# buck tooth tetra exadon



## pirannahzzz

can u see there teeth sticking out . are they like pirannahs .do they eat fish . just some info on them thanks


----------



## spikythefish

yes they eat small fish, they max out at aroun 4 inches though


----------



## pirannahzzz

WILL THE EAT A GOLD FISH . AND DO THEY TEAR THEM UP


----------



## WolfFish

Can you post a link or pic please so i know what you're talking about.


----------



## zygapophysis

where can i get some ?


----------



## Kain

pirannahzzz said:


> can u see there teeth sticking out . are they like pirannahs .do they eat fish . just some info on them thanks


 No they are not like piranhas and no they dont tear up feeders like piranhas do. Exos are feed mainly on scales of other fish. They can swallow goldfish if its small enough but they will not take chunks off like piranhas. Here's a link to some info OPEFE


----------



## hyphen

Kain said:


> pirannahzzz said:
> 
> 
> 
> can u see there teeth sticking out . are they like pirannahs .do they eat fish . just some info on them thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No they are not like piranhas and no they dont tear up feeders like piranhas do. Exos are feed mainly on scales of other fish. They can swallow goldfish if its small enough but they will not take chunks off like piranhas. Here's a link to some info OPEFE
Click to expand...

 mine ate pinkies, so yes they can take small chunks out. mine fed very similarly to my piranhas, except they were far more aggressive and more active. they're constantly swimming and shoal very well. they swallowed fish whole, ate scales, and basically everything else you could think of. shrimp, beefheart, pinkies, feeders, bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc.


----------



## pirannahzzz

can u just keep one in a 20 gal tank will he stoll eat feeders


----------



## Lahot

1 exo is boring, get 4-6 for a 20 gallon


----------



## hyphen

i had 10 in my 30 tall, so you could get away with 10 in a 20 i'm sure.


----------



## o snap its eric

hyphen said:


> Kain said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> pirannahzzz said:
> 
> 
> 
> can u see there teeth sticking out . are they like pirannahs .do they eat fish . just some info on them thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No they are not like piranhas and no they dont tear up feeders like piranhas do. Exos are feed mainly on scales of other fish. They can swallow goldfish if its small enough but they will not take chunks off like piranhas. Here's a link to some info OPEFE
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> mine ate pinkies, so yes they can take small chunks out. mine fed very similarly to my piranhas, except they were far more aggressive and more active. they're constantly swimming and shoal very well. they swallowed fish whole, ate scales, and basically everything else you could think of. shrimp, beefheart, pinkies, feeders, bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc.
Click to expand...

 i do not know about exos ripping pinkies apart. I've had 80 exos before in a tank and they already had a hard time tearing up the chewy part of the shrimp. Now how can you conclude that they can rip up pinkies? All my exos were in the 3.5-4" range and i do not dare to try and feed them a pinky let alone they couldnt kill a 4" managuense cichlid. They just descaled the poor guy.

Exos are equipped with small sharp teeth that are meant for nibbles and scraths. Exo's main diet consist of fish scale not chunks of meat. If you ever put your finger against one of the exo's mouth you will see that the teeth will cling on your to skin but will not puncture it.

True they are more active than Ps and a lot more better of a frenzy feed style than Ps but at times they are just like Ps. Sometime they all have their own spot in the tank and if anyone crosses then they fight.

But the fact of the matter is that your inflating the exos diets all out of porportion. True they frenzy feed, true they are more active than Ps, true they are as skittish as Ps, false that they rip pinkies apart, false they more "aggressive" or whatever that means than piranhas, false they will swallow fish whole unless its so small they can eat it with one bite. Exos will try to fit as much as the can in their mouth at the poiint where the meat is spilling out but in no way they are swallowing their food whole.


----------



## o snap its eric

please check out my album for pics of my exo shoal


----------



## Kain

I had a shoal of over 40 + at 1 point. They can shred small pieces off with repeated bites but as for ripping out chunks like piranhas I highly doubt exos can do that. If you have a vid of a shoal of exos tearing up a pinky, Id like to see it as mine couldnt even tear apart a shrimp unless I chopped it up. The flesh of a pinky is way too tough unless your exos are 6"+ and even then they'd have a hard time doing so. Exos may get into feeding frenzies which can be more impressive than piranhas at times because of their speed but they do not feed like piranhas. Also, were your beef hearts chopped up before you feed it or did you throw in a large chunk? I highly doubt they can even rip apart a piece of beef heart either unless its very thin or again, unless your exos are huge.


----------



## o snap its eric

agreed with kain, beefheart chunks are definitly hard to bite off espically with teeth so small in the exos.

I've that there are a few exos in the 7" mark in the oregon aquarium. However the growth on exos are slow.


----------



## pirannahzzz

do u have any teeth pics or exadons or any pics your pic link does not work


----------



## pirannahzzz

can they tear sh*t up when they get like 6 inches :rock: and whats the groth rate of them thanks


----------



## Kain

to be honest, Ive never seen an exo larger than 4 inch anywhere. They supposedly reach about 6" in the wild. That would definately be a sight to see. When I purchased my exos in the past, they range in size from 2-2.5" and I never really paid much attention to their growth rate because there were so many. However, I would say that by the time I got rid of them 4-5 months down the line, they were about 3-3.5" My cousin currently has 3 exos that I got him at 3" a little over a year ago. The last time I spoke with him he says they were about 4-5" but I havent had the time to drop by his place and check out the fish myself. I personally think that exos are really interesting fish because of their color and activeness. But dont purchase them expecting them to behave like piranhas. You might be disappointed.


----------



## pirannahzzz

well i think the could pinkies if my convict can tear a lizzard to bones . and convicts dont have teeth i threw a big lizzrd in my tank for my oscar and it fell to the bottom in the morn the lizzard was bones just from a little convict and lizzards have very tough skin


----------



## Kain

Again exos do not bite off chunks like piranhas. They are scale eaters so they repeatedly attack a fish to remove the scales and eventually when the fish is damaged enough, it will get cuts on its body from the bites. Chances are, the fish will usually die long before it gets devoured unless it is small enough for the exo to swallow it whole.


----------



## Kain

pirannahzzz said:


> well i think the could pinkies if my convict can tear a lizzard to bones . and convicts dont have teeth i threw a big lizzrd in my tank for my oscar and it fell to the bottom in the morn the lizzard was bones just from a little convict and lizzards have very tough skin :nod:


 Wait, so you threw a lizard in for your oscar and your convict got to it? Im not sure I get what you're saying here. Are you sure the oscar didnt get to it when you were asleep? How big is the oscar and how big is the convict? Cichlids are actually more powerful than exos. And convicts do have teeth which can do more damage than exos can. Its not uncommon to see convicts tear apart feeders. Their lips can protrude when they bite and that enables them to grab food and scrape it off. How big is the lizard and what kind is it?


----------



## WolfFish

> well i think the could pinkies if my convict can tear a lizzard to bones . and convicts dont have teeth i threw a big lizzrd in my tank for my oscar and it fell to the bottom in the morn the lizzard was bones just from a little convict and lizzards have very tough skin


How could you feed a lizard to your oscar? They are awesome.

Are there any fish that do rip up meat in shoals other than p's? But are smaller.


----------



## Kain

There are fish that are voracious eaters and are powerful enough to tear up feeders and possibly meat but they tend to get pretty big too. Off the top of my head, there are brycons which can possibly do so. They are awesome fishes too. I currently have a redtail brycon in my tank and it is extremely active and a very voracious eater. I havent attempted to keep a shoal of them yet but I heard they can be shoaled. Also, in regards to the exodons, I feel that they are awesome fish but sadly they are often purchased due to the popular misconception that they are like miniature piranhas. I was tricked into buying a shoal of 40 in the past because I couldnt obtain piranhas and I dont want to see others make the same mistake because exos can be a bit pricey. This is not to say that you wont enjoy raising a shoal of exos because they are a very interesting fish and very aggressive for their size. I also went to Frank to get his view on things and this is what he has to say...



> Exodon paradoxus are pugnacious little fishes They are also one of the primary foods of small piranas. They travel in huge schools, mostly in sandy banks where they feed on insects, small fishes (mostly fins and scales) and bits of food tossed in the water by natives. They are not pirana-like in anyway, though they may seem like it as they are very inquisitive fishes. Their teeth are tubercle and not at all very sharp nor could they puncture any skin. These teeth are used primarily for removing scales. At worst they might pull out a piece of your hair on the arm. I have kept Exodons for a number of years and presently keep at least 15. They are fed regular aquarium food and bits of shrimp. Often times, they ignore bait food (chopped fish) so this should not be fed regularly.
> 
> If you read OPEFE in Other Predatory Fishes, there is an article written in there including some breeding info. They make an excellent display fish as they move quick, colorful and do not grow very large (6 in. TL) for wild fishes. Included in my web page is a drawing of the teeth and how they are set in the mouth.


----------



## hastatus

I might add here, I seriously doubt the fish can "rip up" a pinky. I'd like to see that myself. Maybe pull its whiskers.







Seriously though, they don't have that type of musculature in the jaws.


----------



## hyphen

i wish i had taken video footage. i'm not exaggerating when i say that they literally ate a pinky. the largest one even swallowed the head. i've had almost all of my friends witness this. i only had 10 in my 30gallon. their usual diet, like i mentioned, was bloodworms, brine shrimp, and beefheart.

one day i had decided to see if they'd eat a pinky, so i bought a frozen one. and yes, they ate it. believe me or don't, but they did and i have witnesses who can testify









i also housed them with my palembang puffer for a good 3 weeks before i moved them to a larger tank with my Ps...after which they got eaten


----------



## o snap its eric

as much as i want to believe you, i just cant see that happening. I mean, im the kinda person who would feed my fish anything just to see some carnage and get kicks. I've fed rats not mice but rats to my piranhas. I've dont weird things, i have even tried feeding all sorts of weird stuff to my exos too but the matter of fact is that their teeth cant dot that kinda damage nor their size can do such damage. Basically if they cant kill an managunse cichlid their size and there was 80 exo in the tank that were starving i dont see how they can eat a pinky.


----------



## Kain

I too find your story a bit hard to believe hyphen. I doubt exodons can rip chunks out of a pinky unless its already decomposing before it was frozen so the flesh and limbs arent attached to the body very well. Also, for an exodon to swallow the head of a pinky, it must be past the 4" mark and about 5-6 inches. Ive personally never seen an exo past 4 inches but that's not to say they dont exist. My exos werent even strong enough to bite a goldfish in half. Have you ever taken an exo out and letting it bite your finger to feel how powerful their jaws are? Mine couldnt even leave the slightest scratch on my finger. Their jaws arent made for ripping out flesh or cutting. How big were your exos? Did you have any pics of them before they got eaten? Are you 100% sure they were exos? If I still had my shoal of exos, I'd throw in a frozen pinky and some beef hearts and film it just to demonstrate that they arent capable of that type of carnage.


----------



## hyphen

yes i was 100% sure they were exos. they ranged from 3-4.5 inches. i got them from pedro @ aquascape a few group buys back. i can GURANTEE YOU that they ate the pinky. they weren't taking out gargantuan chunks, but the 10 of them [after starving them for a few days] would pick it apart. when the head remained, the largest one "rafiki" would just swallow it whole. like i said, you don't need to believe me. i've seen it, my ex has seen it, my roomies have seen it, and so have my other friends. trust me, it IS possible.


----------



## o snap its eric

re-demostration!


----------



## gourami-master




----------



## Kain

Since none of us were there to witness the event besides, you, your friend, and your girlfriend, i'll give you the benefit of the doubt. However, like Ive already stated, that pinky couldve already been decomposing before it was frozen or when thawed out or soaked in the water, it couldve softened up it's limbs and flesh and making it easy to rip off. Until I see a vid of a live or fresh pinky, I still stand by my belief that an exo just cant rip apart pinkies. If you ever get another shoal of exos or anyone out there have a shoal of exos, please try and toss in a pinky and film it if possible. In my opinion, not only are exos jaws not powerful enough for that type of carnage, but they also tend to give up on food they cant rip apart pretty quickly. Ive tried throwing in shrimps and after a few attempts at trying to rip it up, they just gave up and ignore the shrimp.


----------



## hyphen

they did ignore the shrimp i tried to feed them. but shrimp meat is very sinewy and can be pretty tough for exo. the pinkie could have been decomposing, but they seemed pretty fresh to me. all i did was thaw it warm water and plop it in. pinky flesh isn't that tough, it's actually very tender. it seems like my fish always seem to be the exception. the largest one would actually eat about 2 large rosies in one feeding. i guess i could see this as very hard to believe from your standpoint since you've never seen it. i really wish i had video taped it.


----------



## pirannahzzz

i just got mne today and i stuck my finger in one of there mouths and they do have the power t oeat a pinkie mouse . his jaws are more power full than my 8 inch red devil . the exo gave me a pretty good bite but it did not draw blood there cool as helll


----------



## pirannahzzz

maby because mine is wild caught :rock:


----------



## WolfFish

They sound like cool fish, fish vary so one shoal might be capable of ripping up a pinkie and anoter might not even try. 
Are there any other feeding frenzy type fish?


----------



## Kain

pirannahzzz said:


> maby because mine is wild caught :rock:


 I think the majority of exos are wild caught. I know they've been bred before in captivity but I dont think there's enough people breeding them to supply captive bred exos to the public on a large scale. If you can, try and toss a live pinky in there with the exos and record it. I would definately be interested in seeing the vid. How big are your exos and how many did you buy. Its true that shoals can differ from one to the next but not to a point where one shoal of exos will have a stronger set of jaws than the other unless maybe one shoal is healthier than the other. Even then, I dont think that would make too much of a difference unless one shoal is extremely sick. Personally Im not sure how thick the skin of a pinky is but I still find it a bit hard to believe that exos jaws can rip up a pinky. They might attack it several times and leave cuts but I doubt they can rip out chunks. Their jaws just arent powerful enough to bite chunks out like piranhas. Their teeth are not designed to cut and slice. If anything, they might be able to pluck and scrape a small piece of flesh after repeated attacks. I know for a fact that they cant rip apart a chunk of beef heart or frozen shrimp because ive tried it many times in the past. They make numerous attempts at doing so but unless the shrimp is diced up, they will not be able to rip it apart.


----------



## WolfFish

> toss a live pinky in there with the exos and record it


 Why would it have to be alive? Thats just cruel for the sake of being cruel.







If they attack it it will die slowly, and if they don't it will drown. Get a frozen one, that has been humanely killed. Feeding a mouse to p's is different because they are capable of killing it, not just pecking at it.


----------



## Kain

yes but if they do indeed rip it apart like the others stated, it wouldnt be much different than feeding a live rat to some ps right? This is not something to be done on a frequent basis. Just a one time test.


----------



## pirannahzzz

ive got five i will starve them and feed them a pinkie to see if they will eat it or do any damage ill let you know but i dont have a vid cam


----------



## pirannahzzz

i just fed them a feeder gold fish they niped at it at first then one got it ang chewed it and some how the whole feeder edded up in his mouth it was awsom the fish was half it size and my exo is 4 inches i dont kno how he ate it but he did . and he his eating very good and it the firtd day i had them tere awsome


----------



## WolfFish

Lets hope they're as good as quoted then


----------



## Kain

pirannahzzz said:


> i just fed them a feeder gold fish they niped at it at first then one got it ang chewed it and some how the whole feeder edded up in his mouth it was awsom the fish was half it size and my exo is 4 inches i dont kno how he ate it but he did . and he his eating very good and it the firtd day i had them tere awsome


 Like ive stated, they dont really bite off chunks, but they can swallow pieces of food whole. They attack the feeder and rip the scales off so if you put in a jumbo feeder, it'll probably stay alive for awhile but you'll end up with a scaleless goldfish







If you wanna see a cool little frenzy, get a frozen shrimp and dice it up pretty good and drop it in. They go nuts over it.


----------



## hyphen

i wish i still had my exos. they werent biting of gargantuan chunks, like i've said. it seems like youre trying to put words into my mouth. the 10 of them did eat it to the ground. the people on pfish.net believed me several months back when i got them, and they're much worse than folks on here imo. so why is my word so hard to believe?

i honestly do wish i still had them, just so i could put all the non-believers to shame. besides, if you look at my track history on any of the baords, when have i ever lied about something ? i never spat jargon about my fish like aaron_7_20...


----------



## pirannahzzz

lol i take your word i beleve it the ones i have are mean and have big mouths bigger than you thing aslo have plently of mucle in there jaws beleve me ive tried it cool fish . hyphen i never thought you were lying any way thanks


----------



## Kain

hyphen said:


> i wish i still had my exos. they werent biting of gargantuan chunks, like i've said. it seems like youre trying to put words into my mouth. the 10 of them did eat it to the ground. the people on pfish.net believed me several months back when i got them, and they're much worse than folks on here imo. so why is my word so hard to believe?
> 
> i honestly do wish i still had them, just so i could put all the non-believers to shame. besides, if you look at my track history on any of the baords, when have i ever lied about something ? i never spat jargon about my fish like aaron_7_20...


 I think you're reading too much into my words bro. Im not trying to put words into your mouth because I wasnt there to witness the event so I cant say if it happened or not so im taking your word for it. What im saying is that there might be a difference between feeding a frozen pinky and a live one. There might be certain factors that might change the outcome if fed a frozen pinky compared to a live one. For one, it could be because they're so small that they decompose rapidly when dead, or after freezing and thawing, it might've soften the skin making it easier to remove. Dont take what I have to say to heart.


----------



## Kain

by the way who's aaron_7_20?


----------



## hyphen

Kain said:


> by the way who's aaron_7_20?


 he's the idiot parrot fish lover that talks about nonsense. do a search for some of his posts and you'll see what i'm talking about.


----------



## hastatus

> hyphen Posted on Jul 29 2004, 03:56 AM
> i wish i still had my exos. they werent biting of gargantuan chunks, like i've said. it seems like youre trying to put words into my mouth. the 10 of them did eat it to the ground. the people on pfish.net believed me several months back when i got them, and they're much worse than folks on here imo. *so why is my word so hard to believe?*
> 
> i honestly do wish i still had them, just so i could put all the non-believers to shame. besides, if you look at my track history on any of the baords, when have i ever lied about something ? i never spat jargon about my fish like aaron_7_20...


First, let me say, I don't doubt you saw something, but in my experience and knowledge of this fish they don't exhibit the capability to shear flesh off, pick it to pieces yes, but not shear off. Their teeth are tiny and arranged in such away that nature has made them specialized to scrape scales off fish. Can they eat other fishes, yes, even goldfish will eat smaller fishes. As for eating the dead pinky, I have no idea if the can do that. That's why I mentioned the teeth and what they are made for. And that's what I said I would like to see it myself. That is not a criticism nor an attack on your credibility.

As for requiring proof, we get many people that claim things from their fish to include; piranas scrapping aquario glass with their teeth to their fish being over 3 feet long. If anyone can produce a video of the Exodon paradoxus chopping and eating a pinky, I would love to see it. It would certainly educate me more.


----------



## Kain

hastatus said:


> hyphen Posted on Jul 29 2004, 03:56 AM
> i wish i still had my exos. they werent biting of gargantuan chunks, like i've said. it seems like youre trying to put words into my mouth. the 10 of them did eat it to the ground. the people on pfish.net believed me several months back when i got them, and they're much worse than folks on here imo. *so why is my word so hard to believe?*
> 
> i honestly do wish i still had them, just so i could put all the non-believers to shame. besides, if you look at my track history on any of the baords, when have i ever lied about something ? i never spat jargon about my fish like aaron_7_20...
> 
> 
> 
> First, let me say, I don't doubt you saw something, but in my experience and knowledge of this fish they don't exhibit the capability to shear flesh off, pick it to pieces yes, but not shear off. Their teeth are tiny and arranged in such away that nature has made them specialized to scrape scales off fish. Can they eat other fishes, yes, even goldfish will eat smaller fishes. As for eating the dead pinky, I have no idea if the can do that. That's why I mentioned the teeth and what they are made for. And that's what I said I would like to see it myself. That is not a criticism nor an attack on your credibility.
> 
> As for requiring proof, we get many people that claim things from their fish to include; piranas scrapping aquario glass with their teeth to their fish being over 3 feet long. If anyone can produce a video of the Exodon paradoxus chopping and eating a pinky, I would love to see it. It would certainly educate me more.
Click to expand...

 That's exactly what I've been trying to say this whole time. Im not sure how tough a pinky's flesh is and maybe I overestimated them. I myself have never tried feeding a pinky to exos. If exos can indeed feed on a pinky, I would like to see it personally just so I know for future references.


----------



## fahakafunk

Exodons are cool fish, they have a nice color to them, and they are very fast swimmers. They seem to like to fight with each other when kept in small groups, but don't seem to do much damage (they strike each other and swim away instead of persistantly attacking).

The ones I had were pretty small (2.5in or smaller) but they would eat crickets or small fish. One time I saw one of my exos swim by a cricket real fast and slice it's leg off, it then ate the leg.


----------



## ReDraGon->

StiLL no PIcs on this thread on 1 dam EXO!!!!


----------



## Kain

ReDraGon-> said:


> StiLL no PIcs on this thread on 1 dam EXO!!!!


 If you want to see pix of exos, look in my member's gallery. It has pix of my former shoal. There was 10 of them in there.


----------



## hyphen

heres a few of mine [only 4 because i had sold the other 6]


----------



## HOLLYWOOD

Ive got well over 100. These guys rock. This is my favorite tank. I usually feed finely chooped shrimp but have recently changed to cichlid sticks.


----------



## Kain

Jeezus Hollywood, how big is that tank?







I thought my shoal of 40 exos years ago was huge, then I saw Eric's and thought his was crazy. Yours is insane!


----------



## MR.FREEZ

hey hollywood do all your tanks have tons of fish in em


----------



## SerraNBAPygo

exos are awesome, they are like many ps with too much caffeine.


----------



## aaron07_20

hyphen said:


> Kain said:
> 
> 
> 
> by the way who's aaron_7_20?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> he's the idiot parrot fish lover that talks about nonsense. do a search for some of his posts and you'll see what i'm talking about.
Click to expand...

 Since when did I "love" parrot fish you fruitcake..


----------



## lemmywinks

aaron07_20 said:


> hyphen said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kain said:
> 
> 
> 
> by the way who's aaron_7_20?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> he's the idiot parrot fish lover that talks about nonsense. do a search for some of his posts and you'll see what i'm talking about.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Since when did I "love" parrot fish you fruitcake..
Click to expand...

 you always say that you love them and they are the cutest fish you have ever seen. if you want me to pull up some quotes or old threads for you I can


----------



## o snap its eric

arnold, dont be afraid you can dump one whole market shrimp in there and they will rip it apart. I would know =)


----------

