUT it will MATCH the colour the tats caudal fin. In other words, if the adipose fin contrasts highly with the colour of the caudal fin, it is an Armatus.'

 

Hydrolycus Tatauia/Red Tail Payara



Captive Max Size:

The largest we’ve seen in the home aquarium is around 12inches. (Unestablished)

Growth Rate:

Their estimated (unestablished) yearly sizes are --1st yr: 6inches, 2nd yr: around 10inches. After that they grow even more slowly. To have an 18inch specimen is extremely impressive, and to date I doubt we’ve seen anything larger than 12inches. You can expect their best growth rates (between 4-8inches) to be at 0.5inches per month

Tank mates & Temperament:

The temperament of these fish depends greatly on individual specimens, some Tatauia are intolerable of other silvery, non-Tatuia fish. But most are fine. Much more outgoing than Scombs, Tatauia are prefer to school rather than be kept solo. However they seem to be very shy feeders, eating mostly when the lights are out, so it’s suggested you get a night light, and watch when the REAL action comes on!

Tank size:

Requiring much less than an Armatus, a minimum tank size of 4ftx1.5ft could probably last you a long time. However an upgrade to at least a 4x2x2 is advised for a 10inch specimen.

Identification:

1-Usually swims at a low angle

2-Up turned head

3-Medium sized red(usually. sometimes there are black/yellow variants) tail

4-Red/orange adipose fin that matches the colour of its tail

5-Big black eyes

 

Hydrolycus Scrombrodies/Scombs



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Captive Max Size:
There are few large Scombs in the hobby so the absolute maximum size is unknown. Current maximum size known is 12” in captivity (Unestablished). Beyond 12” is unheard of as this fish is identified with death by unknown reasons as well as a being susceptible to bacterial infections.

Growth Rate:
Growth rates are slow, typically around ¼” per month

Tank Mates/ Temperament:
Scombs are usually comfortable with a wide variety of tank mates as long as there isn’t a significant size difference among the fish. Scombs are fairly calm and therefore, aggressive fish can pick on them and over power them. Most tank mates will grow much faster than Scombs. They can be skittish and vulnerable with over-active tank mates

Tank Size:
Tank size can vary from 20 gallons and up, depending on the size and growth rate of the fish.

Identification:
1-Brownish tail that becomes transparent toward the back tip
2-Fairly small dark spot located behind the gill plate
3-Fins are moderate in size as compared to their body size
4-Have a very large Pectorial Fin
5-Swim at a large angle

Water Conditions:
Scombs like very clean water as they are prone to bacterial infections; they do best in a constant pH, with temperatures in the low 80degressF

Medication:
The safest medication is salt as they can be very sensitive to other medications.


Raphiodon Vulpinus aka Raphs

Captive Max Size:
The largest reported size in captivity is 18” however there are few large Raphs in captivity so the maximum size is unestablished.

Growth Rates:
Growth rates are slow, typically ¼” to ½” per month

Tank Mates/ Temperament:
Raphs are comfortable with a wide variety of calm tank mates that are not over active. They get nervous easily.

Tank Size:
The fish tends to become claustrophobic as they age and therefore the tank needs to grow as the fish grows. They are known to bang their noses into the glass of the tank when getting uncomfortable

Water Conditions:
Raphiodon Vulpinuslike very clean water as they are prone to bacterial infections; they do best in a constant pH, with temperatures in the low 80degressF

Medication:
The safest medication is salt as they can be very sensitive to other medications.

Identification:
1-Raphs have a very large Pectorial Fins
2-They have long skinny bodies
3-Solid silver body colour
4-Transparent tail
5-Swims at a slight to no angle


Cynodon Gibbus aka Cynos
There is very little information on this fish

Max Captive Life Size:
Maximum Captive size is unknown due to lack of captive Cynos in the hobby

Growth Rates:
Growth rates are slow, typically ¼” per month

Tank Mates/ Temperament:
Cynos require very calm tank mates as they are intimidated very easily. When uncomfortable, they will not eat.

Tank Size:
The fish tends to become claustrophobic as they age and therefore the tank needs to grow as the fish grows. They are known to bang their noses into the glass of the tank when getting uncomfortable

Water Conditions:
Raphiodon Vulpinuslike very clean water as they are prone to bacterial infections; they do best in a constant pH, with temperatures in the low 80degressF

Medication:
The safest medication is salt as they can be very sensitive to other medications.

Identification:
1-Round black spot located behind the gill plate
2-Solid silver colour to the body
3-Small transparent tail

 

Breaking Payara off live food, by DB Junkie

I would recommend attempting to train your payara off live food at an early age. I have had better luck with them learning this at a young age. It seems the older they get the more stubborn they get. The last batch I have obtained was a pack of 5 Armatus at roughly the size of a quarter. They were actually to small to even eat rosies (or tuffies) so they were fed guppies up until about 2 inches. At that point they were switched to rosies. Kept on rosies for about another 1-1.5 inches. I believe I made a mistake in how long I fed rosies. I believe you may have better luck getting them off live if you are to start feeding goldfish as soon as they are big enough to eat them. This will greatly increase your chances in getting them to go after krill as they are both orange in color, and the shape of freeze dried krill has more in common with goldfish then a rosie does.

I believe with Artmatus as soon as they have been on goldfish for a few weeks they are ready to be trained completely off live. This coincidently happened to be the same time the white edging began showing up in my little guys..... If I was to have another attempt at this I would actually start them as soon as the adipose fin was bright enough to be 100% armatus or about 4 inches. I believe they are hardy enough at this size. Although I didn\'t start mine till about 5-6 inches just to insure they were hardy enough. I began thier training with the same methods I used to break my Rhaphiodons, Scombs, and Tats. Now I had already transfered them from thier 75 gallon growout tank to a 180 gallon tank. They had been in the 180 and on goldfish for about 3 weeks. I believe I would have seen better results if I began trying to feed them the krill while they were still in the growout 75.

First method was to simply drop freeze dried krill into the output of the hang on back filter. I run AC 110s on my tanks so this was enough water movement to make the krill dance around and mimic a live feeder goldfish. This was done every morning and at night. By about the 3rd day of this they began rushing or charging the krill. But NO attempts to eat it were being made. By this time they were allready looking a little skinny but likely due to the rapid goldfish eating they were used to. I decided to try another means of feeding. I took a normal fishing hook and clipped the barb off the end and straightened the hook. I then took a piece of thawed smelt and cut just the tail end off (about an inch) and put it on the hook. It looked suprisingly like a rosie. So this may be a way to skip the goldfish all together. This would seem to me to be ideal as feeding a payara krill will get VERY expensive very fast. The smelt was dangled in front of a powerhead to make it 'dance' around and mimic a live fish. they pretty much ignored this the first few days but soon the same charging began. But like the krill no attepts were being made to actually eat it. The same charging went on for around a week.

So here I am about a week and a half in from the last time these lil buggers ate. they all looked really skinny now and I decided to take another course of action. A 'teacher' fish. I couldn\'t understand how my other payara would just take the krill and these guys wouldn\'t. I believe this reason was the absence of another fish in the tank swimming at the same level in the water column and eating the krill in front of the little Armatus. Showing them it was food. So I brought up my 12inch Rhaphiodon Vulpinus from the pond. This very fish was always in the tanks with my other payara when they began eating krill. I belive it attributed to the breaking of not only other Rhaphs but Scombs, Tats, and my first Armatus. Now that the Armatus were roughly 5 inches I felt it was safe enough to add the big Rhaph. It did not eat the first day due to the stress from moving. The second day he began eating krill. I believe Rhaph make exceptional teacher fish cause of the 'backflip' they do when they eat. Very difficult for this to go unnoticed by the other fish in the tank. During this time the Armatus began biting the krill but quickly spitting it back out. I then fed the Rhaph a huge piece of smelt. It took him about 5 minutes to get it down. During this time it swam the entire tank while trying to swallow it. The next attempt with the fishing hook and a small piece of cut smelt for the Armatus was a success.

They are just now (2 weeks later) starting to catch the pieces of smelt on the way down (without the fishing hook/line) and 1 of the Armatus is still refusing to eat. I\'m sure after watching his other 4 tankmates devoure smelt he will quickly catch on. So in my case I believe I confirmed that a 'teacher' fishes\' presence is a huge asset in breaking payara off live food. The 'teacher' fish was only in the tank for a few days and the Armatus began eating. I have also used Dats and even made an attempt to use a small silver dat in breaking these fish. Dats work well I believe for the same reason the Rhaphs do, when they charge the surface from the bottom it is very fast and again hard for other fish to ignore. But I ended up moving this particular dat in fear of it snatching the eye of one of the Armatus. It has a history of pecking feeder fishes eyes out and after it took the spotted gars I wasn\'t going to risk it happening to an Armatus. I have also heard silver arros work as well. I believe West1 used one as a teacher to break his Tats. I hope my experiences with getting these fish OFF live food can be an asset to people who are trying to achieve this same difficult task. As many of you keeping payara know that ich and possibly other diseases can be easily transfered from feeder fish to your prized specimens. Soon your payara will recognize you as a food source and will happily greet you when you enter the room in anticipation for a piece of food. Good luck and happy payara keeping!!!

 

Payara Body shape guide

A little something i did, you can actually see the difference in body shapes once you remove the fins, colours etc.

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