Acanthocleithron chapini, is it kept?

[sidguppy]

see title!

we're on the verge of ordering some rare African fish here and to my surprise this species is on that list

anyone know anything about it how it does in captivity?
the catelog only has pictures of dead specimen and little info

it reminds me of a cross between Mochokus and Mochokiella, and it's supposed to occur in the Congo
but where?
the Congo has a wide range of biotopes and also different waterparameters

I got 1 tank for small African fish, it now houses Synodontis brichardi, Gobiocichla wonderi and -temporary- Raiamas christyi juveniles.
that tank is set up as a rheophile tank with a lot of watermovement, rocks, some bogwood and live plants (Anubias, Hydrilla etc)

doable or a definite no go?

anyone who can shine a light on this extreme rarity, feel free to chime in

[Richard B]

AFAIK it's not kept. I've seen Mochokus on lists but never been able to track them further to see if they actually were, or were perhaps Acanthocleithron. (wholesaler sold out and none at the dealers they supplied by the time i got there).

Malebo pool at Bamu island and Yangambi, along with the Ituri river near Avakubi are listed as the collection sites. It seems from literature that few specimens have ever been collected so this would be a fantastic species to aquire

[Birger]

In case you did not find it yet, the original description (genus & species) is here pg.69
http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/b ... sequence=1

It does have a paragraph on differences to Mochokus.

I hope it works out.

Birger

[racoll]

I think a lot of folks here would be pretty envious if you managed to source

Acanthocleithron chapini

. Doesn't look like there's much known about this fish ecology-wise.

I would guess a good start would be a well oxygenated tank with medium-soft, neutral water and the typical riverine syno decor (sand, bogwood, Anubias, pipes, stones etc).

[sidguppy]

getting oxygen in the water and keeping it clean and fresh is not a problem

but soft acidic water is; then I got a problem with every waterchange

since before the millennium I avoided a lot of trouble by reversing my hobby
before that i tried again and again to prefab the water to the fishes needs.
and every time I had to do a larger waterchange for any reason I was up that creek where you need a paddle

so instead of tinkering with that, I started to keep fish that do well on my tapwater.
due to trial and error I now know that I kcan keep without any trouble: brackish, Tanganyika, Malawi, Madagascar, some very hardy non fussy species and to my surprise rheophiles.

later i found out that true rheophile biotope have so much erosion that the water isn't by definition harder, but it is more rich in dissolved minerals.
my rheophile fishes do fine so far

if this is a species that really needs soft and (slighty) acidic water, I'll pass

[racoll]

if this is a species that really needs soft and (slighty) acidic water, I'll pass

We don't know much about the fish, and whether it's from the Congo proper, or a tributary forest stream. If it's the former, then harder alkaline water should be fine, but if it's the latter, then perhaps not ideal. Generally though, I maintain that unless the fish is a blackwater species they are generally adaptable to most water parameters.

Does anyone know about the export areas or the locations listed in Seegers?

[Suckermouth]

If it's found in Kisangani, then it's found in the Congo River proper; Kisangani is right on the Congo River. Furthermore, we have a specimen here from our recent collecting trip, and AFAIK no small tributaries were sampled. FWIW, our specimen is approximately a foot long; seeing how the Congo has not been well collected scientifically, the small size in past collections is probably due to no one going there much in the past hundred years. Alternatively, it's not actually A. chapini, but if scientific experts can't tell the difference then aquarium exporters might not be able to either.

[sidguppy]

wow
1 foot??

I can only say: get a picture, fast.
this is needed for the catelog at least.

update: I'm still not comnvinced to go through with this;
there's another issue that's important here

according to the guys who're trying to arrange it all, they need a large number to be ordered
I've seen the stocklist and if the numbers aren't exaggerated they fill their boxes way too much!
it'll be a mass grave if it's shipped at all. 500 4cm catfishes in 1 box?

also: I'm a hobbyist, not a shop. what on earth can I do with 500 cats, be they rare or common?.......I stopped breeding catfishes years ago just because of the hassle of selling them (better: TRY to sell them).
I also really don't want to overstock my tank, especially not in the insane range.

getting a rare cat and then untimately being responsible in killing the majority of them isn't in my book of how to be a good fishkeeper....

[Birger]

according to the guys who're trying to arrange it all, they need a large number to be ordered
I've seen the stocklist and if the numbers aren't exaggerated they fill their boxes way too much!
it'll be a mass grave if it's shipped at all. 500 4cm catfishes in 1 box?

Does kind of throw up a flag...a fish hardly anyone has kept or even seen being shipped in these numbers does not make sense.

[sidguppy]

good point

the numbers on the stocklist are very weird.....I mean, putting 60 5" Euchilichthys in 1 box?
or -mindboggling- 45 6" Parauchenoglanis?

they'll be stacked like sardines......
I have no idea where they got those numbers from, but I'm very wary.

[Richard B]

Those packing levels sound preposterous!

[Suckermouth]

I can only say: get a picture, fast.
this is needed for the catelog at least.

I will try when I have some time.

500 4cm catfishes in 1 box?

AFAIK, these fish are pretty uncommon and the Congo River is terribly difficult to collect. I question how they would've gotten that many. Of course, they could have more resources then us piddly scientific collectors.