Well, I noticed I was coming up on post 1000 and I started thinking about the thread I made when I hit my 100th post back in 2011 and figured it was time for an update on my CS/SA display tank. I decided that instead of resurrecting an old thread, that I'd start a new one, seeing as the tank is different than it used to be anyways. I don't want to bore you guys with the tank details (that's what my build thread in my sig is for) but my stock has changed a bit as well as matured and since I don't post them (my fish) individually all that often, I figured, that just like before, now was as good of a time as ever to do so.
In no specific order:
Abe, my True Parrot (H. psittacus), I had to go ahead and put in 2 shots of this guy, I really liked what he was showing fin-age wise in the first pic but his colors were more "true to life" in the 2nd.
Moby (Astronotus ocellatus), the boss of the tank. He was mating with my late O Swamp Thing (rip) and has gotten Fire Marshall Bill to drop eggs once but nothing has come of it. He used to be very aggressive for an O but has since calmed down a bit, the only fish that have seen ever actually challenge him was Abe, my parrot above.
Fire Marshall Bill (yes another Oscar
), She got her name before I knew she was a female; by the time I saw her drop eggs for Moby I had already been calling her Bill for so long it just stuck.
Lucy (Heros sp. 'rotkeil'), formally Casanova Frankenstein (I renamed her when I realized that she was a female at maturity).
Ricky (Heros efasciatus), my male Turquoise Severum. This guy throws his bars off and on like no other, he looks pretty mellow in the pic I have posted but he changes from super pale to turquoise/yellow/red with super black bars at the drop of a hat; He usually does this at feeding time but lately I've been seeing him just swimming around showing off. He spent about 2 or 3 months in a hospital tank because Lucy went crazy and beat the crap out of him one day but the two have been fine since the incident (months have passed).
Napoleon (Pterophyllum scalare), the tough Angel.
I originally picked up 3 Angels back in 2011; Moby killed one of them right away, I lost the other to some sickness it had when I picked it up (Napoleon was that fishes' replacement) and I believe that my bichir may have killed the last of the original 3 when they had to briefly share a smaller tank. All in all I can't say that I've had that much luck with Angels, which is why I never got around to getting this guy any Angel buddies but I have raised him from the size of a quarter and he is now a happy permanent inhabitant of my main tank and gets along just fine with his tankmates.
Large Marge (Aequidens pulcher), The largest of my Acara, this fish is fat, no two ways about it but she seems happy and is very active, not to mention she is a voracious eater (as you can probably tell). I hadn't originally planned to keep her, as she was just one of many fry that I was growing out to sell but you know the way things go.
Minion (yet another Blue Acara), Originally the only Acara I had planned to keep besides the two that paired off from the batch of fry I was raising. He was my favorite in the Acara tank, mostly because he was the most interactive.
MoJo JoJo (Thorichthys meeki), this guy reminds me of my neighbors dog because he is barking all the time! Seriously, this little 5-6 incher fears no fish (but respects the big O's). He has paired up with my Nicaraguan and viciously defends their territory from any fish that ventures too close, he is of course, like all Fire Mouths, more bark than bite but this makes him entertaining to watch while not having to worry about him doing any real damage to the other fish in the tank.
Nikki (Hypsophrys nicaraguensis), she was an impulse buy, caught a glimpse of her at my lfs and had to snatch her up.
Ippo (Rocio octofasciata), I avoided grabbing one of these for my tanks for years, I was (still am) worried about their demeanor. My worries however have been set aside for the moment as I really love the way this guy is looking, he seems to get more colorful on a daily basis.
Cordell (H. carpintis) <---Correct me if I'm wrong here. Huge fan of this girl; I kept seeing good looking Texas' on this site and decided it was time to get one myself. She is still relatively young but is already looking pretty awesome and is a surprisingly fast growing fish. I have heard a few horror stories of Texas Cichlids running wild which is why I ended up picking up a female and crossing my fingers!
My group of 5 Red Hump Geo (geophagus steindachneri) I picked these guys up because I was hoping to add a small shoal of colorful fish that were from the CA/SA region that would clean up after my larger messier cichlids, while not becoming lunch themselves. Currently they aren't all that colorful but expect them to color up nicely when they mature as a few of them are already starting to color up. I unfortunately couldn't catch all 5 of them in one shot but I did catch 4
Spike, Spot, Rex, Toto, Dollar and Lady Bird (Metynnis lippincottianus) I won't try to explain who is who in this group other than that Spike is the one that is clearly twice the size of all the others, he is also the only one that catches algae discs and eats them like cookies (they rotate like a pizza tray). I've had three of them for quite some time now and just recently added the second set of 3 to the group.
I've also added a second pic because I noticed that my 2 remaining long fin blushing tetras are in the pics. They are awesome fish but unfortunately their high body shape, wasn't quite high enough, as I started with 10. You know Oscars...
Noodle (Polypterus senegalus), he is my wife's favorite fish and the true oddball of the tank. I know he doesn't fit the the SA/CA theme but I like him and plan on keeping him around. I debated moving him to his own tank with some appropriate tank mates but decided I didn't want to rob him of living in the large tank.
Godzilla (Pterygoplichthys pardalis), yes, I was one of the guys that got talked into buying a pleco by someone at Petsmart as a "cleaner fish" when I first started fish keeping. By far my oldest fish, he's a poop factory and not out much but as long as he's around I'll be taking care of him.
Tigger (Semaprochilodus insignis), I got lucky when I found this guy at my lfs, I hadn't seen one in a store around here before or since; he was in an order that someone made and never picked up. I don't think I'll ever have a large tank without one of these guys again, a true "cleaner fish" that never stops eating.
Last but not least...
Snoop Dog (Apteronotus albifrons), this fish is fast, stays towards the back of the tank and in the shadows for the most part, true ninja. He is impossible to get pictures of so please excuse the poor quality photo. He's gotten a bit more courageous lately since he's gotten a bit bigger (about 9") but he's still a hider for the most part.
A couple of years ago if you had told me that I'd been spending this much time and money on fish and aquariums as well as posting over 1000 posts on a fish forum I would have probably laughed in your face but I have to admit, it is addictive and very enjoyable, I appreciate everyone on this site that has contributed in any way at all positive, or negative along this fish adventure.
In no specific order:
Abe, my True Parrot (H. psittacus), I had to go ahead and put in 2 shots of this guy, I really liked what he was showing fin-age wise in the first pic but his colors were more "true to life" in the 2nd.
Moby (Astronotus ocellatus), the boss of the tank. He was mating with my late O Swamp Thing (rip) and has gotten Fire Marshall Bill to drop eggs once but nothing has come of it. He used to be very aggressive for an O but has since calmed down a bit, the only fish that have seen ever actually challenge him was Abe, my parrot above.
Fire Marshall Bill (yes another Oscar
), She got her name before I knew she was a female; by the time I saw her drop eggs for Moby I had already been calling her Bill for so long it just stuck.
Lucy (Heros sp. 'rotkeil'), formally Casanova Frankenstein (I renamed her when I realized that she was a female at maturity).
Ricky (Heros efasciatus), my male Turquoise Severum. This guy throws his bars off and on like no other, he looks pretty mellow in the pic I have posted but he changes from super pale to turquoise/yellow/red with super black bars at the drop of a hat; He usually does this at feeding time but lately I've been seeing him just swimming around showing off. He spent about 2 or 3 months in a hospital tank because Lucy went crazy and beat the crap out of him one day but the two have been fine since the incident (months have passed).
Napoleon (Pterophyllum scalare), the tough Angel.
I originally picked up 3 Angels back in 2011; Moby killed one of them right away, I lost the other to some sickness it had when I picked it up (Napoleon was that fishes' replacement) and I believe that my bichir may have killed the last of the original 3 when they had to briefly share a smaller tank. All in all I can't say that I've had that much luck with Angels, which is why I never got around to getting this guy any Angel buddies but I have raised him from the size of a quarter and he is now a happy permanent inhabitant of my main tank and gets along just fine with his tankmates.
Large Marge (Aequidens pulcher), The largest of my Acara, this fish is fat, no two ways about it but she seems happy and is very active, not to mention she is a voracious eater (as you can probably tell). I hadn't originally planned to keep her, as she was just one of many fry that I was growing out to sell but you know the way things go.
Minion (yet another Blue Acara), Originally the only Acara I had planned to keep besides the two that paired off from the batch of fry I was raising. He was my favorite in the Acara tank, mostly because he was the most interactive.
MoJo JoJo (Thorichthys meeki), this guy reminds me of my neighbors dog because he is barking all the time! Seriously, this little 5-6 incher fears no fish (but respects the big O's). He has paired up with my Nicaraguan and viciously defends their territory from any fish that ventures too close, he is of course, like all Fire Mouths, more bark than bite but this makes him entertaining to watch while not having to worry about him doing any real damage to the other fish in the tank.
Nikki (Hypsophrys nicaraguensis), she was an impulse buy, caught a glimpse of her at my lfs and had to snatch her up.
Ippo (Rocio octofasciata), I avoided grabbing one of these for my tanks for years, I was (still am) worried about their demeanor. My worries however have been set aside for the moment as I really love the way this guy is looking, he seems to get more colorful on a daily basis.
Cordell (H. carpintis) <---Correct me if I'm wrong here. Huge fan of this girl; I kept seeing good looking Texas' on this site and decided it was time to get one myself. She is still relatively young but is already looking pretty awesome and is a surprisingly fast growing fish. I have heard a few horror stories of Texas Cichlids running wild which is why I ended up picking up a female and crossing my fingers!
My group of 5 Red Hump Geo (geophagus steindachneri) I picked these guys up because I was hoping to add a small shoal of colorful fish that were from the CA/SA region that would clean up after my larger messier cichlids, while not becoming lunch themselves. Currently they aren't all that colorful but expect them to color up nicely when they mature as a few of them are already starting to color up. I unfortunately couldn't catch all 5 of them in one shot but I did catch 4
Spike, Spot, Rex, Toto, Dollar and Lady Bird (Metynnis lippincottianus) I won't try to explain who is who in this group other than that Spike is the one that is clearly twice the size of all the others, he is also the only one that catches algae discs and eats them like cookies (they rotate like a pizza tray). I've had three of them for quite some time now and just recently added the second set of 3 to the group.
I've also added a second pic because I noticed that my 2 remaining long fin blushing tetras are in the pics. They are awesome fish but unfortunately their high body shape, wasn't quite high enough, as I started with 10. You know Oscars...
Noodle (Polypterus senegalus), he is my wife's favorite fish and the true oddball of the tank. I know he doesn't fit the the SA/CA theme but I like him and plan on keeping him around. I debated moving him to his own tank with some appropriate tank mates but decided I didn't want to rob him of living in the large tank.
Godzilla (Pterygoplichthys pardalis), yes, I was one of the guys that got talked into buying a pleco by someone at Petsmart as a "cleaner fish" when I first started fish keeping. By far my oldest fish, he's a poop factory and not out much but as long as he's around I'll be taking care of him.
Tigger (Semaprochilodus insignis), I got lucky when I found this guy at my lfs, I hadn't seen one in a store around here before or since; he was in an order that someone made and never picked up. I don't think I'll ever have a large tank without one of these guys again, a true "cleaner fish" that never stops eating.
Last but not least...
Snoop Dog (Apteronotus albifrons), this fish is fast, stays towards the back of the tank and in the shadows for the most part, true ninja. He is impossible to get pictures of so please excuse the poor quality photo. He's gotten a bit more courageous lately since he's gotten a bit bigger (about 9") but he's still a hider for the most part.
A couple of years ago if you had told me that I'd been spending this much time and money on fish and aquariums as well as posting over 1000 posts on a fish forum I would have probably laughed in your face but I have to admit, it is addictive and very enjoyable, I appreciate everyone on this site that has contributed in any way at all positive, or negative along this fish adventure.
Great job with them.
