Stiphodon Species

So I was buying a new car and stumbled across a fantastic MA at Bordon in Hampshire. They had a stunning collection of fish suitable for nano tanks including an array of Stiphodon species. I purchased a Stiphodon atropurpureus for a fantastic £4.50. This little stunner has completely stripped any algae including the pesky BBA within 24 hours of being in my tank. I'm now worried that I'm not going to be able to grow enough algae for my new favourite fish!

If you get a chance to visit this MA you will not be disappointed. I didn't even notice a fish that looked under the weather, let alone dead/diseased in any tank. Extremely helpful staff too!

They are gorgeous fish, and some of the other Stiphodons have even more elaborate colours, though they seem to retail at between £15-£20 if you can find them. For the first time ever I'm worried I won't have enough algae for this aufwuch eater, so I've ramped the lights up for an extra 4 hours and will see how we go!

Cheers Simon,
I already add algae wafers for my shrimp and my Pseudomugil sp. Red neon also love them. From what I've read, stiphodon love fresh algae and given that this one little fish has cleaned every corner of my tank in a matter of 48 hours I believe it's true. He's making my RCS and Nerite crew look positively lazy at the moment!

Now there's an idea!

Good news! Check that they're eating well as like otocinclus, these guys sometimes aren't in the best shape at LFS. I'm actively encouraging algae in my tank and there's still not a trace. Unbelievable little guy!

Yeah, he wasn't interested for a couple of days, but now dives on the wafers. They like bloodworm and daphnia too, but these should only be a small part of their diet. Mine cost £4.50, but that was about £4 cheaper than I'd seen anywhere else. I'm sure you already know, but they like cooler tank temps due to their preference for highly oxygenated tanks.

You'll love their unusual behaviour. Very lizard-like!

Otos are lovely too, though I do love my Stiphodon.

Oh yeah, forgot to say, they dig! Not enough to disturb plants, but they will bury under stones and wood.

They spend most of their time munching algae off stones and plants. They root around the substrate a bit and also the glass  but it's their algae eating from plants and rocks that amazes me. I had a fair bit of the dreaded black beard algae in my tank when I got back from holiday. Within 3 days it was all gone. I now have my lights on for 12 hours a day and not a spot of visible algae anywhere.

They don't really dig in the substrate like MTS do, but they do burrow under stones and wood.

The oddest thing I find about them is that they seem to  cling to the glass by their fins and not their mouth like plecos and otos.

A stunning fish that I would highly recommend. I would be careful quarantining them though as they are aufwuch eaters and would do best in a mature tank. That said, mine does seem happy enough on the algae wafers when I drop one in.

They had three in the tank, at the LFS, labeled as Rainbow Stiphodon and priced at £6.95 each.

They all looked healthy, if a little drab in colouration.
They're about 4 - 4.5cm long, predominantly grey-beige but with a flash of electric blue on their lips and cheeks.

Apparently though, these fish can change colour...

So, I'm unsure which species of Stiphodon they are, but they're now all acclimatising in the quarantine tank as I type this.

I managed to get all three for £15 so I'm very pleased. 

Looking forward to seeing if they colour up when they go into the main tank...

Was yours brightly coloured from the beginning or did it take a while?

Mine are already looking darker in the QT and I see stripes now.