Ecuadorian "Green Terror" Group

[Athletic_Amph]

I understand you'll be getting a much larger tank when you move, earlier you mentioned the possibility of using a 75g temporarily. Do you have the 75 now? Is it occupied?

Just wondering if you could split the group or move things around. I imagine how cramped that 55 is looking for you... I have a 135g and I'd love to add more bleeding hearts. But then I think "when these guys get some size, if I do get a harem, will the tank feel too full with 4 or 5 GT's AND a bunch of bleeding hearts?"

Decisions, decisions...

DarylMac I do not have a 75 yet, as I don't have the money. I do have a spare 40 breeder that I eventually plan on using for an Amatitlania Biotope eventually, but is currently empty. I may attempt to seed that tank and move some of the Rivs to the 40 and see what happens.

As far as your tank goes, how large do bleeding hearts get? I'm not too familiar with them. If the 135 is rather deep and not so tall, I could see it working... but if it's a standard 6 footer and is only 18" deep it may be an issue when the Rivs reach full size

Decisions is right! lol

 

[DarylMac]

My full size bleeding hearts are like 2.5" long by 2.5" high. They're a deep bodied Tetra.

My tank is the standard 6' x 18". Not a huge foot print.

Now after reading Philprossa's response - what if you did the opposite? Lower the temps a bit to slow growth and reduce aggression? You basically have to guy yourself a couple months time.

I don't know if that really works or is an old wives tale, but I have heard it before.

 

[aztsm]

Lowering temp will decrease aggression from my experience. You'll have to get it in the low 70s though. Will also slow their growth to some extent and their overall metabolism, so less food consumption too.

I also believe that you're more susceptible to illness. Not 100% but believe the possibility is there

 

[Athletic_Amph]

I honestly have never considered attempting to "slow down growth" in any way, tbh...

I'm not concerned with their growth rate per say, just concerned about room. Frankly, I'd rather them grow a little quicker so I could more accurately determine gender and know who to keep and who not to keep. I don't think i'll be altering the temp or anything in my tank - the fish are very active, healthy, and are doing quite alright - so I don't see the need to change anything
With that being said I am more than likely going to start experimenting this weekend by removing a couple and putting them in my 40 breeder, just to see how the male interacts with the ones I choose to leave behind...
but I appreciate the advice guys

 

[Athletic_Amph]

My full size bleeding hearts are like 2.5" long by 2.5" high. They're a deep bodied Tetra.
My tank is the standard 6' x 18". Not a huge foot print.

how many tetras are you considering? I think in order for it to work, you're going to need to have a rather intricate scape to the tank with plenty of cover and sight breaks from end to end...

 

[DarylMac]

I was thinking a school of 10 - 15. I have 4 or 5 now, but they're old and the only fish in my tank showing potential signs of ich (ugh). I'm starting a salt/heat treatment today. Don't know if they'll make it.

 

[Athletic_Amph]

best of luck with that, that's rough. I've never been a fan of salt and raising temps - the last time I ran in to an ich issue I used an API product and it worked very well... and very quickly

 

[Athletic_Amph]

the 2nd white saum was getting picked on constantly, so I removed him/her and placed it in my 40b by himself and now just have my White Saum dominant Male and 3 (hopefully female) gold saums... also went back to the original scape as it was much easier to vac/clean

 

[DarylMac]

Assuming those gold saums are all different fish, they all do look female! But I understand they're still small and I'm no expert so grain of salt please!

The white looks male and he's awesome.

Have to admit, I like all of my GT's but I'm a bit jealous of your variety! Having a mix of white & gold is pretty cool!

Have yours shown any signs of spawning? Mine haven't - and I'm happy with that. They're pretty much all growing well and I'd like the females to get a bit bigger before the spawning starts.

 

[Athletic_Amph]

DarylMac Thank you for the kind words
yes lol there are 3 Gold Saums in the tank with my White Saum male... all are of similar size and coloration and have been the three slowest growers of the group
I've always wanted a White Saum, and patiently waited until I could find one before starting a group like this. I got lucky and found a female at an LFS, then purchased a group of 5 wild caught Golds from AquaScape and never heard from them for a week. After I called and complained a little bit (since they already had my money...) they shipped me two White Saums for free - so I got veryyy lucky

As far as spawning goes, the male shows off for everyone in the tank lol last night after my water change one of the golds began cleaning off the terracotta base to the right side of the tank - but other than that not many signs at all. I think the tank was too crowded for being so small so any chances in the past were put to rest very quickly by the other tankmates. I'm hoping to have them breed in the future as I'd like to try and breed more white saums since they're not very popular in my area