Concern for endlicheri

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Burbotman

Burbotman

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2006
2,156
1,908
179
Canada
My holy grail. I finally found a lower jaw bicher for sale up here in Canada. My LFS just brought in some 3" little endlicheri's. All of them looked horrible, gaunt and somewhat listless, however I could not pass up trying to rear one up. Here are some shots of the little guy.
I am surprised that for his size there are no external gills, anyone know at what point they drop off?? My ornate had them until he hit 4".

I have high hopes for this fish, currently he is in my 5 gallon, he will graduate to the 20 shortly and sometime in the future will make it in to the show.

2006 Pictures 267.jpg

2006 Pictures 268.jpg
 
god its tiny, get it FAT!. ive heard that they will keep their gills if in pristine water up to 6in plus, maybe his were lost from being in that turdy lfs water?? i dont think anybody knows for sure tho.
 
many factors can play a role in external gill retention. i am not sure if anyone knows all of them. messiner pointed out water quality. genetics and species can also play a role.
an example from my exp. i bought my senegal when he was 2.5" long and i never saw external gills. however, my weeksii is 12" and she still has them.

very cute little endi :) and nice markings!
give him some blood worms... he looks hungry :)
 
XRAYZ;614631; said:
many factors can play a role in external gill retention. i am not sure if anyone knows all of them. messiner pointed out water quality. genetics and species can also play a role.
an example from my exp. i bought my senegal when he was 2.5" long and i never saw external gills. however, my weeksii is 12" and she still has them.

very cute little endi :) and nice markings!
give him some blood worms... he looks hungry :)
Click to expand...

i was trying to remember who had the weeksii with external gills!!lol
 
Congrats. I heard some 10" endlicheri that still kept their external gills.
 
The more I look at this fish, I cannot believe that it was still alive. I would estimate that it only has about 50% of the body mass that it should have, and it was the most robust of the bunch. Litterly when viewed from above, there is a head and then a tiny thin noodle of a body trailing behind.
So far he is eating beef heart and diced smelt, bloodworms come on the weekend. Poor little thing, it will eat one tiny slice and you can see his stomach bulging, I think the stomach is likely shrunken and retracted, I hope through the weekend I will notice a thickening slightly.
Normaly the LFS does not sell new arrivals for the first couple weeks, in this case they let me take one at my own risk.
 
Looks somewhat like Bizzy, the 5'' endli I got about a week ago. All head and a tiny body - starving to death. I'm workin on beefing mine up with chopped silversides and chopped earthworms. Best of luck with yours :)
 
i think you already accomplished the hard part, getting it to take food.
soon it will be able to take more and more.... this one would be a good
to keep a photo diary of its growth.

enjoy and keep updates for us please :)
 
pingpong;617704; said:
Hey Burbotman, do you mind me asking where you found him and how much you paid for him? I've only been able to find ornates and senegals in Canada.

Chris.
Click to expand...

Chris, I got him from Riverfront Aquariums in Calgary, Alberta. They bring a pretty good assortment on non typical fishes. $89.99 was a little steep, however it was really the first lower jaw that I have seen in Alberta in the past 10 years.
 
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