Was not expecting to make this post. I am devastated to report the death of the red wolf. He clocked in at about 9 inches (maybe more if he had a tail - more on that later).
Life had been getting busy and I hadn’t been spending as much time with the tank and it was showing. Best guess is I cleaned too much too quickly and shocked the fish to death.
Over the last year and a half I had noticed his pectoral fins looking very stubby but didn’t think much of it. Recently the other fins had started to do the same - though not consistent with fin rot best I could tell. I was never really sure what the cause was (and kept forgetting to make a thread about it), so it’s certainly possible he had been unhealthy for a bit.
Obligatory pic:
Final thoughts:
Easily one of the best monster fish that money can buy - probably the best one on a budget and with a smaller tank. If I did it again, I’d definitely up the water changes (I neglected the fact that this fish in a 36 is like trying to cram an Oscar into a 55.
The 36 is definitely a good tank size for the fish as far as swimming room goes, but once it grows I do think an upgrade to a 40B or even a 75 would be ideal. They don’t do much but he made the tank look small. I also hate the footprint of the 36 bow front (but I don’t like any tall tank) for most fish anyway.
I’m not too sure what I’m going to do with the tank now. Part of me wants to try again since it’s one of my favorite species but I also wouldn’t mind trying something new (
S. sanchezi?). I’m open to any suggestions, either solo monster or a community setup.