Monster Predatory Community Update, it's been a while...

[terd ferguson]

Here's a shot of the plumbing work I did today. The returns are on the right. I had to make a couple of extra bends to clear the standpipes in the overflow box. I've got to pick up a couple more 90's to finish up the returns. I've also got to pick up a couple of barbed fittings to connect the powerheads to the UGJ.

Once I get the extra fittings, I'll paint everything black with Krylon Fusion. Then, it's on to washing 400 pounds of sand. It's almost finished.

Also, my loiselli female laid eggs yesterday after a big waterchange. She ate most of those eggs today. She has spawned several times now and has eaten her eggs each time. The larger female jag laid eggs today. She has a much better track record at rearing fry. Her and the male's parenting skills are excellent.

Thanks again for looking and thanks for this great forum.

 

[terd ferguson]

I should also add that I picked up a couple of smaller jags since Tiny is gone. I got a male and a female. The male is a little over 5" and the female is a little over 4 1/2". The male has some nice green going on around his face and a nice head and body shape. I feel like he has a lot of potential. They were in seperate tanks in the LFS but they've been hanging out together in my tank. Check them out...

The male...

The female...

Both together...

The male again with flash...

 

[Gnuhen]

U r the man... I love the tank... n the fishes

 

[johndoe21ro]

Damn ... your tank rocks for real. You're Mr. Admired No.1 ... from my side at least. Waiting for you to populate the tank. If you have some spare time .. pls visit my thread. I'm planning on getting some Carpinte, a Jag and some Salvinii and I needed an advice about the sex of my Jag so that I buy a pair for it at the end of the week. I think it's a male now ... seems Tiny's twin brother to me ... but as I said before .. I coud use an advice.

Your thread is VIP for me man ... keep up the good work ... keep us drooling. Cheers.

 

[terd ferguson]

U r the man... I love the tank... n the fishes

Thanks a lot.

Damn ... your tank rocks for real. You're Mr. Admired No.1 ... from my side at least. Waiting for you to populate the tank. If you have some spare time .. pls visit my thread. I'm planning on getting some Carpinte, a Jag and some Salvinii and I needed an advice about the sex of my Jag so that I buy a pair for it at the end of the week. I think it's a male now ... seems Tiny's twin brother to me ... but as I said before .. I coud use an advice.

Your thread is VIP for me man ... keep up the good work ... keep us drooling. Cheers.

I am 99.9% positive your jag is a male. And a nice one at that. When looking for a female, try to get one at least four inches or larger. It's much easier to determine the sex once they reach four inches or so. Look for one that has no black spots below the lateral line. The vertical bars should also be more pronounced on the female. On a male, the vertical bars begin to get replaced by the black spots above and below the lateral line.

Here's some pics of mine for reference...

Tiny, male

Another male, Teeny at about 11"

My new male at about 5"

My new female at almost 5"

And finally, here is Teeny (male about 11") and Shorty (female almost 7") side by side

Notice how on the males that the black spots are very prominant on the face and under their mouth. This is usually not there on females. It can be tricky when the fishes are stress as they turn a darker color. But, generally speaking, the males will almost always have more spotting around the face and the females will usually not have these markings.

Good luck, i enjoyed your thread. Let me know how it goes if you can get a female. PM me or post in here if you have any other questions. And thanks for the kind words.

 

[johndoe21ro]

No ... I thank you ... for the help, for being an inspiration.... I have as much passion as you in raising fish but unfortunately I don't have enough time to cope with my desires and I still need to make many arrangements to my aquariums. I think Friday I'll be a few fish richer than today (as I already told u .. 2 female Jag .... few Carpinte, few Salvinii and a female or two of Green Terror cause my male Jag & GT feel really alone). I'm planning to form some pairs ... and the extra will go to my gf's aquarium ... an 100 gals tank with some Midas, some Oscars, a JD pair, Chitala and a few others (she has to get rid of some of them).

Thx again and don't keep us waiting. Hope to post some pics very soon with my new fish as you asked me.
Bye.

 

[terd ferguson]

No ... I thank you ... for the help, for being an inspiration.... I have as much passion as you in raising fish but unfortunately I don't have enough time to cope with my desires and I still need to make many arrangements to my aquariums. I think Friday I'll be a few fish richer than today (as I already told u .. 2 female Jag .... few Carpinte, few Salvinii and a female or two of Green Terror cause my male Jag & GT feel really alone). I'm planning to form some pairs ... and the extra will go to my gf's aquarium ... an 100 gals tank with some Midas, some Oscars, a JD pair, Chitala and a few others (she has to get rid of some of them).

Thx again and don't keep us waiting. Hope to post some pics very soon with my new fish as you asked me.
Bye.

Thanks a lot for the kind words. I hope to have water and fishes in the new tank by the end of this coming weekend. Stay tuned for pics for sure.



I picked up a grammodes. Within 24 hours, he had already murdered a 1 1/2" Salvini. It seems to be just for spite as the grammy bit the tail clean off and didn't try to eat him. Here's a couple of shots, these are in the CA/SA forum as well.

This guy is quickly becoming my favorite.


Also, I have some new plans. I have a big cash offer for my bigger female Red Terror and the two TSN's. I think I'm going to take it. Besides this, I have a 9" male mota coming next week from a friend.

In addition to those moves, I've had a crazy idea of keeping all five Parachromis together since I started this tank. I've always though it was more than likely not possible with the dovii being the one I'm missing and the one who would cause problems. Well, I've decided I'm going to give it a shot. My advantages would be that all the other fishes are bonded and established and larger than the dovii I would get. So, if the smaller dovii decided to cause a problem, he would likely be picking a fight with two fishes instead of just one. My only disadvantage would be the reputation of the dovii itself.

A lot of people said it just wasn't possible to do what I've done so far. Wait until they get bigger they said. Wait until they start breeding they said. So, maybe with the proper dovii specimen selection, I can make this work. Time will tell and we will see. I'll of course update.

Thanks for looking and thanks for this great forum. You all have been my constant inspiration.

 

[citrinelum]

its going to be quite a master piece of aquarium...

 

[terd ferguson]

its going to be quite a master piece of aquarium...

I haven't updated this in a while. There have been several new developments. Here's some pics and brief descriptions.

New tank shot...

Left side of tank...

Male grammodes...

Just added today, male Parachromis motaguense, about 8". Here he is with the female. Check out the blue...

Again...

By himself...

Also, I found out my big Oscar, Albie, is a female. She started making a nest today and her breeding tube dropped.

And the news I'm most excited about. When I was moving my sump from the old tank to the new tank, I found a tiny jaguar fry in the bottom. Judging by it's size, it came from Tiny's spawn. I have high hopes for this one. I really wanted an offspring from Tiny. Sadly, all the eggs were eaten, except for this one tiny, tough jag.

Thanks again for looking.

 

[polish]

WOW, amazing collection. You did really nice work on that stand as well, it looks sharp and I am seriously jealous of that ]\/[onster tank.

On a side note that bike you built is beyond awesome, I love that style. Truly a work of art.