Hatchetfish owners?

[shawmutt]

OK, I'm at wits end...I just drove to my lfs in search of a fish to add to my tank. The owner finally got a blue ram, they are really pretty fish, unfortunately this one was dead on the bottom of the tank. I decided to get the school of cardinals bigger and leave it at that. He raised the price of cardinals $7! Now they are $22 for four...he said because they are tank raised. I'm not paying that much money for fish I probably will never see again once they get into my tank. So that leaves a few options. I'm thinking hatchet fish. My question is, are they as nervous as the cardinals? I'm thinking with them on the top, the cardinals in the middle, and the cories on the bottom will make a sweet tank.

I swear, I'm almost ready to return the cardinals and start a whole new tank.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Hatchetfish can be a bit skittish in a new tank-- but should settle into their new home pretty quickly. One thing to keep in mind with hatchets is to make sure the tank is completely covered-- as they are excellent jumpers.

How many cardinals are you currently housing? Perhaps there aren't enough of them to feel comfortable in the tank (that whole strength in numbers thing)?

 

[shawmutt]

I have 9, I've had up to twelve at one time, three died soon after buying them. I found out something interesting. I was in my fish hall getting some stuff from the fish cabinet when I noticed that the fish were swimming about. I got up to leave and they hid. It seems that when I'm observing the tank lower they aren't scared of me...maybe I'll try watching them while sitting on the floor instead of on my chair. I'm still iffy about the hatchets...my tank cover is missing some of the plastic partitions in the back, leaving some pretty big holes in the lid.

 

[catfish1102]

I've got 4 silver hatchets. Very peaceful, get along fine with the other fish (guppies, tetras, angels, plec). They hang around together at the top of the tank. To be honest, they're not the most interesting fish in the world, they don't even swim up and down much, they just kind of hover, and they do jump so be careful.

BTW $7 for a cardinal!!! Thats incredible. I'm in the UK and can get cardinals for 60p each, (about 50cents?).

Good luck with your tank - is there another LFS you can use?