# A few quick Exodon tetra questions!



## Albino_101 (Aug 14, 2008)

First, are Exodons legal in Texas, U.S.A.

Second, how big a tank should I keep them in If I only want about 8 of them(I read less than 8 is bad)

Third, Does anyone else on this forum keep them?

Fourth, Do they come in albino forms?

Lastly, does petsmart or petco ever sell them?


----------



## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Aspects just recently posted about them.
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fish-aquarium-pictures/26959-xos.html


----------



## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

first things first. Exodons, contrary to what the common name might lead you to believe, are not "tetras" as you have come to know them. No more than a payara is a "tetra". 
Exodons are a monotypic characin, who don't belong to any other sun category. 

For more info on exodons, visit my page here: www.exodonparadoxus.blogspot.com 

Now on to your questions. 

- as far as I know, exodons are not restricted for import anywhere in the US.

- without knowing the details of your set up (filtration, maintenence, etc) I would suggest sticking to the 1"/gal rule. That would give you between a 20 and 30g tank. 

- besides myself, I don't know if anyone else here keeps them. I don't believe so. 
I have quite a few myself. Somewhere around 2-300. 

- no, as far as I have seen in my resear h, there is no other color variant. 

- no. I would not count on seeing them at petsmart any time soon. They are not a very common species, and you will likely have to special order them through your LFS.


----------



## Albino_101 (Aug 14, 2008)

Thanks aspects, you appear to care for many of these guys, any chance I could buy some from you possibly?

I have a 60 gallon tank that they will be going into.


----------



## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

sadly, no. even if i were able to ship them to you, it would end up costing you an arm and a leg in shipping alone. (anything going in or out of hawaii is difficult and expensive to ship. especially livestock)

your best bet is to contact a few of your LFS (not "big box" stores like petsmart or petco, but rather the local independent fish shops). let them know what you are looking for, and have them contact their suppliers. you may not get them right away, but it will be well wort the wait.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

although i have them available. they would still be a bit costly to get to you..at $6.00 each , with a minimum purchase of 10 , plus about $25-$40 shipping...
winds up to be 8-10 bucks a fish


----------



## Albino_101 (Aug 14, 2008)

Lohachata that is not that expensive in my opinion, then gain I am what people might consider "well off".


----------



## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

I've actually (sadly) seen them in a local Petco - picture a small tank with two rainbowfish cowering in one corner (and a few bodies on the gravel), and a single Exodon sitting in the middle of the tank -- they didn't know enough to not put them in with $10 rainbowfishes, or to keep them in large groups - I wonder how many they inadvertently sold to people as "community" fish ?

We sell them in my LFS for about $7-8 each, and I usually recommend a school of about 10 in a 30g tank as a minimum. 
Very cool fish :mrgreen:
I know Neale Monks has written a few articles on them recently, I think the latest was in a recent issue of TFH.

as an aside, I find the definition of "tetra" from wikipedia to be a pretty good guide to what is admittedly an undefined "grouping" of fishes (or at least what the definition says today, since it could be complete different in the future)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetra
:mrgreen:


----------

