Oh Goodeid, new fish!

[GaryofMontreal]

For the first time in my fishkeeping adventure, I find myself with two different Goodeids in my tanks. I just re-acquired the grand-fry of some Zoogoneticus tequila I distributed a few years back, in the same week as I stumbled across some Xenoteca eiseni at a pet store. The eiseni immediately made me look like I knew what I was doing by dropping fry 2 days after I bought them.
I have them in separate tanks as I write, but if the tequila behave as they used to, and if the eiseni are establishing a trend, I may soon have a few more of these fish. Could they be kept together? Anyone with experience out there?

[Melody]

Congrat's! I really enjoy Goodeids and they need our help.

I haven't kept Tequilla yet, but I know that Eiseni are pugnacious little bratts. I decided not to keep them anymore when I realized they couldn't be nice neighbours. I think I would wait until you have a nice colony established before experimenting.

There are pedigree Eiseni out there these days too :yes: .

[CACAdmin]

Congrats on the 'newly re-aquired fish'. That's neat when generations later they come back to you. Such a nice bonus when they drop fry right after getting them too.

[blainep]

The Eiseni are a great fish, in my opinion, but I have found they do need a species tank.

Lots of attitude ! But that's what I like about them.

I've thought about getting a colony of Tequilas going as well, but I'm afraid they may eat me out of house home like the Amecas do. :err:

[GaryofMontreal]

So I get the sense of 'no'. I read an article which talked about tequilas being killed by another goodeid in the author's set-up, and I was considering a shared fry tank. When I had tequilas before, I didn't realize their conservation status, which seems to boil down to "doomed".
When one of the guys whom I gave them to was talking about his colony, I started thinking about the leaky 33 gallon out in the back shed, and the ancient cycle of cutting 2x4s, driving wood screws, re-siliconing and rinsing sand was off and running again...
I have the sense the tequilas are less chippy than the eiseni, but that's from reading. The ancestors of these juvies I got didn't stick out as nasty, but except then I was breeding them, I kept them with hardwater dwarf cichlids. I'll keep them apart and follow Melody's (as usual) excellent advice about seeing if I can get a bunch of them going before I combine any of them.

[Melody]

I think I'd follow Blaine's excellent advice if Eiseni questions pop up - he's kept them longer than I did. We just happen to agree on this one....lol. Goodeids can range from community to pushy to pugnacious to "If you kill one more of my Guppies, you little _____...". The Green Goodeids are very good natured, for example. Eiseni and Splendens were both too nippy for my tanks, but my tanks are filled with wusses so take that at face value.

On another note, there are some Goodeids who will reportedly kill Cory's, even otherwise complacent Goodeid species. Which species do that has been debated, so proceed with caution there if you happen to have or want Cory's.

I can't wait until we have a big selection of Goodeids breeding in Canada - does a heart good to have a higher purpose to this madness. :twitcy:

[OldMan]

Nice pick up on the X eiseni Gary. I just got a dozen juveniles last week at a club auction for almost nothing. So far mine seem to be doing OK in a tank with 8 corydoras habrosus but I am watching them. I read too late that they have a reputation for being nippy so now I'm here with my fingers crossed. If the goodeids get carried away, they will become their own cleanup crew and the cories will join others of their kind in my endler tanks.

[Melody]

This kind of info is usually stumbled upon. The gurus have everything in their head and I'm forever after them to write it all down. As pugnacious as Eiseni can be, they're still a great fish in a species tank and we need to keep them alive in captivity for future generations... even if they're bratts! :yes:

[OldMan]

No problem for me Melody. I will happily keep them in a species tank but had already put them with the cories when I found the info. The cories are special to me because they are one off the few fish I trust with my fry and my endlers. I intend to breed some of them when I can get them in condition. The goodeids are also something I am interested in breeding but they are built funny for a livebearer with no gonopodium but a similar functioning anal fin that has a few shortened rays to the fin rather than being modified as most livebearers are.
The endlers became a part of my life with the aim of retaining some of the wild stock for future generations so the concept is not at all new to me. I am a registered keeper of class N endlers although all that means is that I am very careful to not let them near a guppy. In my case, the only thing I have allowed in the same tank is cories. That is a bit far off for any hybrid to ever happen.

[Melody]

Most Goodeids don't bother Cory's so they may be fine. I think that A. splendens was one that could attack them but I can't remember if I've heard of Eiseni attacking Cory's specifically. Since Eiseni is one of the more common Goodeids in the hobby, we should have heard reports if they were one that attacked Cory's, but it can't hurt to keep watch.

Cory's are a great fish. I've never gone long without having some.... if I ever have. Such agreeable and entertaining creatures and one of the tougher species overall. Plus they're just so darned CUTE. 'Cute' usually isn't a term one applies to a fish species.:laugh:

Poeciliid males have the gonopodium whereas Goodeids have an andropodium. Being viviparious, females also differ in that they nourish the unborn fry (in all but the Ataeniobius species) as opposed to yolk nourishment in Poeciliids. They still breed readily though and I'm sure they will bless you with many fry. Eiseni is one of the most vulnerable Goodeids and the most threatened Xenotoca, classified by most as endangered. The more breeders, the better :smile: . Good luck with them!

[OldMan]

It's good to hear that I can expect few problems keeping the eiseni with my habrosus. I like to keep my habrosus spread around some because they were so hard to find that I want some guarantees. It's the same thing I do with my endlers by keeping them in at least 3 tanks. Only have a small number of the eiseni so they are all together for now.

[Melody]

I've learned the hard way to do that too. It keeps the tanks more interesting anyway. ::D: