Back into the hobby after 15 years....help me ID this parachromis!

[JoeBoxer]

Hi everyone,

Happy to be back in the hobby and back on the forum after about 15 years out.

I used to own piranhas, then an african cichlid tank, then a crazy spawning GT, then a wolffish, and then I was out for awhile!

Back and with a 55 gallon tank. Tried to setup an oddball tank, got bored, so they went back to the store.

I've decided I want a colourful, active and personable fish, so I am going with CA cichlids. More specifically, I bought a baby GT and a baby mang. I know they will not do well together in a 55 for very long, but I wanted to take it day by day, get a bigger tank when needed.

Funny thing is, I don't think the Jag is a Jag. Once I got him home and had a really good look, he has quite a bit of red on him, and some weird blue tinges as well. Please see attached pics.

He/she is already terrorizing the GT. Didn't expect that off the bat. The LFS suggested danios as good dithers. They were eaten within 5 minutes. They then suggested larger barbs. He attacked them through the bag when I put them into the tank and killed all 3 of them the first night I brought them home. This is a mean SOB.

Please tell me what you think re: ID. I have ALWAYS wanted a RTM, could this be my lucky day?

Looking forward to hearing back from everyone.

J

 

[MP_cichlid]

this is your lucky day!!

 

[MP_cichlid]

u have yourself a nice RTM their, very young with very nice colors. keep him for sure. I would grown him/her out and get a 125 and pair it off

 

[Guapoteguy291]

Rtm no doubt about it

 

[JoeBoxer]

Woooohoooooo!!!! That is so awesome. I am so excited. I have been looking for one forever. So random that I think I am buying a jag and it turns out to be a RTM.

A couple quick questions for y'all....anything to know specifically about keeping these fish? That may not be commonly known?

I have an AC70 filter on the tank and a few hiding spots for him and the GT in the tank. I am feeding bloodworms and just started omega one super color pellets. Any other recomendations?

He went ballistic on the barbs until they were dead, and chases the GT sometimes, but in general is shyer than the GT and only really comes out of his cave when I feed them. Is this typical juvie behaviour? Hopefully he will come out of his shell as he gets bigger. The GT already follows me when I come to the tank, much less shy than the RTM so far.

Love to hear any advice and feedback. I just did a 20% water change last week, I might do another one this weekend because I think I overfed them this morning and there were a lot of pellets floating around when I got home.

 

[Tyler_Wentworth_150]

Things to know:
1. They are *******s.
2. Only a pinch a day of food at that size.
3. Higher % water changes, or doing them twice weekly, will promote growth.

 

[MP_cichlid]

RTM's can be notorious for being shy, so just be patient with him. Also, i would feed a pinch of food at a time, but you can do it more than once a day, just only a little at a time

 

[Frank Castle]

Things to know:
1. They are *******s.
2. Only a pinch a day of food at that size.
3. Higher % water changes, or doing them twice weekly, will promote growth.

yea what he said lol

RTM is much worse than any Jag I ever had. Currently my Beta-RTM is showing a GT "he is the boss". Funny how it doesn't matter to him that the GT is twice his length and 3-4 times his weight. My DOVIIs don't even want a piece of the smaller RTM and I had to remove the Alpha last night

 

[fernie831]

Awsome find looks male too. With in a year mine was about 8in with about 50% water change a week with pellets as a staple diet and earthworms bloodworms ghost shrimp as treats. Mine was also shy until it got bigger and started terrorizing the community tank.Your green terror might not make it out alive. You could get a couple more cichlids just to spread the aggression around. Good luck

 

[cich78]

Nice RTM.....I would say that you do have a male in the making....great pictures, I took many as mine was growing and caught different stages of growth and color morphing...here is my male at about the size of yours and how he is now....