African Sicydium

[Plaamoo]

Visited a shop in Seattle that i don’t get to often the other day and they had some interesting fish! Labeled ” African algae eating gobies, sicydium sp.” Thery were in a very mixed up tank. There were two of these about 2″….

Mixed in with some ST02 sp. While fishing them out a monster emerged from under a rock!

I presumed it was a larger( pushing 4″) version of the same fish, but now that i get a look at it I think maybe a sicyopterus sp.???? The only guy that knows anything at the shop wasn’t there so I got very little info. They are all in terrible shape! I’ll be surprised if the big one makes it but I’ll do my best.

Odyssey posted pics of this African sicydium from Cameroon over at loaches, possibly this one?
http://fishbase.org.cn/summary/speciessummary.php?id=50825
I’m hoping he’ll join in here.

[Matt]

Nice Jim! Larger one looks like Sicyopterus to me, too. Hope they make it!

[Kajsa12]

Nice Sicydiines, Jim.
Can’t help with the ID’s, unfortunately.

Overhere I can find many Sicydiines in a bad shape in the shops, probably because of wrong feeding.
I also hope they will make it.

[Plaamoo]

Thanks guys. The smaller ones seem be ok and are feeding furiously! The big guy just hides in the corner. I’ve been looking for sicyopterus for some time now so I hope he comes around. In my experience though, when they are this far gone, the odds aren’t good. Especially for older, wild caught fish.

[odyssey]

Hi!

These fishes in Japan, had been expressly from Cameroon.
http://www.nvcweb.nl/portal/index.php/afri…bijvisvoorbeeld

Sorry just re-use pictures.

[Matt]

If the Cameroon collection details are correct then only Sicydium brevifile, S. crenilabrum or Parasicydium bandama appear to be possibilities (assuming it’s a described species). Of those this website shows purported S. crenilabrum which looks quite similar to the fish you guys have in terms of patterning?

Will see if I can get hold of the description.

[Plaamoo]

Thanks for posting odyssey. I’m hoping mine fill out like yours. Thanks for the info Matt, you’re on it as usual

#341977

[Bully]

Good luck with the Sicyopterus Jim. I’ve pulled 3 back in the past, one which I really didn’t believe was going to make it, it looked in worse condition than yours. That being said, they were all young ones (or small at least). The first two had a huge amount of algae to consume though, and I think that had a lot to do with their recovery. The third one was taking flake out of the water column, and will still supplement it’s diet with pelleted food.

Do you have the new Tetra range of gel foods over there yet? I find it useful as it can be smeared over rocks and put into the water, there’s an algae version.

[Matt]

QUOTE (plaamoo @ Mar 28 2011, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info Matt, you’re on it as usual /laugh.gif” style=”vertical-align:middle” emoid=”:lol:” border=”0″ alt=”laugh.gif” />

[Plaamoo]

QUOTE (Bully @ Mar 29 2011, 12:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good luck with the Sicyopterus Jim. I’ve pulled 3 back in the past, one which I really didn’t believe was going to make it, it looked in worse condition than yours. That being said, they were all young ones (or small at least). The first two had a huge amount of algae to consume though, and I think that had a lot to do with their recovery. The third one was taking flake out of the water column, and will still supplement it’s diet with pelleted food.

Do you have the new Tetra range of gel foods over there yet? I find it useful as it can be smeared over rocks and put into the water, there’s an algae version.

Thanks Gareth, maybe a bit of hope after all. I wasn’t prepared for this find and don’t have an excess of algae for him at the moment. have robbed a few rocks from another tank for the Q-tank. The sicydium are aggressively cleaning everything up though. I’m treating the tank with flubendazole. I’ll have a look for the Tetra gel foods.

QUOTE

Except for totally missing the link that Odyssey posted then reposting it with needless explanation – I’m all over it Jim!!!

No harm there Matt, twice as good!

[Plaamoo]

These are fattening up nicley! Excellent rock scrubbers, similar to sicyopterus.

[andy rushworth]

Bloody hell Jim , those are a credit to you ,they look fantastic

#344023

[Plaamoo]

Thanks Andy!

[Matt]

Looking great Jim! Any interesting behavioural quirks or interactions between them?

[Plaamoo]

Not really Matt. There are only 2, & they like each others company. Pretty aggressive feeders for grazers. They get right up in the water column & compete for bloodworms, but they didn’t really fatten up until I put them in a tank with excess algae. No other obvious aggression. They’re showing some nice colors lately. Nice fish, I wish I had more!

[Author]

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