MonsterFishKeepers.com - Blogs http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php Monster Fish Keepers Forum - The Fastest Growing, Largest, and Most Actively Visited Freshwater and Saltwater Online Community Dedicated to Rare, Exotic, and Predatory Fish. en Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:12:15 GMT vBulletin 1 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/ms_icons/misc/rss.jpg MonsterFishKeepers.com - Blogs http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php ACA 2010 Pickups http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1878 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:29:29 GMT 'Lamprologus' speciosus

4 from Hazard on MCA (real name to come) 24

'Lamprologus' ornatipinnis

4 from Todd Leising 20

Telmatochromis dhonti

Reverse Trio Breeding group and 3 extra females from Andrew 30 for all. Lost one male on trip home.
 ]]> mike dunagan http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1878 110 Gallon Marine Land Commercial Tank Sale http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1846 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:58:45 GMT This is a 110 gallon Marineland tank that I have for sale. It is fully functional, although I took out the undergravel filter that comes with it. It can easily be reinstalled though. Everyhting on it works. It features it's own chiller, built in undergravel filter, built in lighting w/removable canopy. It had metal frames to guard the insides of the bottom of the tank where the A/C unit was stored, along with the D/C converter box, etc. The metal frames where replaced by a custom heavy duty wood frame, which can be removed if desired. It has a master drain valve at the bottom, which could possibly be routed into a sump instead if desired. Thick double paned glass, no leaks, cracks, or scratches. Commercial aquariums such as this made by marineland range all the way up to $1500.00 used. Mine is in good condition and is fully functioning, just needs tubing replaced for the undergravel filter, and I only want $500.00 for it. I am selling it to buy my banded cat shark a bigger tank. It can be pickup only though, and I live in Huntington, West Virginia. Please don't hesitate to contact me or ask for additional photos or desire additional photos of the tank.

Thanks, David
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]]> davidpauley11 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1846 Update http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1802 Tue, 25 May 2010 21:15:46 GMT The VATF's have been doing very well and eating regularly. They have been getting plump due to twice a day feedings.

Let's see if these pictures show up.
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]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1802 Day 12 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1798 Mon, 17 May 2010 13:47:10 GMT Well all VATF's are feeding nicely. Even Moe is eating Tilapia chunks. The only difference is I can just drop in the fish in front of Curly and he attacks it. With Moe I still have to hang it on a wire and wait a while before he will take it. It's like he doesn't like it but he'll choke it down because he's hungry. At least he's eating...

The first phase of the plan is complete. When they're a little bigger I plan to embed some food sticks or pellets into the fish chunks so they get some vitamins in addition to the meat.

Just did a water change over the weekend. I noticed that my algae scrubber is starting to work. There are some hair algae starting to grow on the screen. Got the lights on for over 12 hrs a day so hopefully I can cut down on the amount of water changed each week when I get some good algae growth. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1798 Day 11 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1794 Thu, 13 May 2010 01:13:40 GMT Well Moe still hasn't eaten yet. It's going on 9 days. I tried some tilapia and he showed no interest at all. Larry keeps eating food sticks and seems to prefer them over fish chunks. While Curly only will eat tilapia. I'm going to have to consolidate these diets pretty soon. :nilly:

I noticed that Larry gets a little anxious when he's hungry. He actually squeezed through the screen and got to the other side. Twice. I figured if I feed him he'll get a bigger belly and won't be able to squeeze through. And it worked. Curly is eating well and ate two large chunks today. I think I'll keep soaking the tilapia in with some food sicks before I feed him so it will pick up some of the flavor. Then one of these days when I start training him to go on food sticks only maybe it will be an easier transition. I'm not too concerned that he won't eat food sticks because when he gets bigger I could always stuff one into a fish chunk and he'll get the vitamin supplements in each one. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1794 Day 10 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1793 Tue, 11 May 2010 16:59:08 GMT Well they broke me.... a little. I noticed that Curly was trying to eat some plant leaves floating by on the current. I was assuming that he was starving since it's been over a week since he last ate. So I tried some food sticks at first and he totally ignored them. So I broke down and tried some frozen tilapia chunks. This time he chomped it down almost as soon as it hit the water. Amazing how he can tell almost instantly what it was. He had a somewhat difficult time swallowing and it got stuck in his throat. He finally choked it down after a few minutes. With Larry I figured since he had food sticks before he'll keep eating them. So I threw in some and sure enough he ate them. Now I tried the tilapia with Moe again and this time he ignored it. With Moe I think it will take more time since he was fatter than the other two and in a tank with no current. I put a power head in his tank now so let's see how much longer he can hold out. :D

It seems that Curly only likes tilapia and Larry will eat food sticks. So far Moe has only eaten live rosys. At this point I have 3 fish that each has their own individual preferences. It's pretty interesting how they all have different personalities likes and dislikes. I just never expected that before. One thing is for sure they're going to have to learn to eat a variety because there's no way I'm going to feed each one only what they want to eat. :grinno: ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1793 Day 9 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1790 Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:33 GMT Tried feeding sticks again. Curly nudged it a little but nothing more. So I guess that can be considered progress. :grinno: Meanwhile the Bala Sharks are getting fat from all the food sticks they've been gorging on. At least it's not going to waste.....:D

They're all starting to look really skinny but still very active. The scales have almost completely regrew from losing them during transport and the wounds on Curly have almost completely healed.

This live food weaning is pretty hard. Don't know if it's harder on them or me...:ROFL: ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1790 Day 8 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1787 Sun, 09 May 2010 14:38:33 GMT Well they just couldn't stop fighting :headshake so the divider had to go back in. This time I made sure it was sealed very well to the sides of the tank. I guess the last time there was a gap that's how Larry got through. This time they remain separated however the Bala Sharks are still small enough or skinny enough to squeeze through the openings.

So I tried feeding a piece of cut Tilapia. I put it on the end of a wire and moved it around. Curly took a few bites but didn't take the whole chunk. At least he's attempting to eat. Still no interest in food sticks though. I did the same thing with Moe and hung a pc of tilapia in the tank. I left it and as I was working on the other tank I heard the wire rattling around. Just like how your fishing pole gets rattled from a strike.:) I went over there and found the tilapia fell off the wire but not eaten. I guess that's a good sign that he's trying to eat non live food. Hopefully it's just a matter of time and hunger.

Time to do a water change. More attempts tomorrow. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1787 VATF (Day 7) http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1785 Sat, 08 May 2010 14:23:54 GMT So it was very interesting last night. Larry found a way to squeeze through the divider openings and reunite with Curly. I'm using the light diffuser panel. It's got 1/2" squares.

It seems there is a some type of bonding going on here. Since they're too small to be divided with the screen I have no choice but to leave the screen out. I noticed that they seem happy to be reunited constantly swimming together and almost nose bumping with affection. It really seems like they're showing some type of emotion. Hopefully the aggression won't come back.

So Curly nor Moe still hasn't eaten yet. But Larry is getting pretty healthy eating the Aro sticks. I'll try Hikari Carnivore sticks in a few days. Curly is looking mighty thin being in the big tank and getting good current. Sooner or later he's got to eat.:nilly: Moe on the other hand still looks pretty healthy by himself but there's very little current in that tank. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1785 Day 7 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1780 Fri, 07 May 2010 18:47:02 GMT Well, it happpened. Larry started picking on Curly so in went the partition. So now all three are separated. Larry is the only one eating pellets and the other two are still starving. It's only been 3-4 days since their last rosy meal. Let's see how long they hold out for? Now that they're separated I can control exactly how much each will eat. I'm going to try and monitor their growth so that they get to be about the same size before putting them back together. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1780 VATF (Day 6) http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1777 Thu, 06 May 2010 17:20:27 GMT I'm just going to name the ATF's so it's easier to refer to them. Moe will be the big one, Larry the middle and Curly the smallest.:D

Moe is still alone in his 40g and still not interested in the food sticks. However, Larry has started eating them! :headbang2 He ate two and has a big belly. Curly hasn't shown much interest though. Hopefully it's just a matter of time and hunger before they all start eating the sticks.

One thing that has started to get me a little concerned is that the abused fish support group has somehow broken up. It looks like Larry is starting to pick on Curly a little bit now.:shakehead I have a tank divider that I can put in there if it starts getting rougher. Curly's wounds are almost healed up. He still has a slash scar from Moe and the fins are filling back in. I guess these guys just can't be kept together. At least not at this stage. I guess the Bala punching bag distraction didn't work too well. Although I still think it's better to have some other fish in there rather than just ATF's. They would probably pick on each other more if they were by themselves. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1777 VATF (Day 5) http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1776 Wed, 05 May 2010 11:29:13 GMT Not much happening today. I set up a power head that puts a strong current in the tank and they seem to be more active swimming around. I swear the Bala Sharks and ATF's are schooling together. They all bunch up together and follow each other around.

I've got the temp up to 86* just to make sure there's no ich left in the water. A loach showed up with some symptoms which I quarantined so I want to make sure the tank is sterilized. I'll keep the temp elevated for about 3-4 more days just to be sure.

I'll feed the Balas some flakes and blood worms and see if the ATF's will go for any of it. No live food for them though. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1776 3 VATF (Day 4) http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1774 Tue, 04 May 2010 11:01:42 GMT Got some Bala Sharks hopefully as interference for when I reunite them. Then found out from another poster that it doesn't work.... Oh well anyone want any 3" Balas? :D

Fed them some Rosies. Hopefully this will be the last live meal in awhile. I noticed the difference between they way they eat from other preds that I've had. The RT Cuda does a dart/lunge and swallows the fish whole. With these they grab the fish and kinda chew them as they swallow. The plan is to put in some blood worms now and then. It will not satisfy them but just enough to keep them hungry for more. Than after 3-4 days introduce some Hikari sticks. ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1774 My 3 VATF http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1772 Tue, 04 May 2010 10:49:02 GMT I'd like to start a Blog to share my experience with raising some VATF's.

I picked them up 3 days ago from a LFS. Got 3 of them from 4 - 4.5". I put them into a 40 corner tank at first because I had a 7" Payara in my 150 gallon at the time. From a bad experience I made sure I kept them away from the Payara. I listed the Payara for sale and within one day sold him.

They were pretty well fed from the store so I figured I could start them on the prepared food starvation road. After one day with lights out to acclimate I threw in some frozen blood worms. They didn't care for them at first but the smaller one ate one then a second one ate one too. The big one was a little stubborn and refused to eat any. It was great. One small step!

Next day I tried some frozen worms again and they ate a few small pieces but nothing substantial. By this time I started noticing some fresh wounds on the smaller two. They had some slashes and more missing scales. As I sat and watched them I could see that the bigger one was picking on them. So I moved the smaller two to the 150g. Once they got in they seemed so happy. They were swimming around and schooling together. It's as if they formed a support group for the physically abused fish...:ROFL: ]]> sashimimaster http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1772 New pick up http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1750 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:08:10 GMT 33 F1 Cyphotilapia frontosa (Kigoma) Rest info to come 33 F1 Cyphotilapia frontosa (Kigoma)

Rest info to come ]]> mike dunagan http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/blog.php?b=1750