marble hatchet questions

Here_fishy_fishy · March 15th, 2008

i was looking at the marble hatchets and i love them

!! i was reading into them, but i am not sure how large they get i have read 1.5 or up to 3"

? and also if i were to get them i was only gonna get 2 is that correct? are they top dwellers? the ones at the LFS where at the bottom "playing" lol i guess any information from you guys would help much more than the sites or the LFS

LOL

MissMTS · March 15th, 2008

The problem with marble hatchets is that their maximum adult size has not yet been confirmed. I was going to put some in my angel tank, but decided against it after I found that out. Is your tank cycled? I definetly wouldn't add them in until after your tank is cycled. I don't know about marbled, but most hatchets do well in groups of about 6. If you do go for the marbled hatchets (they are gorgeous fish) I would just make sure that you leave room in your tank for 3 inches for each fish in case they do get that big at their adult size.

Hatchetheaven is a great person to talk to about hatchets and knows a lot about them, so hopefully he will see your post and respond

Here_fishy_fishy · March 15th, 2008

cool thanks for ur info

Blub · March 15th, 2008

Hi!

All hatchets need to be kept in groups of six, they own a 'tricky' reputation because people attempt to keep them in small numbers. As the Marbled hatchet's size is undecided - treat it as a 3" fish. There is a Common (Silver) hatchet which only gets 1.5" - and has a subtle beauty of its own, the scales shimmer like 1000 little diamonds in a dimly lit room when the lights are out. Hatchets tend to swim down to the middle sometimes, but if they where acting like corys then don't buy them. They are obviously unhealthy if they are on the bottom - I have never experienced it. You have room for 8 Common hatchets in there, not marbleds though. Marbled hatchets are prone to whitespot, and have the ability to jump 2M in the air when scared! Now, when doing a water change you have to watch your Marbleds don't jump out, or you will get chaos as 1 way to euthanise a fish is to throw it against the wall. Get the picture? Common hatchets aren't prone to whitespot and to my knowledge don't make such epic jumps, none of my Common have ever leaped. The hatchet family is the only group of fish that acctualy 'flys', if you look at their fins they are like wings. They flap them whilst jumping, whereas 'Flying fish' only glide. There is a 'Marthae hatchet' which is like a combo of both Common and Marbled hatchets. They have the pattern of a Marbled, but the size, whitespot resistance and as far as I know 'doesn't jump as much as Marbled hatchets' of the Common. As with many hatchets, max size is undecided but it's around 1.5-2". You could fit 6-8 of those in your tank. LiveAquaria sells Mathae's, they might be worth checking out.
Also, with hatchets. They have a very slim body, and are easily sucked into the filter intake. In the past month I lost 2 hatchets to my filter - I am developing a filter guard for it so I don't lose so many of my beloved little dudes. If you have a filter which has slits bigger than 3mm it's worth developing some kind of defence for your hatchets. I'm looking at thin fabric at the moment, my last plastic mesh one wasn't good enough and a poor hatchet was still killed by the filter.

I hope you get hatchets - they are great fish. Remember, all the varietys will school together. So, you currently have around 13" of fish, 3 Marbled hatchets, and 5 Common hatchets, you have a school of hatchets, with neat looking ones and shimmery cool ones and it fits perfectly into your 29gal.

Here_fishy_fishy · March 15th, 2008

so will silver hatchet and marble hatchet school together or do they like there own kind?

Blub · March 16th, 2008

Hi!

Yes, if you read my previous post carefully I did say they would school together. I suggest you get 3 Marbled and 5 Common.

cichlidlover · August 15th, 2008

i heard they get to be 2-2.5 inches i would keep 6 in a school

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