# Freshwater barracudas



## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

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Hi I have been directed here from fishgeeks to talk to you guys here about my barracudas. About 4 months ago I got a red-tailed barracuda. it is about 7 inches long now and very docile, lets my angel fish pick on him once in awhile.

Today i was at the LFS, just to get feeders and ghost shrimp for my cuda and eels. I ent up coming home with a payara barracuda, very neat looking fish. Was wondering if anyone has had experience with these types of aggresive fish and can tell me more about them, at least more than I read here on the net. I cant seem to find a single thing on the red tailed Barracuda. 
Ty, cathy







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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

first off Welcome to PFury









secondly, I am wondering what species you are talking about?
lol scientific names would be helpfull

by payara do you mean _Hydrolycus scomberoides_?

if so these fish are not very suited to the home aquarium, they usually die at about 14"


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Oh also I want to know more about your eels - what types are they?

Oh and once we determin what fish you have I'll dig out some info on them for you


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

the red tailed barracuda is : Acestrorhynchus altus 
the payara is the hydroliccus scomberoides

In the long run what will i need to try my best at keeping the both happy and well?

I have 2 eels a reed eel and a bichir eel

the reed eel is a red rusty color about 13 inches long and the thickness of about 2 pencils put together, I have had him since he was about 6 inches.

the bichir eel is black and yellow, about 6-7 inches long, about twice the thikness of the reed eel, I have had her since she was about 3 inches.

My reed eel is out most of the time, the bicher is a very very shy girl, she mainly stays in her rock, but when she comes out what a beauty she is.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

MiniMeeps said:


> the red tailed barracuda is : Acestrorhynchus altus
> the payara is the hydroliccus scomberoides
> 
> In the long run what will i need to try my best at keeping the both happy and well?
> ...


wow what a selection, all fish that are not available here and my knowledge of them has definatly got room for improvement.

























_Acestrorhynchus altus_

Now acestro is really the man when it comes to the Acestrorhynchus species, I'm sure he will pop-up shortly.
heres a handy link to one of his posts on them

Also Frank (hastatus) our resident piranha scientist may have some interesting information on this fish
heres a handy link to his page on these fishes

Acestrorhynchus altus - Menezes, 1969 
Family: Acestrorhynchidae 
Order: Characiformes 
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) 
Max. size: 23.3 cm 
Environment: freshwater 
pH range: 5.5 - 7.2
Climate: tropical; 22 - 26°C 
Distribution: South America: Amazonas Basin.

 heres a handy _Acestrorhynchus altus_ link
 heres another handy _Acestrorhynchus altus_ link
heres another handy _Acestrorhynchus altus_ link

















_Hydrolycus scomberoides_

again I'm sure Frank will be able to provide more info than I can
heres a handy link to his page on _Hydrolycus scomberoides_

Hydrolycus scomberoides - (Cuvier, 1816) 
Family: Cynodontidae 
Subfamily: Cynodontinae 
Order: Characiformes (characins) 
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) 
Max. size: 117 cm TL, 
Max. published weight: 17.8 kg 
Environment: freshwater 
Climate: tropical; 24 - 28°C 
Distribution: South America: Amazon River basin.

heres a handy _Hydrolycus scomberoides_ link
heres another handy _Hydrolycus scomberoides_ link

now neither of your "eels" are really eels, the "reed eel" I am assuming is _Erpetoichthys calabaricus_
































_Erpetoichthys calabaricus_

now our expert on this fish is Polypterus, hopefully he will pop up soon and add some more info.

Common name: Ropefish 
Scientific name: Erpetoichthys calabaricus 
Family: Polypteridae
Synonyms: Reedfish, Snake fish, Calamoichthys calabaricus (older name, not valid) 
Size: Up to 36" (90cm) 
Minimum Tank Size: 90 Gallons
Origin: West Africa, Cameroon and Nigeria 
Tank setup: Large tank, with bogwood, rocks and a few plants for decor, sandy substrate 
Compatibility: Predatory, but fine with larger fish 
Temperature: 22-28oC (71-82oF) 
Water chemistry: Not critical, soft to medium hard, pH 6.0-8.0. 
Feeding: Carnivore, feed live foods and dead meaty foods

heres a handy _Erpetoichthys calabaricus_ link
heres another handy _Erpetoichthys calabaricus_ link
heres another handy _Erpetoichthys calabaricus_ link
heres another handy _Erpetoichthys calabaricus_ link

I'm not sure what bichir you have, is it:








_Polypterus senegalus_

heres a handy _Polypterus_ link

That link has pics of several species, so take your pick


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

Those are definitely my baracudas. Looks like I have my hands full with those 2. I cant wait. They are both higly aggresive and very active.

The Red tail seems to go nuts when i turn tank lights on or walk up to tank to fast. He jumps and splashes everything.

the Bichir I have is the polypyerus ornatipinnis. Very amazing markings. She hides alot and when i do get a chance to see her it seems she doubles in size every time.

The rope fish is another amazing one, never knew it was actually a fish, will have to tell my LFS

Looks like I still have lots to learn here








Glad I found you all here, you have been most helpful already


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## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

i was once going to get a yellow-tailed barracuda, but i didn't have an open tank and by the time i did, they were gone and i've never seen them since. i do know they are supposed to be skittish and tend to bash themselves into the side of the aquarium if scared. also i think they are jumpers, so a good hood is important. as innes said, the paraya tends not to do well in captivity and needs excellent water. i guess everything i know about these fish is just recycling what was posted in the links innes gave you... anyway, welcome! and don't be scared off by the whole PIRANHA-fury thing, we have our own non-piranha fury section going here!


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

MiniMeeps said:


> The rope fish is another amazing one, never knew it was actually a fish, will have to tell my LFS
> 
> Looks like I still have lots to learn here
> 
> ...


 lol if not a fish then what???

lmao even an eel is a fish









true eels however do not have fins and I also believe they do not have scales either









also we are glad you found your way here









do you have any pics of your fish, I'd love to see them


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

I do have some pics of my fish....they are horribly blurry though. was wonder if there are any tips on photographing them better. I didnt use flash so that wasnt the problem. could I have been to close to glass with lens?


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

ps....how do I add pics here?? lol


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

click here to learn how to take pics
heres a handy link to our FAQ about how to post pics

Hope this helps


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

ok going to see if this works..

this is the Acestrorhynchus altus, or supposed to be...lol


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Sorry I'm late, what'd I miss?
















Red-tailed cudas are usually Acestrorhynchus falcatus, occasionally A. altus. Innes, you posted a couple of altus but your last pic is A. pantaneiro :rasp:

All of that is academic blabber because what you have is A. falcirostris ("slender" or "yellow-tailed" barracuda).

Fantastic fish, can really pack good sized fish in its mouth (and they do get jumpy). Don't worry too much about the crashing around, part of that ugly shnoz's function is to absorb impact. They're tough once established (but, yes, they really can jump).


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

ok it worked....lol...that is one of my angels with him. I will add the rest of the pics now


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

www.liveaquaria.com

and in freshwater miscellanous fish they have these and jardinis


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Thanks acestro for keeping us right


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Happy to help with all things cuda!


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

Thank you for finally setting me straight....lol. now i can tell people what it really is.









Everyone that comes over is telling my how ugly my payara is. I think hes a rather pretty fish. when I get a pic of it i will post it here for you.


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

I have been watching these 2 barracudas nightly. Very cool to watch hunt, it almost seems as if they are working together. the payara is a pig, ate 4 feeders last night in a 30 minutes time.

I was wondering what would be the best to feed them, right now they are getting small goldfish, gups, rosies, and various tetras that I find on sale for like 99 cents a fish.

the yellow finned is a very jumpy fish, especially when the lights first come on in the morning.

I have also noticed that when the light go off the both seem to sit in the same level of water. The yellow fin sits up at the serface allday, the payara sits at the bottom. when the light go out the both sit in the middle.

was also wondering.....I have been reading up on both...I read that the payara sit at the bottom of a river where there are fast currants. Should I add a pump in the bottom to give that fast currant for it?

and yes the yellow finned definitly can pack a big feeder in it mouth.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

most likely it will appriciate a current, also if you can get them to accept dead foods like beefheart it will be good, but otherwise be sure to quarenteen feeder fish and alsom feed them with good foods so they themselves are good food.


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## HawkHunter (Nov 11, 2003)

hey mini,

I got a Ctenolucius hujeta. Its also a barracuda.. i also get the same reaction during feeding time. He seems very timid, As i walk by the tank, water splashes.. etc.. but when it comes to supper, (after ive walked away from the tank 2 feet or so) that shyness goes away.









Innes is trying to talk me into a webcam/digital cam for some pics for you guys, and his case was getting more and more appealing to me as i think about it.. maybe by christmas =)

thx
HH


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

Hi hawk,

yes I am definitely thinkgin about getting a digi also, on my christmas list









I am hoping to try to get some decent pics of the payara to post.

Ok so a flo in tank would be nice for the payara...I have an underwater pump, used to use it for my turtle tank. its able to be totally summerged in water. I like trying to give my fish the best, most "homey" feeling tank.

my feeder are always quartenteened the first few days and they get lots and lots of good food, got to keep them chunky. lol. after I add them to the tank they usally just eat the regular flake that I feed to angels and everything else in the tank.

I just saw one of my angels suck down a small gup, I had no idea they ate fish also. was kind of cool.


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## HawkHunter (Nov 11, 2003)

_Most_ fish will eat fish smaller than themselves i think.. ?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

> my feeder are always quartenteened the first few days and they get lots and lots of good food, got to keep them chunky. lol


THE key in having healthy barracuda. Acestros are a lot harder to get off of live food (it has been done, ask Narc at PFish) but thrive with treated (quarantined, 'chunky' fish). I would suggest conditioning shiners from a bait store, wait a little longer to make sure they are healthy and let the yellow tail pig out! Personally I think goldfish are disgusting and potentially unhealthy.


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

I will have to try to locate the closest bait shop here that stays open year round....I only know of one and it closes after memorial day







. I will try to stick more to guppies and such.

what is it about goldfish that make them uhealthy? I have heard a few other people say they are not the best of fish to feed.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I've heard a few things but my main experience (oddly enough) is with snakes. There is a vitamin B destroying chemical in goldfish (and some other fishes too) called thiaminase. If you've ever seen what this can eventually do to a No Solicitation Allowed/gartersnake you'll run in the opposite direction every time you see goldfish for sale (convulsions, death). I think there's also the issue of that dorsal spine and how they're raised.

I guess you're too far north to get shiners year round, bummer. FYI my falcirostris has gone weeks without food with no ill effects (talk about low maintenance! ).


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## MiniMeeps (Nov 14, 2003)

what about everyday guppies. My LFS has them year round, but they are so tiny that the cudas treat them as tid bit snacks and they go fast.

I added the pump to the bottom of the tank, the payara is enjoying it very much.

any tips on how to clean tank, with out causing the yellow tail to go nuts? I am afraid that it might one day jump itself right out of the tank. With 5 cats that can get a bit dangerous here.

oh another thing i was wondering about.....if perchance these two do bite me, do they automatically let go or do they have locking jaws?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

No locking jaws, no worries.
Tank needs to be long enough to accomodate "dashes" but, again, they can handle it. Definitely prevent jumps by covering tank! Guppies are too expensive to feed larger members of these species.


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