New tankmates for my senegal

[Mr. Mom]

Was playing with my camera the other day and took some pics of the little one.

It's looking good and fully settled into the tank. Maybe it's wishful thinking but between length and girth I think it's almost doubled in size. I managed to get a couple of better pics of it's missing fins.

As you can see it's left side is gone, and the right side only has the arm. So as I'd said, I don't think they'll ever grow back. Still manages to get around no problem, in fact when it slowly swims out from the plants .... it eerily resembles a snake on the prowl. I love it, just wish it would happen when I've a camera in hand. It's still playing shy.
On a side note the other two appear to be male and female, YIPPEE!!!! (Thanks again Dr.B for helping me there).
So it's back to the study books so to speak ...

 

[Mr. Mom]

Update on my senegals

Things are going good ... and the little one is doing quite well. Was playing with my camera the other day and took some pics ...
Here's the tank now, front and back ... had finally added some plants to the surface at the rear see roots so things are looking good.


My original bichir ... appears to be female, she's the boss and always the first to eat of the 3 it seems. Often taking 2 of the 3 pieces of massivore.

Looking for some shrimp pellets I'd just thrown in.

My male senegal, who often doesn't get the massivore pellet and is left with shrimp pellets instead ... Even the little one seems to have higher status than this guy at feeding time. Although its still the shy one.


And finally the little one (my so-called rescue)


As you can see the fins show no sign of growing back, they were nipped too short for any chance. It's still very shy, so I have to watch how I approach the tank. But looking great otherwise.

looking for those shrimp pellets

 

[Ninjouzata]

They're so cute!!! c': I have a cory that all of his fins were gone when we bought him.
No idea what happened to him in the pet store. He has slowly regrown most of them, but his dorsal is still gone and two of his front fins still look like sticks.

I hope yours can grow back but no idea about bichirs. So glad it's getting around pretty well anyways!

Do ya'll frequently view the tank from the back? I think it'd look a lot better with a background.

 

[lardieleftover]

Ingmar you were able to rescue the little one, every bichir needs love. And food

 

[Mr. Mom]

Thanks for compliments you guys ... the tank sits along a half wall in our living-room. So its viewable from both sides. Its about the only way I can see my syno when the lights are on, it hides on the back side of the driftwood. Its nice to see the little one growing and moving about ... compared to how it had been hiding in a tube before I brought it home. The loss of fins don't seem to impact its mobility too much ... and when it slithers out from between plants, reminds me of rattlers sliding through the tall grass.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Well it's been a little over 6 months since I brought my rescue home. Everyone seems to be doing well. Was making some changes in the tank last weekend, chopping plants and such. Figured it was time to take some pictures, wanted a more accurate idea of my Senegal's sizes/lengths. So pulled out the tape measure and they were co-operative this past week for photo ops.

First my female (my original) ... who seems to be just shy of 7"


Here's my male Senegal ... couldn't get a non-blurry picture of him stretched out, but he's at least 7" as he's longer than my female when they lay next to each other.


... and finally my fin-less rescue, coming in at a healthy 5 1/2". Still don't know the sex ... and don't want to make false assumptions.


My female is my most personable bichir of the 3, having had her the longest, but my fin-less rescue is by far the cutest.

While I was at it, thought I'd include their tank mates (honestly we were just playing with my son's new camera)
My Synodontis Ocellifer, my first fish that came with my first tank (30G). Pretty sure it's stunted, as it hasn't really grown much since it was all given to me. It's the Silent Boss of the tank, doesn't normally come out much when the lights are on ... but when it does, its the only fish my female Senegal will move for. Otherwise she'd be the Big Boss.


My Thomasii Cichlids (African Butterfly Cichlids), They're currently at a loss in the tank, I just cut all the plants down which had been their cover. Unfortunately we had an algae issue and it was needed. The picture was something I'm yet to accomplish (my son took this one) all 5 of them in the same picture.


Lastly the A**h*** of the tank, ... er I mean my Redtailed Black Shark, got it last year with some other fish (package deal) and tried getting rid of it for awhile there. Then I stopped trying and it started growing on me (although I'd vowed never again). Things had been okay before we did the tank last weekend. But without the plants, the Cichlids are getting bullied big time.


With the pieces of driftwood that's in there, I thought it'd be okay. Sorry don't have any tank shots at the moment but it was all the same pieces of driftwood just arranged differently with no plants growing. Ended up making more changes today and adding a cave or two. So far the aggression seems to have diminished a fair amount.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Such pretty sens! I think of the finless one as Mr/Mrs Wiggles..
Pretty syno! Maybe it will have a growth spurt one day?

Love the cichlids, I had not seen them before. Hope the redtail stops bullying them as much. Looking forward to a FTS when/if you get the chance.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Such pretty sens! I think of the finless one as Mr/Mrs Wiggles..
Pretty syno! Maybe it will have a growth spurt one day?

Love the cichlids, I had not seen them before. Hope the redtail stops bullying them as much. Looking forward to a FTS when/if you get the chance.

Thanks ... All I know about the syno, is what I've learned here. Its history is unknown to me. I went with these Cichlids on the simple fact that they're kind to plants.

I'll post a FTS once the pictures are finally loaded.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Okay here's what the tank looked like last weekend once we finished tinkering.

We had removed the scrub-brush containers from the pothos like plants. But obviously didn't leave enough cover with our re-arranging as the aggression levels increased.

So yesterday made some changes by adding a couple of caves and introducing a couple new plants until the others start to grow back.


Here's a couple of pics of the first cave. I cheated and utilized a clay pot to get started then tried to blend it into the driftwood.



And a view from the rear of the tank. Seeing as this tank is visible from both sides, I'd like to find another small piece of driftwood to help conceal the remainder of the pot.


And here's the second cave, more natural in my mind. Lucked out and had two pieces that when put together ... voila. Just needed a little piece to cover the top. It goes in a little ways still.


Must say since making these changes yesterday. Its cut down on the aggression considerably ... Now if the plants would quickly grow back, things could go back to normal.