Post by Allaquatica on Jan 20, 2007 20:53:06 GMT -5
Scats
Green Scat Scatophagus argus
Name: Scat (Scatophagus argus)
Family: Scatophagidae
Common name: Green Scat
Range: Indo-Pacific
Size: Up to 12 inches
Diet: Omnivore
Tank Set-up: Freshwater, Brackish, Marine: Plants, rocks, driftwood
Tank Conditions: 68-82°F; pH 7.6-7.8; dH to 15
Minimum Tank Capacity: 50 gallons
Light: Medium
Temperament: Peaceful
Swimming Level: No specific level
Care Level: Moderate
Reproduction: Egg Layer
The Green Scat is a bronze to brown color with dark green to black spots covering the entire body. The Ruby Scat is a bronze to brown color with flecks of red over the body. As the scat matures, it takes on a humpback appearance and the spots on the body become darker.
The Scat requires an aquarium of at least 50 gallons with plenty of plants and hiding places. It does best in brackish water with 3-4 teasthingys of salt per 2-1/2 gallons of water. It is important to choose live plants that thrive in brackish water.
The Scat spawns in the salthingyer of the ocean, but the difference between the sexes and their breeding habits are unknown. Gradual change from brackish to salthingyer will maximize the coloration and health of the fish as it becomes older.
The Scat should be fed mainly vegetable-based foods with meaty foods offered on occasion. Feed dried seaweed, lettuce, algae, a quality flake food, and occasionally, brine shrimp.
Ideal tank mates include: Puffers, Scats, Monos, Archers and other Brackish Fish.
Red Scat (juvenile Argus)
common name: Red scat
Scientific name(s): Scatophagus argus
Max size: 33 cm.
Temperament: Schooling but often nippy fish
Suggested for: Can be housed with robust fishes of similar size (other large predatory or aggressive species), keep only with other fish happy in hard alkaline water, eg certain cichlids, other brackishwater fish
Water quality: alkaline pH, moderately to quite hard water with some salt added (3 to 10 g/l), good filtration to keep nitrites at zero.
Temperature: 26 to 32°C
Origin: Coastal waters of Northern and Eastern Australia (other Australian Native fish) as well as other waters of the Indo-pacific
Comments: Red scats are very sensitive to nitrites and require very good water quality. Although they can be kept in pure freshwater with no salt added, using salt does reduce their sensitivity a little. They are schooling fish that establish a pecking order, and may be nippy to tankmates or to each other, however, tankmates should not be too aggressive or they may become timid.
The common name of red scat is most applicable to the juvenile which sports black bars or spots on a silver-gold base, with bright red on the dorsal spines and pelvic fins that sometimes extends between the dark body markings. As the fish grow the dark bands and red disappear and are replaced by a pattern of spots on a sillver to golden-brown base.
Vegetation makes up an important part of their diet and plants in the aquarium will be regarded as food. Plenty of frozen foods and vegetable matter should be given.
Suggested foods: A good quality granules or pellet, supplemented with frozen shrimp and worm foods, beef heart, fish, squid and thingyle meat, kril, vegetable-based foods.
Sexing: No visible differences
Expect to pay: from around $25.00 to $30.00
Availability: seasonal
silver Scat/ Stripespotted scat
Silver Scat
Selenotoca multifasciata (Richardson, 1846)
The Stripespotted Scat is a deep-bodied, compressed fish that has tiny ctenoid scales
The body is greenish to yellow above becoming silvery below. It has a variable pattern of 10 to 12 dark vertical bars on the side of the body. There are short bars and spots on the lower sides.
Care must be taken if this species is handled. At the base if each fin spine is a venom gland. The fin spines can inflict painful wounds.
The Stripespotted Scat grows to 41cm in length. It feeds on small benthic invertebrates and detritus.
This species occurs in the Western Pacific. Adults are usually found schooling in sandy areas of estuaries and river mouths. Juveniles commonly enter freshwater streams.
In Australia this species is recorded from the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the central New South Wales coast.
The Stripespotted Scat is also known as the Striped Scat and Striped Butterfish, often retails in aquarium shops in Australia as the silver scat or spotted scat.
Banded Scat
Scatophagus tetracanthus Pangani River
Origin and locale/variety: Nkhomo Reef--Malawi, Lake Malawi, East Africa
Size: Adults are usually 2.0 to 3.5 inches in aquarium environment.
Sex differences: Males obtain a beautiful bright yellow coloration with a metallic blue cheek. Females are silver/brown with hints of yellow.
Aquarium behavior: Aulonocara baenschi is a very undemanding cichlid. In the aquarium, they thrive in any almost any community set-up. It is one of the most peaceful peathingy species, even when breeding. It also seems to stay much smaller than many other Aulonocara. The fish accepts most any environment that has gravel/sand, rocks, and even live plants.
Aquarium diet: A. baenschi readily accept most foods: flakes, frozen, pellets, and live. A combination of flakes and frozen food is recommended.
Observed spawning habits: Males will display for female's attention. A male will normally put on an elaborate show for the female whenever and wherever he feels like it. Courting rituals are spontaneous and exciting. A. baenschi is a maternal mouthbrooder. The wild forms of this fish have been a bit more difficult to breed than other Aulonocara.
Other information: Many other yellow peathingys are mistakenly sold in the United States as Aulonocara baenschi. In our experience, if one obtains A. baenschi originating in the United States, they are--almost without fail--NOT the real Aulonocara baenschi.
Trivia: The real Aulonocara baenschi has a very curved snout and extremely large eyes. This all makes the fish appear to be nearly all head and tail.
Green Scat Scatophagus argus
Name: Scat (Scatophagus argus)
Family: Scatophagidae
Common name: Green Scat
Range: Indo-Pacific
Size: Up to 12 inches
Diet: Omnivore
Tank Set-up: Freshwater, Brackish, Marine: Plants, rocks, driftwood
Tank Conditions: 68-82°F; pH 7.6-7.8; dH to 15
Minimum Tank Capacity: 50 gallons
Light: Medium
Temperament: Peaceful
Swimming Level: No specific level
Care Level: Moderate
Reproduction: Egg Layer
The Green Scat is a bronze to brown color with dark green to black spots covering the entire body. The Ruby Scat is a bronze to brown color with flecks of red over the body. As the scat matures, it takes on a humpback appearance and the spots on the body become darker.
The Scat requires an aquarium of at least 50 gallons with plenty of plants and hiding places. It does best in brackish water with 3-4 teasthingys of salt per 2-1/2 gallons of water. It is important to choose live plants that thrive in brackish water.
The Scat spawns in the salthingyer of the ocean, but the difference between the sexes and their breeding habits are unknown. Gradual change from brackish to salthingyer will maximize the coloration and health of the fish as it becomes older.
The Scat should be fed mainly vegetable-based foods with meaty foods offered on occasion. Feed dried seaweed, lettuce, algae, a quality flake food, and occasionally, brine shrimp.
Ideal tank mates include: Puffers, Scats, Monos, Archers and other Brackish Fish.
Red Scat (juvenile Argus)
common name: Red scat
Scientific name(s): Scatophagus argus
Max size: 33 cm.
Temperament: Schooling but often nippy fish
Suggested for: Can be housed with robust fishes of similar size (other large predatory or aggressive species), keep only with other fish happy in hard alkaline water, eg certain cichlids, other brackishwater fish
Water quality: alkaline pH, moderately to quite hard water with some salt added (3 to 10 g/l), good filtration to keep nitrites at zero.
Temperature: 26 to 32°C
Origin: Coastal waters of Northern and Eastern Australia (other Australian Native fish) as well as other waters of the Indo-pacific
Comments: Red scats are very sensitive to nitrites and require very good water quality. Although they can be kept in pure freshwater with no salt added, using salt does reduce their sensitivity a little. They are schooling fish that establish a pecking order, and may be nippy to tankmates or to each other, however, tankmates should not be too aggressive or they may become timid.
The common name of red scat is most applicable to the juvenile which sports black bars or spots on a silver-gold base, with bright red on the dorsal spines and pelvic fins that sometimes extends between the dark body markings. As the fish grow the dark bands and red disappear and are replaced by a pattern of spots on a sillver to golden-brown base.
Vegetation makes up an important part of their diet and plants in the aquarium will be regarded as food. Plenty of frozen foods and vegetable matter should be given.
Suggested foods: A good quality granules or pellet, supplemented with frozen shrimp and worm foods, beef heart, fish, squid and thingyle meat, kril, vegetable-based foods.
Sexing: No visible differences
Expect to pay: from around $25.00 to $30.00
Availability: seasonal
silver Scat/ Stripespotted scat
Silver Scat
Selenotoca multifasciata (Richardson, 1846)
The Stripespotted Scat is a deep-bodied, compressed fish that has tiny ctenoid scales
The body is greenish to yellow above becoming silvery below. It has a variable pattern of 10 to 12 dark vertical bars on the side of the body. There are short bars and spots on the lower sides.
Care must be taken if this species is handled. At the base if each fin spine is a venom gland. The fin spines can inflict painful wounds.
The Stripespotted Scat grows to 41cm in length. It feeds on small benthic invertebrates and detritus.
This species occurs in the Western Pacific. Adults are usually found schooling in sandy areas of estuaries and river mouths. Juveniles commonly enter freshwater streams.
In Australia this species is recorded from the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the central New South Wales coast.
The Stripespotted Scat is also known as the Striped Scat and Striped Butterfish, often retails in aquarium shops in Australia as the silver scat or spotted scat.
Banded Scat
Scatophagus tetracanthus Pangani River
Origin and locale/variety: Nkhomo Reef--Malawi, Lake Malawi, East Africa
Size: Adults are usually 2.0 to 3.5 inches in aquarium environment.
Sex differences: Males obtain a beautiful bright yellow coloration with a metallic blue cheek. Females are silver/brown with hints of yellow.
Aquarium behavior: Aulonocara baenschi is a very undemanding cichlid. In the aquarium, they thrive in any almost any community set-up. It is one of the most peaceful peathingy species, even when breeding. It also seems to stay much smaller than many other Aulonocara. The fish accepts most any environment that has gravel/sand, rocks, and even live plants.
Aquarium diet: A. baenschi readily accept most foods: flakes, frozen, pellets, and live. A combination of flakes and frozen food is recommended.
Observed spawning habits: Males will display for female's attention. A male will normally put on an elaborate show for the female whenever and wherever he feels like it. Courting rituals are spontaneous and exciting. A. baenschi is a maternal mouthbrooder. The wild forms of this fish have been a bit more difficult to breed than other Aulonocara.
Other information: Many other yellow peathingys are mistakenly sold in the United States as Aulonocara baenschi. In our experience, if one obtains A. baenschi originating in the United States, they are--almost without fail--NOT the real Aulonocara baenschi.
Trivia: The real Aulonocara baenschi has a very curved snout and extremely large eyes. This all makes the fish appear to be nearly all head and tail.
