A. rivulatus challenge

[MrsE88]

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).

I’m so sorry to hear that, but totally understand. Losing a beloved fish is a very hard hit.
Your girl sounds worse then my girl Greenie. I’ve had to separate her from Olive numerous times because she beats him up. What is with these females? They make the males look like angels. Lol

 

[neutrino]

Granted, small sample size. But where are all the 12" rivulatus? As I've said, it's possible for them to get that size, but it's an exception not the rule. Most are ten inches or less, 10 is above average but not unusual. Sure, at 8.5, 10 inches, and as a chunky fish, they need a good sized tank, but the odds of needing to accomodate a 12" GT are not that high.

 

[samurai.cichlid]

My boy Oliver.
View attachment 1361685

I’d really love to see a 12” gt. I’ve never seen one that size. It’s been my goal to grow mine out to a foot long.

oof! what a beauty. any husbandry and grooming tips to raise up gts that look this good?

 

[Lsey81]

Goodness y'all have some amazing terrors! I really hope one of mine turn out half as good as these!

 

[MrsE88]

oof! what a beauty. any husbandry and grooming tips to raise up gts that look this good?

No, not really. I’ve never fed anything special.
I did feed often while he was small. 3-4x a day. Fin level w/c at least once a week, but aimed for twice a week.
He spent his first year in a 75 with my big female. Then last year they got moved to a 135 and I added another female.

I do think his humpy head is due to my big female always challenging him. She was 5” when I added him at 2”. So he really had to hold his own. I had to divide them multiple times so he wouldn’t get too hurt. They just went through another separation recently because she caused him to injure his eye. He is obviously bigger then her now, but she is a beast to the core.

 

[Spence]

Females are so much higher on the aggression scale in my experience . They can be especially nasty when eggs are around.

 

[BIG-G]

This was mine. I have no way to prove anything but I think he was 10 + inches

 

[tiger15]

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.

 

[TigerTalon1]

Eventually I’m gonna upgrade my GT into either a 60 or a 75 not sure which yet. I know I want something else in the 55, even in the 55g an 8.5in fish looks cramped, I just wish the 55 were 14 inches not 12

 

[Modest_Man]

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.