What the...???
I though that you took good care of your fish...but look at this guy! He's skin and bones!
Don't you feed him???
More tank pics, updated
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
I though that you took good care of your fish...but look at this guy! He's skin and bones!
Don't you feed him???
LOL and to think they all get no food two days out of every week!What the...???
I though that you took good care of your fish...but look at this guy! He's skin and bones!
Don't you feed him???
Whatever genes Pip and Mongo combined they oughta bottle it. I've got a tank of fryers in the 125. Hell, he was 6 inches half a year ago. Guess I'll have to measure Tank when he's moved too.
Hulk got a less than warm reception from his siblings/relatives which I expected. Even his size don' t cut any ice...Stripey and Bubba are just as big, and others not far behind. The big guy found a quiet spot and sulked...until there was food. Then he perked up.
BP Boss still has a size/bulk advantage over this guy. While the parrot tolerated Hulk to some degree he bangs Tank around to the point where Tank only comes out in the open for food. Then he darts back to his area or swings wide around Boss.
Hulk is pretty much a burger.
Can't wait to see your new oscar and chocolate!
I still hurt about Brick but am looking forward to a new chapter. Also hoping for another 'special' chocolate like Bobo was! It will probably be during the summer months as I make changes to the tanks.
I guess you could say 'block'. Hulk is 7 L x 4 H x 1 1/2 W . Ridiculous! His brother Tank may be even bigger but I won't know for sure until he's moved. I have a theory about what's going on with the sizes...most of my fish grow considerably larger than stated online or get maximum size. Examples:
Female golden rainbow Pepper (6")
All blood parrots 7 1/2 to 8 1/2+ range
Oscar Brick 15" over 3 1/2 lbs at 5 years, likely could have hit 16" in time. Even allowing for tumor he still would be around 3lbs at least
Chocolate Bobo (female) ~11" inches 1/1/4 lbs could have hit a foot with better health and time maybe
Gold Severum Corn 9"
Male acara rocky 8"
Female acara Jazz 7"
Numerous huge hrps
Largest female hrp last measured at 4 1/4"
I posted a thread awhile back about how oxygenation affects growth of fish. It was just a theory I had but apparently its true when I did some research: fish utilize nutrients better for growth with more oxygen. Its a balancing act of not having too much but all my tanks have loads of water movement and surface motion.
So I think its a combination of factors
genetics
water changes
oxygenation
environment
socialization/activity/interaction
stressors/health
food
I always put genetics first because no matter what you do that's the one factor no fishkeeper can affect. If a fish is meant to be big it will be big provided the environment allows it. There's a reason you don't see or catch the biggest fish often in the wild. They didn't get that big by being stupid...some get lucky and some are smart. How many times do you see some new 'record' that seems unbelievable of a catch.
Baby trout: "Gee granpa you're the biggest river trout I ever seen."
Giant trout: "Didn't get there by being stupid, little one. It's all about survival."
Baby trout: "But can I get big as you?"
Giant trout: "Sure, if you get lucky and don't do dumb stuff like grabbing hooks and swimming around predators too much."
More updates
In the 225 the re-scaping continues as live plants are blended with the artifical. I took out the rocks I had in a pile. While they looked cool as a mound they just collected too much crud every day to keep up with.
Spoke at length with the fish specialist at the Upper Marlboro MD Petco about donating the hrp juvies. He was pretty excited about it, saying he had plenty of tanks and could always take some home as well! He's planning a 700 gallon custom build from a friend. Said if I wanted a custom tank (glass or acrylic) to let him know. I'll get that information and pass it along.
I asked him about oscars (wild, tiger or green). He said he sold a couple of lemons recently. They can get pretty much anything that's available except restricted species. Said he had customers unloading snakeheads and piranhas. The fish will be dropped off tomorrow: I'll call him and then he'll head to the store to set everything up.
Meanwhile, more plants are arriving. Got the Rosanervig yesterday. Three look good, one's in rough shape. I have them in quarantine under bright light and seachem flourish.
Pic of the latest shipment
In the 225 the re-scaping continues as live plants are blended with the artifical. I took out the rocks I had in a pile. While they looked cool as a mound they just collected too much crud every day to keep up with.
Spoke at length with the fish specialist at the Upper Marlboro MD Petco about donating the hrp juvies. He was pretty excited about it, saying he had plenty of tanks and could always take some home as well! He's planning a 700 gallon custom build from a friend. Said if I wanted a custom tank (glass or acrylic) to let him know. I'll get that information and pass it along.
I asked him about oscars (wild, tiger or green). He said he sold a couple of lemons recently. They can get pretty much anything that's available except restricted species. Said he had customers unloading snakeheads and piranhas. The fish will be dropped off tomorrow: I'll call him and then he'll head to the store to set everything up.
Meanwhile, more plants are arriving. Got the Rosanervig yesterday. Three look good, one's in rough shape. I have them in quarantine under bright light and seachem flourish.
Pic of the latest shipment
News.
The second wave of hrp juvies went to Petco...I kept 3 from Brutus, 3 from Mica and 2 from Blackbeard. So the growout now has:
Ace
Blackbeard
Neet
Shroud (Shroud is half blank, half striped with a red belly)
And the juvies. The accumulation of mulm crud in the sand and large sponge filter was unbelievable. In five days it was all fouled after a thorough cleaning (of course it was grossly overstocked with sub adults and babies). I also removed the extra silk plants used for fry cover. It didn't take a minute for Blackbeard to start pushing everyone around again, lol.
Same thing with the tub holding Mica's offspring. I believe some of them got bumped off...there were less than a month ago. The guppy grass and pothos I put in with that group goty buzz sawed.
Tip: Seachem flourish will help pothos that is submerged. I'm getting an interesting growth pattern now...very long vines with spaced apart leaves. But its different depending on the tank for some reason:
125 - pothos leaves are ok to fair and pothos has clumped roots. Hornwort showing signs of life with green stems but has a way to go. Octopus grass and water sprite doing great.
Blood Parrot tanks - pothos leaves huge (6")and robust with multiple Short stems
40 breeder - pothos leaves mid sized, healthy. Long vine extensions
225 - hornwort robust, Pothos leaves mid to large with clumps of roots and long vines . Octopus grass bushes, water sprite doing great
Hrp Lazarus' tank -Loose octopus grass growing like crazy. Pothos leaves partially eaten but still showing growth.
Highly recommend the octopus grass. It grows as advertised and doesn't get eaten!!
The second wave of hrp juvies went to Petco...I kept 3 from Brutus, 3 from Mica and 2 from Blackbeard. So the growout now has:
Ace
Blackbeard
Neet
Shroud (Shroud is half blank, half striped with a red belly)
And the juvies. The accumulation of mulm crud in the sand and large sponge filter was unbelievable. In five days it was all fouled after a thorough cleaning (of course it was grossly overstocked with sub adults and babies). I also removed the extra silk plants used for fry cover. It didn't take a minute for Blackbeard to start pushing everyone around again, lol.
Same thing with the tub holding Mica's offspring. I believe some of them got bumped off...there were less than a month ago. The guppy grass and pothos I put in with that group goty buzz sawed.
Tip: Seachem flourish will help pothos that is submerged. I'm getting an interesting growth pattern now...very long vines with spaced apart leaves. But its different depending on the tank for some reason:
125 - pothos leaves are ok to fair and pothos has clumped roots. Hornwort showing signs of life with green stems but has a way to go. Octopus grass and water sprite doing great.
Blood Parrot tanks - pothos leaves huge (6")and robust with multiple Short stems
40 breeder - pothos leaves mid sized, healthy. Long vine extensions
225 - hornwort robust, Pothos leaves mid to large with clumps of roots and long vines . Octopus grass bushes, water sprite doing great
Hrp Lazarus' tank -Loose octopus grass growing like crazy. Pothos leaves partially eaten but still showing growth.
Highly recommend the octopus grass. It grows as advertised and doesn't get eaten!!
Time to get back to the pics. There will be some major news later this spring as I rework things.
Correction on earlier post: From the hrps I kept 2 fry from Brutus, 2 from Mica and 2 from Blackbeard. Brutus' fry are oldest and largest. I moved Reeva into the all female breeder tank from the 125...she was gearing up for more wigglers. She's a pretty thing with extremely high contrast stripes in breeding dress, almost b/w like a zebra. In shape and overall pattern she's a near replica of her great-grandmother Pip, especially in her blue phase. But out of all the breeding females so far she's absoluely the worst mother. The remaining handul of her previous fry have pretty much been on their own...Mongo is ousted (permanently it seems) as co-boss and stays in a big log all day, sticking his head out like a moray eel. So he isn't guarding fry. Reeva was all "had 'em, now I'm done." She gave them her attention for all of a week. That show is over now that she's plunked in the breeder tank with sisters/cousins/aunts.
Some pics of Blackbeard. He's a character and pushy as they come. Watches everything and spends most of his day herding everyone around to where he wants them to stay! Also good at starting random squabbles.
Correction on earlier post: From the hrps I kept 2 fry from Brutus, 2 from Mica and 2 from Blackbeard. Brutus' fry are oldest and largest. I moved Reeva into the all female breeder tank from the 125...she was gearing up for more wigglers. She's a pretty thing with extremely high contrast stripes in breeding dress, almost b/w like a zebra. In shape and overall pattern she's a near replica of her great-grandmother Pip, especially in her blue phase. But out of all the breeding females so far she's absoluely the worst mother. The remaining handul of her previous fry have pretty much been on their own...Mongo is ousted (permanently it seems) as co-boss and stays in a big log all day, sticking his head out like a moray eel. So he isn't guarding fry. Reeva was all "had 'em, now I'm done." She gave them her attention for all of a week. That show is over now that she's plunked in the breeder tank with sisters/cousins/aunts.
Some pics of Blackbeard. He's a character and pushy as they come. Watches everything and spends most of his day herding everyone around to where he wants them to stay! Also good at starting random squabbles.
