Exodon/Bucktooth Tetras

[IanB]

Hi All,

I have kept a lot of different fish but not many aggressive fish (no monster fish, though obv they aren't all aggressive, no African cichlids, etc...). Multis and Amazon puffers are about as aggressive as I've gone. I'm going to be setting up an aquarium for my nephew (7 year old) in a couple months and it will be a 75g stocked with Exodon tetras. My tentative plan is to heavily plant the back with Echinodorus and a decent amount of hardscape and leave the front pretty open for swimming, with lower carpeting plants or even sand foreground. I don't have any experience with Exodons, outside of reading up on them. There is a lot of conflicting information on whether it has to be species-only, or whether some durable, scale-less bottom-dwellers like plecos and/or corys are ok if they are put in before the exodons. I've also seen anywhere from 20-50 as a recommended stocking load for a 75g to spread out some of the aggression.

Any tips on stocking, numbers, or other aspects of setup? (Filtration won't be an issue, as I always over filter to help polish the water)

[NOLANANO]

Any particular reason you chose Exodons? I don't know much about them but I do have a 7 year old and he is interested in the fish the first month they are in my tank and then he doesn't care anymore until we get a new fish. Sure he wants to feed the fish still but he doesn't care all that much outside of that unless they are new and even feeding is hit or miss depending on if he has anything "better" to do. My point being that choosing a single fish that seems to severely limit the tankmates doesn't seem like the best idea for a 7 year old long term. 

Maybe I am wrong and your nephew has a better attention span than my son but if I were you I would take him to the fish store and get a feel for which fish he likes and then plan the tank around a centerpiece fish of his choice. Pick a dither fish or 2 to get a 10-15 fish school for each, Pick a type of cory or other bottom dweller, maybe a type of hatchet fish or something like that for the top portion, and then get the centerpiece fish last.  Make the stocking take a good 6 months until all the fish you plan are in the tank to maximaize his interest.

After you get the fish in and its fairly established, you can try things like neocardina shrimp or dwarf cpo crawfish or bamboo shrimp or maybe some snails. The more you can mix it up and allow him to add things to the tank, the more you can peak his interest imo. Trips to the fish store are fun if he can buy stuff. I have learned that window shopping isn't as fun for my 7 year old as it is for me.

Edit: idk if you are using plants and hardscape you already own which would make sense from a cost standpoint but if you are going to buy this stuff, maybe give him a couple of rock options, maybe take him to pick out the wood, maybe give him some options for plants.  Like I said, my son likes everything other than caring for the fish long term lol. I did all the tank decorating and made the decisions myself without his input and part of me wishes I would have included him with some of it. If he ever shows any real interest in my tank, I plan on suggesting a 20 gallon or something like that for his room but I will take his lead on that and not for ce anything.

Edited February 19 by NOLANANO

[mynameisnobody]

I’ve had a school of them in a 90 gallon about 5 years ago. Anything that went in the tank got attacked. It’s quite brutal and torturous to have it in anything other than a species only. 

[Colu]

A friend kept them and they had a nasty habit of biting out one of  the eyes of weaker fish in the group 

[IanB]

@NOLANANO Ha, that is all very good advice and almost exactly what we did for the first tank (also a 75g). He got all sorts of community fish over about a year in weekly trips for the fish store for new food or plants or fish. Then, once his attention span calmed down, we re-homed the fish to a friend who wanted them and set up what he really wanted— an Amazon puffer tank. He has had that for about 8 months and still loves it/feeds it every day. He chose everything that went into the tank (with some vetoes for compatibility).

This time around he is really obsessed with something predatory and I need something plant-friendly. He fell in love with the Exodons months ago and is really fixated so I want to make it happen, even if it is species only and his impulse stuff has to go with his puffers.

On 2/19/2024 at 4:27 PM, mynameisnobody said:

I’ve had a school of them in a 90 gallon about 5 years ago. Anything that went in the tank got attacked. It’s quite brutal and torturous to have it in anything other than a species only. 

As a species-only tank did it do well?

[IanB]

Here is the first community version with stuff he picked out (I did plant/arrange the stuff). He likes the chaotic jungle look.

[Tlindsey]

On 2/19/2024 at 7:38 PM, IanB said:

@NOLANANO Ha, that is all very good advice and almost exactly what we did for the first tank (also a 75g). He got all sorts of community fish over about a year in weekly trips for the fish store for new food or plants or fish. Then, once his attention span calmed down, we re-homed the fish to a friend who wanted them and set up what he really wanted— an Amazon puffer tank. He has had that for about 8 months and still loves it/feeds it every day. He chose everything that went into the tank (with some vetoes for compatibility).

This time around he is really obsessed with something predatory and I need something plant-friendly. He fell in love with the Exodons months ago and is really fixated so I want to make it happen, even if it is species only and his impulse stuff has to go with his puffers.

As a species-only tank did it do well?

They are definitely a species own fish. I remember my introduction to them in the 1970's very piranha like behavior. 

[mynameisnobody]

@IanB as a species only, it went excellent, however quite boring. At the time, I had about 20 other aquariums to occupy my brain, but if I didn’t then I probably would have gotten rid of them sooner. 

[NOLANANO]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:38 PM, IanB said:

Ha, that is all very good advice and almost exactly what we did for the first tank (also a 75g). He got all sorts of community fish over about a year in weekly trips for the fish store for new food or plants or fish. Then, once his attention span calmed down, we re-homed the fish to a friend who wanted them and set up what he really wanted— an Amazon puffer tank. He has had that for about 8 months and still loves it/feeds it every day. He chose everything that went into the tank (with some vetoes for compatibility).

This time around he is really obsessed with something predatory and I need something plant-friendly. He fell in love with the Exodons months ago and is really fixated so I want to make it happen, even if it is species only and his impulse stuff has to go with his puffers.

1) it looks like you are doing Exodons then lol. One other idea that maybe he would like is Jewel cichlids. They are very pretty and stay smallish. I saw MD fishtanks put some in a community planted tank but it was an 8 foot tank so I am not sure if it would work in a 75G. Just thought I'd give the suggestion in case you wanted to try to find an alternative to the Exodons.

2) I recently got some Amazon puffers and started a journal about them (linked below) because it didn't seem like anyone els eon this board had any experience with them. I figured I journal my experience so anyone else who wants them could have something to read through to get some first hand trials and errors. I would love if you'd drop in and give any tips or opinions that you have.