A. rivulatus challenge

[TigerTalon1]

I am heading back to Oahu next week for vacation and will try to catch some more green terrors while I am there (along with who knows what else). I haven't been there since 2007 so I don't know what is in the water. I will take some more photos.

I am flying there with gear (nets, cooler, bags, etc.) to catch and bring back some fish for myself.

That’s a dream trip for me right there. I’d like to go collecting in Peru some time

 

[JakeT99]

The one in my avatar was 10”. I measured with a ruler when he died of old age, about 9 year. Personally, I have never kept or seen GT with verifiable length exceeding 10”. GT is not in the tank buster rank as Midas, Jacquar, or Oscar, and don’t live as long to reach great size. There may be some individuals or strains that get bigger. I just picked up a new strain of GT named “Royal”. It has great color and early hump and I’ll wait and see if he can break the size record.

Pics of the royal? Sounds awesome!

 

[Modest_Man]

That’s a dream trip for me right there. I’d like to go collecting in Peru some time

It's a lot easier to collect within the United States! No import permits or customs hassle.

 

[TigerTalon1]

It's a lot easier to collect within the United States! No import permits or customs hassle.

Very true but I would like to collect pure wild specimens as well!

 

[lunsforj]

Pic of my young male who’s still got growing to do, he’s about 8.5in

View attachment 1362145

I think this fish has the potential to get there. I've seen 1 truly huge GT and it was probably 12-14 inches. It didn't have the great big nuchal hump like some get. It actually looked like a giant 5 incher. My guess is, the ones that mature out at a smaller size probably don't have the genetics to get huge. Just a theory though.

 

[TigerTalon1]

I think this fish has the potential to get there. I've seen 1 truly huge GT and it was probably 12-14 inches. It didn't have the great big nuchal hump like some get. It actually looked like a giant 5 incher. My guess is, the ones that mature out at a smaller size probably don't have the genetics to get huge. Just a theory though.

I think he does as well, I mean I don’t know exactly how old he is but he sure is thick and long, for me the body shape he has is the ideal shape, personally I don’t prefer the giant nuchal humped GTs because it just doesn’t seem like a major characteristic of Rivulatus in general, and just to clarify I’m talking the REALLY big humps like flowerhorn level humps, it’s just seems unnatural looking on a GT

 

[H]-[H]

Okay. THat's it. I'm fed up!!!

My female GT, Leia, killed her mate, Bruce (my thumbnail pic) about a year ago... I was so despondent I stopped posting here for quite sometime...

The last 6 months I have been looking for a 7" plus male GT because Leia is now at least 6.6" (and THICK)... She is bad ***.... Anyhow, large GT's are hard to find, so I have basically given up.

However, I have her in my 135g aquarium with my sons two turtles. The turtles are both male so they have to be divided. I cut holes in the dividers so all the fish could get through, but not the turtles.

Turns out Leia is now too thick to fit through the divider - so it's possible I could get a smaller male who would be able to escape her wrath...

THat's my new mission, and I have chosen to accept it. Starting tomorrow I will begin looking for the best male GT I can find - even if he's barely at sexable size.

And it's all because of you guys, with your photos of awesome GT's.

One of these days I will post a photo of Leia. She is awesome. She was the plainest of the 6 GT's I originally bought in January 2017 - but she was always the most aggresive... Now she is stunning (but still a stone cold killer).

Sorry for your loss, Daryl.. Losing a pet fish is certainly disheartening..
May I ask how Bruce was killed? Was he alone with Leia in the tank when he passed? What about your other 4 GTs?
Apologies in advance for so many questions as I'm in the learning process with keeping GTs.. I myself have recently acquired two GTs and would want to learn from others' experience about keeping them..
And please post pictures of Leia if you can.. interested to know what she looks like..

 

[mabirchell]

Great thread! Love seeing these large GT’s. I used to keep African cichlids and there was a few species that people would swear up and down would get 12-14” and never got over 8-9 lol. Idk if it’s an ego thing, or just wishful thinking. From what I’ve read wild rivulatus only get around 8”, so with extra feeding and the easy aquarium life I could see a rivulatus hitting 9-10” but 12 would just be a crazy luck of the genetics thing.

 

[neutrino]

Great thread! Love seeing these large GT’s. I used to keep African cichlids and there was a few species that people would swear up and down would get 12-14” and never got over 8-9 lol. Idk if it’s an ego thing, or just wishful thinking. From what I’ve read wild rivulatus only get around 8”, so with extra feeding and the easy aquarium life I could see a rivulatus hitting 9-10” but 12 would just be a crazy luck of the genetics thing.

For whatever reason it's common to see 'care sheets' say they get 12 inches and this has got into people's heads. The truth seems to be they vary some in size, but not many get 12".

Which is what makes me wonder about blombergi. Everything I've seen says they max @ 6 inches, but that's descriptions of the wild fish-- will they get a bit bigger in a home aquarium?

 

[H]-[H]

Does anyone know how to tell apart a normal GT vs a shortbody GT at the juvenile stage around 2"~4"?