Can you sex this Jag? Photo inside...

[terd ferguson]

romised, here's some photos from the fish store of the other two fish that came in as "Jaguars".

The first one I think may be a mota like the one I brought home. It's about 3 inches to 3 1/2 inches long, nose to tail. What do you think (sorry for only one pic, he was pretty shy)?...

These next photos are of the fish I think may actually be a jag. This one's about 4 1/2 inches to 5 inches long, nose to tail. The large white spots on his sides are where he's missing scales. I assume much combat took place as all three of these fish were placed in the same bag for a 5 hour van ride.

Anyway, check these out and tell me what you think as well...

This one shows how bad he is beat up pretty well. It's pretty much like this on both sides...

So, what do you guys think? Is the beat up fish a jag? Is the other fish a mota? If, in fact, the beat up fish is a jag, I'll let the store nurse him back to health and pick him up when he's doing better.

Thanks again for the help, comments, suggestions, snide remarks, etc.

Does anyone have any ideas about these new photos?

 

[Cross127]

That is a Jag fir sure. He looks pretty beat up though. I would out him in a QT tank with a half dose of melafix and dose that daily until everything clears up. Should look awesome though.

 

[terd ferguson]

That is a Jag fir sure. He looks pretty beat up though. I would out him in a QT tank with a half dose of melafix and dose that daily until everything clears up. Should look awesome though.

Thanks for the positive ID. I think I'll let the fish store cure him up as I don't have a quarantine tank. That is unless I could fix him up in the tank I have the others in. Would that be a good idea? I mean, the Melafix and a little salt wouldn't hurt the others right? I would only worry about him getting beat up further before he could have a decent chance to heal. I also wouldn't want him to get sold either. Maybe I can work something out with the fish store owner guy.

I gotta look into setting up a quarrantine tank. I've got an empty 10 gallon, but no filter for it. But that could be fixed easily enough.

 

[terd ferguson]

Thanks for the positive ID. I think I'll let the fish store cure him up as I don't have a quarantine tank. That is unless I could fix him up in the tank I have the others in. Would that be a good idea? I mean, the Melafix and a little salt wouldn't hurt the others right? I would only worry about him getting beat up further before he could have a decent chance to heal. I also wouldn't want him to get sold either. Maybe I can work something out with the fish store owner guy.

I gotta look into setting up a quarrantine tank. I've got an empty 10 gallon, but no filter for it. But that could be fixed easily enough.

As it turns out, I may need that 10 gallon for a holding female Yellow Lab.

Anyone else have any opinions on the new photos posted above? Thanks again.

 

[bigspizz]

No, you NEED a hospital tank. You can makeshift a filter, or put in an air stone and do a 25% change 2X a day 1X with dechlored tap, and 1X Refill with good tank water from the healthy tank. Use gravel from the old tank. And oh yeah, the first time you fill it up, use 100% water from the old tank......After 7 days or so it should be healed up enough. You need a divider if a fish is getting OWN3D all the time.....

 

[terd ferguson]

No, you NEED a hospital tank. You can makeshift a filter, or put in an air stone and do a 25% change 2X a day 1X with dechlored tap, and 1X Refill with good tank water from the healthy tank. Use gravel from the old tank. And oh yeah, the first time you fill it up, use 100% water from the old tank......After 7 days or so it should be healed up enough. You need a divider if a fish is getting OWN3D all the time.....

That's how the fish arrived at the store upon delivery. They put two motas (1@6" & 1@4") with the 5" jag in one bag for shipping. When they got there, the jag's scales covered the bottom of the bag. The newer photos are of the fish in the fish store. It's not getting attacked in it's home there.

But, I wouldn't want to just bring him home and throw him in with some stone cold killers in the shape he's in. I had planned on buying him tomorrow (for a deep discount because of his condition) and using my empty 10 gallon for recovery. But, I just found out tonight one of my Africans is holding. It's my first breeding experience so I was kind of looking forward to that as well.

Anyway, I guess I'll just buy another 10 gallon so I'll have a hospital tank and a fry tank. I appreciate the advice.

 

[bolty]

He is beet-up Jag
he will get better, thats not that bad

I had a EBJD that was like yours, he healed and was eating with in a few days, but when the cubans bred they killed him over night

 

[terd ferguson]

He is beet-up Jag
he will get better, thats not that bad

I had a EBJD that was like yours, he healed and was eating with in a few days, but when the cubans bred they killed him over night

That's about what that jag looks like. It's pretty sad. I'm sure he'll be ok though. This particular fish store takes pretty good care of their fish.

I think I'm going to let that guy stay at the store for a while (at least until it heals up and I can tell if it's a male or female. On the other hand, I picked up two baby jags from Petsmart today. I hope one will be a male. I'm going to let them grow for a while and decide which one of the Petsmart jags I want to keep (or the beat up jag if it turns out to be a nice looking male and healthy). The Petsmart jags are a little over an inch now. The beat up jag is about 5". We'll see how it goes. Or maybe I'll just buy another 10 gallon to keep the beat up jag in till he recovers. I don't know.

How big should I grow them out before I try to put them in with the stone cold killers (6"JD & 6.5" Mota)? I assume they should be at least 2.5" or so before I try to put them in the big boys tank.

I'll try to get some pictures of these mini monsters up later tonight. Thanks again everyone.

 

[terd ferguson]

Check out these cute little buggers, they're about 1 1/2" long...

 

[lubisamus]

Tbh I would just keep the Pets Mart Jags. Im not a fan of the store at all, but my experience with their jags has been good. Also, as a rule of thumb its better to get your fish as young as possible.. You can get the full potential out of your fish if you can get it as a fry. Otherwise it is probably being fed the cheapest food possible (or nearly starving) in an overcrowded tank full of its more dominate siblings.