Con Solo the Convict

[Matth05]

Well, one year ago today I got this little dude. In the one year timespan he’s turned into a extremely playful little chunk. I’ve fallen in love with his somewhat unique tan coloration and red and blue fins, I just can’t get enough of it. As much as I would love to try out some of the other Amatitlania species (both Nanolutea and Sajica especially interest me), I really have no desire to move on with Solo and plan on keeping him around for as long as possible. Those will have to be future endeavors lol.

 

[FINWIN]

Lookin' smug in that last pic!

 

[Cichlids-r-beasts]

Well, one year ago today I got this little dude. In the one year timespan he’s turned into a extremely playful little chunk. I’ve fallen in love with his somewhat unique tan coloration and red and blue fins, I just can’t get enough of it. As much as I would love to try out some of the other Amatitlania species (both Nanolutea and Sajica especially interest me), I really have no desire to move on with Solo and plan on keeping him around for as long as possible. Those will have to be future endeavors lol.
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He’s a beauty! One of the best males I’ve seen on here, great job.

 

[Matth05]

Been a few weeks since I’ve posted an update, there just really hasn’t been a whole lot to update on lol. Everyone’s still doing great and I’ve got a couple of pics to share. The mound of sand in front of his cave continues to grow and he’s actually completely covered that rock with sand. As always, I enjoy just letting him do his thing when it comes to digging.
Last but not least, the swordtails:

The swordtails certainly aren’t as personable as Solo, although I’ve noticed this one female seems to be the more interested in my presence than the others. Especially when I’m doing water changes, she’s always hanging around my hands a tad more than the others.

 

[Caperguy99]

How big would you say he is at this point? Looks beautiful!

 

[Matth05]

How big would you say he is at this point? Looks beautiful!

Thanks! I’d say he’s around 4 1/2 inches currently.

 

[FINWIN]

Been a few weeks since I’ve posted an update, there just really hasn’t been a whole lot to update on lol. Everyone’s still doing great and I’ve got a couple of pics to share.View attachment 1521984 View attachment 1521989View attachment 1521987The mound of sand in front of his cave continues to grow and he’s actually completely covered that rock with sand. As always, I enjoy just letting him do his thing when it comes to digging.
View attachment 1521990View attachment 1521991Last but not least, the swordtails:
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The swordtails certainly aren’t as personable as Solo, although I’ve noticed this one female seems to be the more interested in my presence than the others. Especially when I’m doing water changes, she’s always hanging around my hands a tad more than the others.

Keeping an apartment in order is hard work!

 

[jjohnwm]

Beautiful little guy, lovely tank...nice job!

It's always a pleasure to see someone keep a fish diligently and carefully, and continue to enjoy it for an extended period...and it's especially nice when the fish is a "common" species that many people wouldn't even glance at. I certainly get the appeal of keeping some of the super-exotics...sort of...but I get the impression that a lot of folks choose fish based upon what other people don't have, or can't find, or can't afford, or can't maintain. It turns into a "look at me!" kind of deal...I'm so lucky I found this, I've got so much money that I could afford this, I'm such a great aquarist that I can keep it alive and healthy when nobody else can...blah, blah, blah...

You're doing a great job keeping this guy, and you are enjoying it! That's what the hobby should be about; Congrats!

 

[Matth05]

Got some new things to share. If you’ve read my other thread, you’ll know I lost the paradise fish. Really sucks, but I’ve learned from the experience. Anyways, the 29 has been fish vacant for about a month now. I’ve been weighing some options. Do I want to get another paradise fish? Or maybe try something else? I’ve decided that I absolutely want to get another paradise fish, but not quite yet. I want to do something in the meantime that I’ve been holding off on for a while now. That is getting Con Solo a female partner. I might be getting myself into a mess with more convict fry than I can comprehend , but I’ve really wanted to do this for some time now. The 29 should work well as a qt tank for at least a couple of months.

So for the past few weeks I’ve been changing things around in the 29. I’ve switched out the gravel with sand. I wasn’t really a big fan of the gravel to be honest. I find the sand much easier to maintain. With the gravel no longer in the tank, I’ve also decided to remove the dwarf sagittaria. The last change I made was switching the wood around a bit, making it more similar to how the manzanita is in the 75.
There’s still more I plan to do before looking into getting a female convict. I’ve been searching everywhere for a darker tan sand that can be mixed in a bit with the pool filter sand. No luck so far. However, this bag of pfs is actually a bit darker than the bags I’ve bought in the past. I really like the look of this more, although I think it obviously looks a more bare in comparison to how it previously looked. I’ll have to figure something out to try and fix that. Anyway that’s what’s been going on. As always I have a few photos to share as well.

 

[FINWIN]

Floral Colored Sand (sandtastik.com)

Check out the brown tones.