Common Name- The Black Prince, The Bold Goodeid
    Water Conditions- 67-74 degrees, decent water quality, some aeration and water
                                       movement
    Behavior-  Generally well behaved, males can be slightly aggressive with one another.
    Breeding- 5-10 Young every 60 Days. Not big Fry Eaters, but young should be raised
                        separately.
    Size- 2 inches

   

    The characodon audax is often considered a goodeid for the more experienced
    hobbyist, but they can be kept and bred easily with the correct, consistent
    conditions. As a hobbyist with fewer tanks, I had this fish in the past and will admit
    I was not always successful with it, and breeding them was never what I thought it
    should be, in frequency or size of broods.

    In the past I was making a couple fundamental mistakes. The first and most
    important was temperature. You have to keep these guys cooler- not need a chiller
    cooler, but cool enough such that your temperature does not go above 75 degrees,
    and a routine temperature of 72-74 is ideal. Here, the temperature stays between 67
    and 70 in the winter, and between 72 and 75 in the summer. A brief foray into the
    high 70s will not kill them, but it is believed that with some species, exposing them
    to temperatures over 80 degrees may cause them to become sterile. If kept above
    76- 78 degrees for more than a few days, they will gradually die off over time.

    Secondly, I use just a thin layer of 1/4" gravel over about half of the tank bottom to
    provide biological filtration, and keep the bottom of the tank siphoned up of mulm
    and debris. Here, 15% daily water changes helps ensure consistent water quality,
    but a weekly change of 40-50% should be adequate.

    Supplementing feeding with raw beefheart, daphnia and Brine shrimp will also
    improve breeding frequency and sizes of your broods.

    Live plants are provided for security and their contribution to maintaining water
    quality, and females are removed to drop their fry in either net breeders or another
    well planted, empty 10 gallon tank. The female is separated as soon as she drops
    and the young are raised for about a month before being put in with the adults.

 

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