Cuban gar updates

[xander]

they are brighter than in the pics, some night shots. they tend to be darker(olive coloured, not as dark as the last time) in the day and lighter coloured at night. any possible explanation?

 

[demjor19]

The fish look great...what's up with the paint work?

 

[xander]

unnecessary, but it's for your viewing pleasure. pretty uncouthly done, i got lazy after the first one.

 

[city_of_evil6661]

nice cubans. they are looking great!

 

[KaraJo]

the coloration seems normal. Mine are very plae in color first thing in the morning when the lights are turned back on after all night. It's them just adjusting to the light. Great looking cubans.

 

[E_americanus]

that coloration is not normal for Cubans, unless they are stressed Cubans. the fish morphologically (shape-wise) look healthy, but the coloration indicates otherwise. what is pH of your tank? pH affects Cubans more than any of the other gar species, and the cloudy eye further indicates this as being a potential issue.

are the fishes eating? what are their tankmates and what is the water change schedule? they can deal with stress to some extent, possibly moreso with large ones,but i have seen large Cubans succumb to pH related issues very quickly.--
--solomon

 

[channarox]

very nice cubans.

 

[xander]

that coloration is not normal for Cubans, unless they are stressed Cubans. the fish morphologically (shape-wise) look healthy, but the coloration indicates otherwise. what is pH of your tank? pH affects Cubans more than any of the other gar species, and the cloudy eye further indicates this as being a potential issue.

are the fishes eating? what are their tankmates and what is the water change schedule? they can deal with stress to some extent, possibly moreso with large ones,but i have seen large Cubans succumb to pH related issues very quickly.--
--solomon

pH is >7.0, the lowest result on my test card(tetra) is 7.0.the colour on the test is very close to the 7.0 on the card. Ammonia reads 0 and so does nitrite(well it reads <0.3mg/l anyways, which is the lowest reading)

the fish are eating well, and are begging for food all the time. in the tank is one ~14" clown knife, 9" pike cichlid(to be removed tmr) and perhaps going to add a 7" orino(might not go into this tank). water change for the past 2 weeks have been 50% twice a week, but now reduced to 75% weekly. i was using this substrate mainly so that i can have plants to remove ammonia from within the substrate itself. should i get arragonite?

 

[E_americanus]

pH is >7.0, the lowest result on my test card(tetra) is 7.0.the colour on the test is very close to the 7.0 on the card. Ammonia reads 0 and so does nitrite(well it reads <0.3mg/l anyways, which is the lowest reading)

the fish are eating well, and are begging for food all the time. in the tank is one ~14" clown knife, 9" pike cichlid(to be removed tmr) and perhaps going to add a 7" orino(might not go into this tank). water change for the past 2 weeks have been 50% twice a week, but now reduced to 75% weekly. i was using this substrate mainly so that i can have plants to remove ammonia from within the substrate itself. should i get arragonite?

what is the substrate exactly?

i would check the pH with a low pH test kit just in case.

nitrites should be ZERO...any level of them will likely set off these gars to some extent; if you don't have a test kit that goes down to zero, get a different test kit.

the dark color could be due to tankmate stress, but that is unlikely given the size of these fish and likely age...the issue is still likely a part of the physical environment.

given your water is neutral and you're doing a lot of water changes, i would cut the water changes to 50% once a week and see how things go...water changes do cause fluctuations in pH, and this may be stressing the gars a bit as well.

how much are you feeding, how often, and what are you feeding?--
--solomon

 

[xander]

what is the substrate exactly?

i would check the pH with a low pH test kit just in case.

will do so asap

nitrites should be ZERO...any level of them will likely set off these gars to some extent; if you don't have a test kit that goes down to zero, get a different test kit.

will do so asap

the dark color could be due to tankmate stress, but that is unlikely given the size of these fish and likely age...the issue is still likely a part of the physical environment.

given your water is neutral and you're doing a lot of water changes, i would cut the water changes to 50% once a week and see how things go...water changes do cause fluctuations in pH, and this may be stressing the gars a bit as well.

there was a point where i was doing 75% twice a week. just fyi. will do so w the cutting

how much are you feeding, how often, and what are you feeding?--

i'm keeping feeding to less than the fishes would like. they're begging for food almost all the time

Monday: no feeding
tuesday: light feeding, bits of shrimp or some feeders/pellets to keep them from going beserk
wednesday: no feeding
thursday: light feeding, bits of shrimp or some feeders/pellets, they're usually beserk by wednesday night
friday: no feeding
saturday: i feed them till they're full(either feeders or market shrimp, they get better coloured after feedings)
sunday: waterchange
--solomon

reply in red i measure ammonia almost every morning and it's always 0