It took me a little while learning my way around on this site but I THINK I managed to finally figure it out.
Anyways, I am new to being a monster fish keeper but I have had my 90 gallon for some 15+ years. My first fond memory of my very first Monster fish was a pseudodoras Niger that my sister and I took pity on. Poor fella was in a 20gallon tank that he could barely move around in at a pet store that really shouldn't have been in business. We checked in on him there off and on for about two months and when it looked like no one was going to buy him we decided to take him in. We loved his prehistoric look with the spikes along his flank and his cory-like mouth whiskers. We were also surprised by his intelligence, i housed him with my comet goldfish that had been spared from being bass food (i had kept a large mouth bass from a fishing expedition with my dad) in my 90 gallon and when i needed to clean out the tank i would put my net in front of him on the gravel and he would swim into it and turn around and would brace his fins on my hand while is supported him during the transport to the holding tank...never thrashed or anything. I was quite saddened when my filter malfunctioned during the winter one night and in the morning found most of my inhabitants dead, including my beloved niger...at least I was saddened until one year we visited the baltimore aquarium and I saw the plaque "Psuedodoras Niger" underneath some 4 foot long specimens..what would i have done with him had he lived!
My current inhabitants are about 5 yrs old. A friend of mine was moving and gave me a baby Jack Dempsey. She had several tanks in her place and I fell in love with the adult jack's striking color. I started researching them as I've never owned one before and decided it was best to give Jack away as I had a koi angelfish and another group told me they would soon be incompatible. My husband and I were very impressed with the intelligence of the Jack when I attempted to catch him and my husband begged me to let Jack stay and find a home for my angel. My friend, on moving day, discovered that she was not going to be able to take the adult Jack with her and begged me to give him a home. So I now have two Jacks, the baby and adult. I also have a foot long Pleco, a 5" striped Raphael, several cory's and a black convict. So far everything is going okay between the different inhabitants...the koi angel found a new home.
In my years of aquarium keeping, the fish I've gotten have been either given away due to moving, or died due to old age or some blight.. so I've never (until now) researched their longevity. I was quite surprised to learn that my raphy can live up to 30 yrs and the pleco up to 20. I think one site said my Jacks live about 10yrs. I'm not certain how I'm going to maintain the tank if the pleco DOES grow to the possible two feet length as he sure does poop an awful lot right now! I can't imagine how much poop is going to be hanging around if he gets to 24"! Is there any thing out there that will help clean up the poop? (other than skimming the tank on a regular basis) I thought about snails but figured they would just be an expensive snack for my new friends.
I would be interested in finding out does anyone know if my pleco is done growing or if he will continue to grow throughout his life span? My raphy is about 5" long and as I've just learned that they will eat themselves to death I will need to make certain to not over feed. My Jack, he was being fed strictly cichlid pellets but when he moved here, he took a liking to the shrimp pellets I put in for the pleco and cory's and now won't even look at the cichlid feed, just comes over to the glass and stares at me as if to say "come on, I know you're holding out!" I hate how the pellets seem to disintegrate as the hit the bottom floor and haze up the water but my fish seem to do a good job eating up and I'm concerned that I will have my cory's not having enough to eat as the big guys snarf down the pellets as fast as they can. I have the algae discs but they dont seem to really care for them. I usually put in a chunk of cucumber every other week for my pleco to munch on. I caught my convict using the floating skin as a cave last week when I went to pull it out before it started going bad.
I once had some beautiful comet goldfish that were moved to a horse trough as I couldnt afford a pond setup..nor could I do the excavation on my folks property for it as their ground was full of large rocks...i would only feed them once a week and they thrived. With these current fish, they seem hungry on a daily basis..what kind of feeding schedule is best for them, daily? Bi-weekly? Every other day? My stepson had a basketball tournament that required us to be gone for the weekend so I thought, Jacks a carnivore, let me put some rosies in and he will be set while we are gone...it doesn't look like he touched a single one and now I'm trying to decide is it worth the gas money to return $2 worth of fish, do i give them away or leave them in the tank, or do I freeze them then thaw them out and feed them to him. Adult Jack and Baby Jack really fought it out for the earthworms I tossed in the tank this past weekend but the rosies are swimming around just fine...makes me wonder if I really had to give away my angel after all!
Also, I would appreciate any input on whether or not I need to start looking for a home for the baby jack...he is about 4" long. My friend thinks it is a male.
Well, my three yr old is stirring from her nap so my computer time is done, i look forward to learning more!
Andrea
Anyways, I am new to being a monster fish keeper but I have had my 90 gallon for some 15+ years. My first fond memory of my very first Monster fish was a pseudodoras Niger that my sister and I took pity on. Poor fella was in a 20gallon tank that he could barely move around in at a pet store that really shouldn't have been in business. We checked in on him there off and on for about two months and when it looked like no one was going to buy him we decided to take him in. We loved his prehistoric look with the spikes along his flank and his cory-like mouth whiskers. We were also surprised by his intelligence, i housed him with my comet goldfish that had been spared from being bass food (i had kept a large mouth bass from a fishing expedition with my dad) in my 90 gallon and when i needed to clean out the tank i would put my net in front of him on the gravel and he would swim into it and turn around and would brace his fins on my hand while is supported him during the transport to the holding tank...never thrashed or anything. I was quite saddened when my filter malfunctioned during the winter one night and in the morning found most of my inhabitants dead, including my beloved niger...at least I was saddened until one year we visited the baltimore aquarium and I saw the plaque "Psuedodoras Niger" underneath some 4 foot long specimens..what would i have done with him had he lived!
My current inhabitants are about 5 yrs old. A friend of mine was moving and gave me a baby Jack Dempsey. She had several tanks in her place and I fell in love with the adult jack's striking color. I started researching them as I've never owned one before and decided it was best to give Jack away as I had a koi angelfish and another group told me they would soon be incompatible. My husband and I were very impressed with the intelligence of the Jack when I attempted to catch him and my husband begged me to let Jack stay and find a home for my angel. My friend, on moving day, discovered that she was not going to be able to take the adult Jack with her and begged me to give him a home. So I now have two Jacks, the baby and adult. I also have a foot long Pleco, a 5" striped Raphael, several cory's and a black convict. So far everything is going okay between the different inhabitants...the koi angel found a new home.
In my years of aquarium keeping, the fish I've gotten have been either given away due to moving, or died due to old age or some blight.. so I've never (until now) researched their longevity. I was quite surprised to learn that my raphy can live up to 30 yrs and the pleco up to 20. I think one site said my Jacks live about 10yrs. I'm not certain how I'm going to maintain the tank if the pleco DOES grow to the possible two feet length as he sure does poop an awful lot right now! I can't imagine how much poop is going to be hanging around if he gets to 24"! Is there any thing out there that will help clean up the poop? (other than skimming the tank on a regular basis) I thought about snails but figured they would just be an expensive snack for my new friends.
I would be interested in finding out does anyone know if my pleco is done growing or if he will continue to grow throughout his life span? My raphy is about 5" long and as I've just learned that they will eat themselves to death I will need to make certain to not over feed. My Jack, he was being fed strictly cichlid pellets but when he moved here, he took a liking to the shrimp pellets I put in for the pleco and cory's and now won't even look at the cichlid feed, just comes over to the glass and stares at me as if to say "come on, I know you're holding out!" I hate how the pellets seem to disintegrate as the hit the bottom floor and haze up the water but my fish seem to do a good job eating up and I'm concerned that I will have my cory's not having enough to eat as the big guys snarf down the pellets as fast as they can. I have the algae discs but they dont seem to really care for them. I usually put in a chunk of cucumber every other week for my pleco to munch on. I caught my convict using the floating skin as a cave last week when I went to pull it out before it started going bad.
I once had some beautiful comet goldfish that were moved to a horse trough as I couldnt afford a pond setup..nor could I do the excavation on my folks property for it as their ground was full of large rocks...i would only feed them once a week and they thrived. With these current fish, they seem hungry on a daily basis..what kind of feeding schedule is best for them, daily? Bi-weekly? Every other day? My stepson had a basketball tournament that required us to be gone for the weekend so I thought, Jacks a carnivore, let me put some rosies in and he will be set while we are gone...it doesn't look like he touched a single one and now I'm trying to decide is it worth the gas money to return $2 worth of fish, do i give them away or leave them in the tank, or do I freeze them then thaw them out and feed them to him. Adult Jack and Baby Jack really fought it out for the earthworms I tossed in the tank this past weekend but the rosies are swimming around just fine...makes me wonder if I really had to give away my angel after all!
Also, I would appreciate any input on whether or not I need to start looking for a home for the baby jack...he is about 4" long. My friend thinks it is a male.
Well, my three yr old is stirring from her nap so my computer time is done, i look forward to learning more!
Andrea
