[Forked_Tongue]

I have 6 golds about dime sized in a 20 long. and was curious

when do start trying to rip the shibby out of each other

or

when do they start ripping the shibby out of tiny tiny feeder guppies

i have 11 guppies in the tank with them :biggrin: and want some carnage but they seem to only handle 1 blooworm at a time for now nad they havent even gone near the gupies and the spilos school together

 

[bobme]

you got some time to wait before then, prb arond 1 inch but sooner then later they will need a biger tank.

 

[Xenon]

I dont know about the behavior of spilos in this sort of arrangement. I am looking foward to getting my spilos from MAD to determine their behavior and gain some experience. I am not sure how long you will be able to keep them in that 30g though before they start ripping into each other due to overcrowding. Please keep us informed on how they are doing as this will be beneficial for us all.

 

[Croz]

i would say 1" or so then you will need a bigger tank or separate them.

 

[Forked_Tongue]

i will keep you all informed... they are so cute..... hehehe little terrors look like they are just sucking on the bloodworms since you cant see their mouths moving all that much....also i have a carpet of java fern and 1 green foxtail,,,,they LOVE the foxtail, they sleep in the bushy part lol anyways...ttyl

 

[JEARBEAR]

You need to get a bigger tank in a couple of months or they will start ripping the sh*t out of each other.

 

[InSinUAsian]

Your young spilos will grow about an inch a month. I got my 10 at about 1-1.5 inchs, and within a month I could tell the 65 they were in was getting too small. Had to move them to a 180. Since I got them on Jan.15th at 1-1.5 inches, they have grown to about 3-3.25 inches. That 20 long is not gonna be able to house them for very long. Quite soon you will see alot of aggression. Spilos in a school setting will grow fast. Almost as fast as pygos.

Hope you are prepared. I would say that 6 spilos would outgrow a 20L when they get to be about an inch or so (about a month, give or take a week or two). For life, if you were hoping to keep all 6, I would not recomend anything smaller then a 125. They need more room then pygos, so the 20 gallon rule (although not recomended for even pygos) is far less then needed when you have a small tank. They are just too aggressive toward each other. Have a hospital tank ready, just in case.

~Keep in mind these are my opinions/experiences. Other members have had luck keeping spilos in different setups. Find what works for yours, and go with that.~

I did a write up on schooling spilos about a month ago. I think that i posted it here, but i know for sure I did over on PFISH.net. Do a search for my username and you will find it. Hope it helps, and good luck.

~Dj

 

[WebHostExpert]

the spilos I have left have killed and eaten every guppy in there tank.
MAD

 

[Poseidon X]

Most Serras tend to be real nasty towards each other when they are below 5 inches but they tend to be less nippy when they grow out of the fin bitting stage, except for rohms who never grow out of that stage.

 

[Outie]

I'm probably getting my spilos from mad in a week or so. I'm gonna be tossing them in a 40 breeder and hopefully gutloading the hell out of them, also i'm planning on always having guppies and goldfish stocked in the tank to spread otu some of the aggression. Also my tank temp will be around 76. Also im gonna try to rig up something so there is a lot of hidding spots for them to also try to lower the amounts of deaths. If i even end up with a nice shoal of 5-6 that reach 5-6 inches I will be happy.

 

[InSinUAsian]

When schooling spilos, I have found recently (past few weeks) that having constant goldfish in the tank with them is not necessarily needed. I got tired of throwing in 5 sometime 10 large feeders, then 15 minutes later fishing out 5 sometimes 10 fish heads. In my case, feeders didnt last long enough to become purely "chasing object".

The spilos do chase each other, but I have found that in the larger tank, this does not usually turn into anything serious. Just a quick chase, and one will retreat to the opposite side of the tank. I think that is key in raising a nice active school of spilos that does not merely sit in one place due to overpacking, is a large tank. Despite the fact that my spilos are only 3 inches or so (perhaps a little more) I am starting to feel that if I were to keep all 10, I would definately need something larger then a 180 for life. Perhaps on the order of a 360 or somthing like that. From the looks of how things are turning out, (aggression and size wise) I would be happy to end up with only 4-5 large full size (breeding??) spilos. And even that is hopeful wishing on my part. Perhaps when they all get a little bigger, they will calm down a bit.

~Dj