How can I get a more colorful Green Terror?

[GTbEaSt]

Water Changes, Variety Diet, good size tank, No Fighting with other cichlids, No Stress, and having GOOD LIGHTING.

I do a 25 percent water change every week, I feed mine three times daily on Hikari Gold, But sometimes on other days I will throw in some Bloodworms, Peas, Brine Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, or Earthworms that I find in my backyard(REMEMBER THESE ARE USED AS TREATS AND NOT EVERYDAY). Remove all Stress the fish has, and find the right Decorations that bring out ur fish colors(Maybe some Light and Dark Green Plants with a Light colored substrate) and Last in having good Lighting. I use Aquaglow.

 

[cichlid_starter]

your GT + BP can get full grown in about 1.5 years (rough). You have less than 6months before you need an upgrade. Thats just my opinion though.

 

[cichlid2006]

I'm just having a tough time finding comparison pics of fish the same size/age. The ones that look similar are obviously high end show fish, which would run considerably more money.

I just want mine to end up with a pretty red tipped tail (Which is headed that way), definitive mouth stripes, and a lighter color than it is now. It just looks...muddy.

Anyone have baby pics of their GT they can comapre with?

You will need larger than a 55g for all 3 for life. Male GT's can hit 12"+ and a 55g only has 13" of turning space. A 75g is good for life for 1 male GT and some pictus and a bristlenose pleco; some bottom dwellers around 4-6", nothing too big.

You BP will get hammered as that GT grows in such tight quarters, BP's cannot compete with a GT if the GT startes fighting because they cannot close their mouths or swimm properly to fight hard enough.

Once your GT hits about 5" your other two fish are in for a world of hurt in such tight quarters, even in a 55g.

This guy was about 3" maybe a tad bigger in this photo. He would have turned into a monster if he, at about 4", hadn't started a fight with my 9" midas. He was promptly taken to my lfs before he got killed.

 

[phyber]

Thats a pretty fish!

As of now my gt is a pansy, it goes where the others aren't. So I'm guessing that it'll end up female :/

Maybe it and my BRP will mate since he's male.

 

[cichlid2006]

Thats a pretty fish!

As of now my gt is a pansy, it goes where the others aren't. So I'm guessing that it'll end up female :/

Maybe it and my BRP will mate since he's male.

There is a good chance that will change. Juvenile Gt's are very easily bullied when they are young but their confidence starts growing around 4" and it will get tougher, female or male it doesn't matter. If it is male then there is a good chance it will try and dominate the tank, if it does that then your BP will have no chance seeing as it does not have the tools to defend itself thanks to man's ceaseless tinkering.
Females can actually be worse than the males. My first ever female GT, before the male I just posted here was evil. Pure evil and she was at a disadvantage, she had a missing fin and a deformed one.

 

[cichlid_starter]

and to add to that, no they will not mate.

 

[phyber]

lol, i know they wont, or at least the probability is very low...but just imagine what the heck that would look like!

my BRP is actually on the more aggressive scale, so I think he could at least make his bark loud enough to not need the bite. I'll hope that since the gt was added last and young he'll be more docile in adulthood.

i found a 75g tank/lid/light/bulb for $195 at PetSmart...good deal?

 

[Aquanero]

Here's a pic of my male at the same size as your is now. I think you could do better than $195 but at retail that might be about right. Anyway here's the pic.

 

[phyber]

beautiful!

i think my fish might turn around...the dark color of mine is similar to yours, excelt that yours has more green on the side showing. it's starting to get the color in the rear fin/dorsal fin, and it's mouth stripes are glowing like a neon light.

the fins on the bottom of my fish look a bit mangled though. they were like that when i got it and havent healed much so far....just black colored.

 

[xinchavoc]

heres a few pics of mine i think your gt is female i bought mine at about 2 inches and it already had great color heres a few pics of it... first pic is wen i had it in my 55 =.. 4 months later i had to upgrade to a 150...