Green Texas growth and behavior

[astrocreep]

I redecorated my Green Texas tank today, nothing fancy, but had a cave setup before and I would go days barely seeing this fish......very shy.

I've had it for close to 2 yrs, am still not sure of the sex.

Dont want to get too detailed, but it has been solitary most its life except for a brief time with an Oscar which worked great. Anything else it will not tolerate, immediately chasing others away relentlessly. I didn't have a heater in the tank for a few months and temps were cool at around 68-72. Fish has never been a big eater.

Mainly wanting to know thoughts on if its male or female, and if i can get it to put on some size..

Roughly the size of my cell phone....5-6 inches in length tip to tail, 2.5 or so tall

 

[astrocreep]

Dorsal fin raised.....

 

[Kvandy]

Looks healthy. Maybe just bad genes or the runt. Feed him night crawlers and cut up tilapia everyday with excessive water changes and see if he/she will bulk up

 

[Serpentine]

Looks like a male. Females have a dark spot on the dorsal fin. He doesn't look sick or deformed at all.

Raising the temperature should help. I also agree with the above suggestions.

 

[dan518]

Agree looks male, temp is about right too. What size was it when you got it? I would be cautious of bumping the temp up to high and power feeding, it can cause long term problems and shorten the life of your fish, personally I would stick to a quality pellet and the odd treat. Stress can slow growth down alot, even if it is the aggressor with tank mates it can cause stress. Good looking fish by the way.

 

[dan518]

Agree looks male, temp is about right too. What size was it when you got it? I would be cautious of bumping the temp up to high and power feeding, it can cause long term problems and shorten the life of your fish, personally I would stick to a quality pellet and the odd treat. Stress can slow growth down alot, even if it is the aggressor with tank mates it can cause stress. Good looking fish by the way.

Also looking at your tank scape you could try some over head cover, floating plants, branches, plastic plants stuck to the top. It will help him feel more secure.

 

[duanes]

Never used a heater at all with either carpintus, or cyanoguttatus, and kept some out side spring thru fall in Milwaukee, where water temps dropped into the low 60s without a problem. Carpintis are sub tropical, not really tropical fish being, from northern Mexico.
Female carpintus, besides the dorsal dark spot, the profile is more torpedo shaped.

male below

What is your water change routine, I find best growth happens with lots of water changes, and very low nitrate
Here is the same male as above about half grown

in the shot below, more mature

 

[RD.]

Agree with the others, looks like a healthy male specimen. I'm also curious as to what your water change routine is. Everything else seems fine.

 

[astrocreep]

Agree with the others, looks like a healthy male specimen. I'm also curious as to what your water change routine is. Everything else seems fine.

I'll admit that i haven't been as stringent on water changes as I should be, but definitely gets a 50% water change within every two weeks. I recently put a heater back in thinking this would get him more active but really didnt change his behavior much.

Water temp is around 74 degrees currently.

I feed Omega one sinking pellets and really only feeds when I'm not around. I have fed nightcrawlers before and he did eat them, but not always and i would have to remove the leftover carcass.

 

[astrocreep]

Also looking at your tank scape you could try some over head cover, floating plants, branches, plastic plants stuck to the top. It will help him feel more secure.

I had a cave built from rocks that he stayed in pretty much all the time. I got tired of not being able to see him so moved everything around a bit.

He is a digger and works for hours cleaning out the gravel in the cave to expose bare tank bottom.

I caught a couple crayfish from a local creek and put them in there with him due to the cooler water. He murdered the larger one within a couple days, but the other has survived and seems to be left alone.

There is also 7 giant danios in the tank which he pays no attention to at all, very rarely i will see him charge one but they are lightning quick.

I will look into some fake floating plants, i do like planted tanks, just have never attempted it.