I suffered an unfortunate loss of one of my most beautiful fish today--my 10" chocolate cichlid.
He was approaching the 11" mark very slowly, but surely.
My little guy had been through tough times in his life--from surviving a beating in his youth that left him scaleless and finless from a pair of Carpintis who spawned overnight at the mouth of his cave, to a case of velvet that struck him in the middle of his life.
Needless to say, this fish has been there and done that, and I've grown to love and respect him for his fortitude and will to survive.
This week, however, his time was cut short.
My Chocolate was a digger, and he had basically removed all of the gravel from out of under the slate home he had established. Upon doing so, the giant Pacu roaming the same tank got chased as usual by the pack of Oscars, and I heard a really loud noise.
The Pacu had jumped into the tank's lid (canopy held it on though), and when he came back down into the water, he hit head first onto the slate roofing of the Chocolate's home--breaking the slate in half and trapping the Chocolate in his own house when the other pieces fell over from where he dug out the substrate.
Well, being as the Chocolate has been the king of this tank since I placed him inside a long time ago, the Oscars took this opportunity to start ripping into my poor, trapped Chocolate like a gang of hoodlums.
They removed almost all of his scales before I was able to intervene and remove my Chocolate out. I immediately put my guy into my emergency sick-bay tank, and treated his wounds right away. He was quite disoriented, and was struggling to hold on to life. He was still able to keep himself vertical, and he suffered a much worse wound in his youth--I figured he would be OK after a few weeks of healing.
Then the unfortunate took a turn for the worse. Over night, the heater on my sick bay tank malfunctioned and fizzled out. Even though I live in a warmer southern climate, we had a cold front come through last night, and when I rushed this morning to see if my Chocolate was OK, I was stiffled to find the water was barely 60 degrees and my fish had passed away.
Whether due to the wounds or the cold water, I know not. Either way, it must have been my Chocolate's time to go, and it is a loss that hit me hard I must say.
Unfortunately, I don't think I have any photos of him in his adulthood--only youth photos from a long time ago. I do, however, have videos of his tank on one of my computers. This experience has now inclined me to take individual photos of all my more meaningful fish.
There's a very strong chance I will be taking a trip to the LFS in the next few days and will probably buy me a pack of Chocolate youths.
This species has a wonderful personality and is highly rewarding for any owner in the hobby.
My Chocolate will be missed for a long time to come.
He was approaching the 11" mark very slowly, but surely.
My little guy had been through tough times in his life--from surviving a beating in his youth that left him scaleless and finless from a pair of Carpintis who spawned overnight at the mouth of his cave, to a case of velvet that struck him in the middle of his life.
Needless to say, this fish has been there and done that, and I've grown to love and respect him for his fortitude and will to survive.
This week, however, his time was cut short.
My Chocolate was a digger, and he had basically removed all of the gravel from out of under the slate home he had established. Upon doing so, the giant Pacu roaming the same tank got chased as usual by the pack of Oscars, and I heard a really loud noise.
The Pacu had jumped into the tank's lid (canopy held it on though), and when he came back down into the water, he hit head first onto the slate roofing of the Chocolate's home--breaking the slate in half and trapping the Chocolate in his own house when the other pieces fell over from where he dug out the substrate.
Well, being as the Chocolate has been the king of this tank since I placed him inside a long time ago, the Oscars took this opportunity to start ripping into my poor, trapped Chocolate like a gang of hoodlums.
They removed almost all of his scales before I was able to intervene and remove my Chocolate out. I immediately put my guy into my emergency sick-bay tank, and treated his wounds right away. He was quite disoriented, and was struggling to hold on to life. He was still able to keep himself vertical, and he suffered a much worse wound in his youth--I figured he would be OK after a few weeks of healing.
Then the unfortunate took a turn for the worse. Over night, the heater on my sick bay tank malfunctioned and fizzled out. Even though I live in a warmer southern climate, we had a cold front come through last night, and when I rushed this morning to see if my Chocolate was OK, I was stiffled to find the water was barely 60 degrees and my fish had passed away.
Whether due to the wounds or the cold water, I know not. Either way, it must have been my Chocolate's time to go, and it is a loss that hit me hard I must say.
Unfortunately, I don't think I have any photos of him in his adulthood--only youth photos from a long time ago. I do, however, have videos of his tank on one of my computers. This experience has now inclined me to take individual photos of all my more meaningful fish.
There's a very strong chance I will be taking a trip to the LFS in the next few days and will probably buy me a pack of Chocolate youths.
This species has a wonderful personality and is highly rewarding for any owner in the hobby.
My Chocolate will be missed for a long time to come.
Sorry for your loss
