[Flear]

how long would a handful of live daphnia last 4 flagfish ? (adult flagfish), ... provided there was no other feeding other than algae in the tank to satisfy their balanced diet

any guesses on how long a handful of daphnia would last ? how many days before they had eaten enough that was was left in the tank wouldn't be considered sufficient for feeding them (and either more would be needed, or prepared/bought food would be needed

 

[henningc]

If the Flagfish were wild caught the daphnia will only last a day or two until the ruthlessly hunt down ever last one. You need to set up a colony in a different container, bucket, trash can rubber made tote. You may want to consider starting a colony of scuds as it takes work to kill them off and they reproduce like crazy. If the tank has enough cover, toss in 4-6 pre-hit Endlers females. They will produce enough fry to feed the Flagfish 50% of the time.

 

[Flear]

aren't scuds huge ?

granted saying that i'm reminded that when i first added my flagfish the red cherry shrimp i had disappeared rather quickly, ... despite reading that would happen.

i still have a hard time seeing fish chow down on something larger than whatever bite-sized is (just my imagination)

Henningc, you're saying that's not the case, that they'll eat scuds too ?

gotta add amphipods to my list of things to get

while i haven't done any homework into these (i didn't consider them due to their size), ... i am hoping they are not predatory to any smaller invertebrates/crustations ? (daphnia/moina/copepods/rotifers) ?

 

[caboyett]

aren't scuds huge ?

granted saying that i'm reminded that when i first added my flagfish the red cherry shrimp i had disappeared rather quickly, ... despite reading that would happen.

i still have a hard time seeing fish chow down on something larger than whatever bite-sized is (just my imagination)

Henningc, you're saying that's not the case, that they'll eat scuds too ?

gotta add amphipods to my list of things to get

while i haven't done any homework into these (i didn't consider them due to their size), ... i am hoping they are not predatory to any smaller invertebrates/crustations ? (daphnia/moina/copepods/rotifers) ?

I have a 20 gallon tank, with 10 american flagfish and several bronze cory's. The flag fish are pretty ruthless (they've completely shredded ANY plant in the tank resembling grass.) I feed mine two-three times a day and still they shred plants. Flag fish are however, VERY interesting fish to watch. My tank also contains two electric blue lobsters( I'm going to upgrade to a 55 gallon before they outgrow the 20.) The flag fish will get into groups of two-three and harass even the lobster. The point being, they are VERY interesting fish to have, as they frequently play dead, and seem to be rather easy to breed. However, they are pretty mean to anything else placed in the tank with them. Just keep in mind, their native to Florida swamps, so dark substrate, and plenty of rocks and plant hiding places and these fish will thrive.

 

[Flear]

i have a bucket i grow algae in, i have dried and crushed plant clipping and added it to the bucket, ... i have duckweed growing in the tank as well

they eat the duckweed roots (they can't do much with the leaves)
they nibble on the hornwort, but it's a very tough plant for them
they like hair algae
they seem to love cladophria algae
they nibble on BBA algae (i think that's the type of red algae i have), ... just enough to keep it from spreading quickly

if i knew they loved clado so much i would have made a bucket of clado instead of hair

i have this going intentionally so the flagfish have lots of natural food to eat

i have the tank loosly divided in two, ... one half is bright, the plants are trimmed short, the other side has nothing growing from the bottom, the plants have grown over and formed a loose island of a sort with roots hanging into the water makeing a rather dark side of the tank.

aside from specific hiding places i would assume these guys are happy, although as with most all fish i'm sure they'd love a bigger tank

 

[henningc]

My experience tells me daphnia and scuds are on the menu. Watch out with the Blue Crayfish, when they molt the Flag fish will murder them if given a chance!