Mine grew at a relatively slow rate after the first couple years. I acutally hated to give him up and its one of those things that you kind of regret but once its done its done. If I could have found a female I would have kept him for sure and he was about 9 inches when I gave him up. I tried a few tank mates but he always beat the crap out of the few fish I tried. I remember trying a P. Gibbiceps and a Rostratum that ended badly. I also tried a convict that might have worked but I was always afraid the convict was going to nip his fins so I removed him. I think you should go for this fish because they really are very nice and hard to come by.
chuo microphthalmus
- Thread starter TMSB805
- Start date
Mine grew at a relatively slow rate after the first couple years. I acutally hated to give him up and its one of those things that you kind of regret but once its done its done. If I could have found a female I would have kept him for sure and he was about 9 inches when I gave him up. I tried a few tank mates but he always beat the crap out of the few fish I tried. I remember trying a P. Gibbiceps and a Rostratum that ended badly. I also tried a convict that might have worked but I was always afraid the convict was going to nip his fins so I removed him. I think you should go for this fish because they really are very nice and hard to come by.
I had a group of 5 at one point and about a year ago I gave my big females to Dan from cichlidsoftheamericas.com and another board member emk. They were about 10" at that time. They do bloat rather easily and the ones I got were from Mo and were about 4" already, I had previously failed twice with 1" ones. They like veggies and always pecked the algae off the tank as it grew. They also come from extremely fast water so a powerhead will be appreciated. Do not over feed, maybe once a day and do water changes like 10-20% every other day. I had this group for about 4 years and I really feel that you need to baby them to really have success. Dan spawned my female with his male.
Good info! Mine are at 1.5" and i'm feeding them 2 twice a day(thera A and veggie flakes) skipping 1-2 days of feeding each week with 1 50% water change a week.
I'd feed once a day and not that much, they will scrounge off the ground and rocks as well. If you want success with these fish be VERY diligent about water quality and filtration. Mine had 2 AC110's, 1 Eheim 2229 canister, 1 XP3 and 1 Fluval 403 as well as a giant size powerhead. This is a 180g but you can see I pretty much over filtered the tank. If/When I get more they will be getting the royal treatment. That's what you have to do with this fish IME.
I see...they'll eventually be going into my 300 which is only running a 2260 and 2262. Did your 4"rs have any tank mates? If so what were they and how'd they fair.
I've had lyonsi in the past and currently have a small group of T. pasionis. What a colorful stocklist!
I have six juveniles now from Rio Copan. They can get aggressive, but generally only after they pair up. As pointed out...keep the protein low and keep up on your water changes.
It seems the protein intake of these fish is of great concern so the question i have is, what's considered "low protein". Mo what are you feeding yours? Is your feeding regiment similar to what NorCali has recommended?
