Hello everyone. I have a gold saum named benga and he has quite a story. I picked him up from Petco when I worked there several months ago. He was only about 2 inches at the time and very malnourished due to other fish in the tank taking his food.
I got my hands on a 20L and brought home a gold saum (he was labeled green terror but now has orange tips) and a jack Dempsey of about the same size. Right of the bat, the Dempsey tore into him and terrorized him constantly. I figured they were establishing dominance and let it go for a few days. Though it is a small tank, I have a lot of tunneling decor in there for them to hide in.
But the Dempsey was ruthless. About 5 days later I look in the tank, and poor benga's tail had been bitten nearly off!! He was still not getting any food and was marked for death by the Dempsey. So one night when it got really rough I said enough is enough. I scooped out the Dempsey and dropped him into a bowl with a few large goldfish just to piss him off for the night. The next day I took him back to Petco with the goldfish I cycled with (everyone lived). And to this day he could be in that pet store I don't know.
I took a look at benga the next day and what do I find?? Ich. He got so stressed that he got ich. The poor guy had been through enough! So I started a heat and salt treatment and for two weeks he champed it out. With stress coat, his tail grew completely back. And in about a week, the ich was gone and has been gone for a month or two now.
So to keep him from thinking he has the place to himself, I went out and got some buddies for him. A 2 inch jeweled cichlid, and a 2 inch firemouth. He was a little bossy at first and kicked them around. But after a few weeks, they all are good friends. No more nipping and chasing, they will all even eat together happily. Benga is about twice the size of the firemouth now, and still much bigger then the jewel.
So in a few weeks they are getting a much needed upgrade. A 55-75 gallon tank that I'm getting with my tax return. They will then have much more room to grow and live. I know the 20L was small to start with but I have a marineland penguin 100 and A duetto 100 so the water stays nice and clean.
So anyone who took the time to read my story, I need your help. Benga is now roughly 3-3.5 inches and is really colorful. Id love some ideas on the sex as he still has no signs of a nuchal hump.
Will post pics thanks!!
I got my hands on a 20L and brought home a gold saum (he was labeled green terror but now has orange tips) and a jack Dempsey of about the same size. Right of the bat, the Dempsey tore into him and terrorized him constantly. I figured they were establishing dominance and let it go for a few days. Though it is a small tank, I have a lot of tunneling decor in there for them to hide in.
But the Dempsey was ruthless. About 5 days later I look in the tank, and poor benga's tail had been bitten nearly off!! He was still not getting any food and was marked for death by the Dempsey. So one night when it got really rough I said enough is enough. I scooped out the Dempsey and dropped him into a bowl with a few large goldfish just to piss him off for the night. The next day I took him back to Petco with the goldfish I cycled with (everyone lived). And to this day he could be in that pet store I don't know.
I took a look at benga the next day and what do I find?? Ich. He got so stressed that he got ich. The poor guy had been through enough! So I started a heat and salt treatment and for two weeks he champed it out. With stress coat, his tail grew completely back. And in about a week, the ich was gone and has been gone for a month or two now.
So to keep him from thinking he has the place to himself, I went out and got some buddies for him. A 2 inch jeweled cichlid, and a 2 inch firemouth. He was a little bossy at first and kicked them around. But after a few weeks, they all are good friends. No more nipping and chasing, they will all even eat together happily. Benga is about twice the size of the firemouth now, and still much bigger then the jewel.
So in a few weeks they are getting a much needed upgrade. A 55-75 gallon tank that I'm getting with my tax return. They will then have much more room to grow and live. I know the 20L was small to start with but I have a marineland penguin 100 and A duetto 100 so the water stays nice and clean.
So anyone who took the time to read my story, I need your help. Benga is now roughly 3-3.5 inches and is really colorful. Id love some ideas on the sex as he still has no signs of a nuchal hump.
Will post pics thanks!!
