More tank pics, updated
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
- Dec 2, 2018
- 1,274
- 831
- 125
- Dec 2, 2018
- 1,274
- 831
- 125
For sure--more like a sometimes brutal mini--series. Just need popcorn and theater candy.
Due to the flu bug, I was 'down' a week and unable to do much fishly maintenance. So for two solid days the tanks were under blue moon light with no feedings. I figured I'd go downstairs, fire everything up and do some small water changes on the third day.
I turned on the lights and found every tank completely trashed. Plants uprooted and pulled everywhere, stones shoved around, filters laying on their sides with the air hose loose. The main tank had all the filter pads pulled out and both heaters pulled off the glass. The pothos was bitten and chopped with loose pieces everywhere. Plants were dragged in piles in total disarray. Someone knocked over an 8 inch bolder next to the glass. (I don't regret spending extra for tempered glass because I anticipated this with cichlids) My Oscar puffed and flared at me as if to say "Where have you been?"
So I spent a bit of time restoring order so that the tanks looked like aquariums instead of salad bowls. One problem solved, on to the next.
ROTTEN OSCAR
For the last month or so the "King" has decided that he no longer wants pellets. They can rain over his head and he ignores them. His highness patiently waits for his gourmet meal while the others still relish the pellets. But surprisingly he eats the mealworms delicately from my fingers. If they float at the surface he'll gulp with loud noise. But if I take a second too long he grabs a knuckle. I put pellets in the tilapia but that trick only worked once. The second time he spat out the mashed pellets and ate the tilapia.
So first he loved Krill (this lasted 2 days) and now its meal worms and tilapia. He also declines crickets. Since we're stuck on these selections I am soaking his meals in Boyds. But make no mistake...when this stuff runs out he's going on a crash diet to pellets. Brick's already halfway through the bag of meal worms. Patch and Kong like the Krill as well but will pretty much eat anything. The others aren't top feeders so they don't get the benefit.
Now that we're rolling into June, its time for Brick's monthly measurements. As expected, no real gain in length but the mass is kicking in. He's finally cracked the 2 inch thickness barrier.
UPPITY CICHLIDS
Some of my fish decide what color pellet they want on some days. This is going way too far with pickiness. Patch will eat large green pellets but not small ones. Chip sometimes doesn't like green pellets. Since I rotate pellets and combine them anyway, this isn't a real problem.
SNEAKY SEVERUM
I suspect my Severum Chip is the one slicing the pothos. I've already caught him more than once biting and eating stems. At least he leaves the roots alone. He likes to graze algae where he finds it, even on the glass or in the corners. Gotta love this guy. Chip will win you over with his stubborn "I won't take stuff from nobody even if I can't win" attitude. Moving forward I think he will do just fine. Brick is less inclined to chase him as much now that he's bulkier and slower. The deal with Boss isn't intense as much as it's fairly constant. Almost like play sessions. If Chip doesn't push it too far, Boss basically just messes around, giving him nudges or pushing him everywhere. And of course Chip doesn't have the strength or bulk to prevent it, so he has to back off. But if he gets overly aggressive at Boss the parrot goes hard on him. I think being in the main tank has toughened Chip up. He's nothing like the flighty and skittish Severum he was months ago. Chip surprised me one day by coming up for a fin tickle. So far it seems to be a one and done situation but we'll see. He's been observing me pet Brick for weeks with great curiosity. But he's quite settled and bold now, especially eating around Boss and Brick. In fact he snatched a pellet from Boss a couple of times. At night he sleeps near the Oscar. Brick will chase him away when annoyed (or Chip hangs around too long). Boss does the same thing. Chip's gone from being the pinball to the thorn in everyone's side. His finnage is really starting to show well. Chip is really turning into a nice specimen. He's rounding out and has doubled in thickness. Eyes remind me of a cat. He's fiesty as f+++ and its the only thing that lets him survive against the tank muscle.
THE QUEEN AKA DIVA
Patch does her fan dances and aggressively chases fingers. She will bang the glass during water changes with the siphon hose. But someone needs to tone down her egg maker. She just laid eggs two weeks ago and is eating like crazy again. Last time around she surprised me by polishing off the eggs herself. I'd have a store of Blood Parrots if left up to her. After water changes she's in hyper aggressive high energy mode.
THE BANGER
Kong still redecorates his tank every other day. I'd literally be posting every two days showing how he changes stuff. He still bangs the glass and gets too excited over Patch. Never mind the fact she cut him up weeks ago. I think he likes rough females. If I'm working on her tank I have to cover his with a towel to keep him calm. He also loves to watch what's going on in the main tank. Likes to play in the sand by rubbing his belly and fanning up clouds.
THE LONER
Rex basically does his own thing. He hides a lot more than he used to but there's a reason. A big, round, orange reason. But he's put on size and weight (maybe over 6") and his color is clear and even. His barbels have grown out long and healthy compared to when I purchased him.
THE KING
Can't really dispute the tank leviathan. Brick is 11 inches long, over 2 inches thick, and 5 inches in height without fins extended. His mass is now taking over. He moves with the slow and easy motion of an adult oscar when cruising. Lately he investigates or ignores other squabbles. Sometimes he interferes. He'll still try an ambush of Boss on occasion but stops immediately when he sees me watching. I'm excited about his potential since Brick isn't even a year old. He's a rotten water puppy that gets his pats and tickles on a daily basis. Very active despite his size, he's not a 'lurching' Oscar and loves to play in water currents. I love this "sunken ship" thing he does now. He'll just drop and sink to the bottom. Then he'll rest with his fins out like sails. It's really cool.
THE BOSS
Boss is Boss, even though the Oscar is King. If that sounds confusing, it should be...the relationship with Boss the BP and Brick the O is complicated and impossible to define. Their alpha status is in constant flux. For now it seems to have settled to mutual respect. Brick is King because of his sheer size and the intimidation factor. Boss is Boss because he's the only one who can kick everyone's @__, including the King. Boss has survived every attempt by the Oscar to batter and bite him. For all that he only got a scale popped loose once. (Boss returned the favor). Boss is no lightweight either, he's the size of a fat softball.
ITS THE PITS
Everybody is digging pits these days. Brick, Boss, Patch, Kong. Even Chip is tossing some sand. Chip showed some surprising strength dragging a couple of plants to different spots.
THE UNKNOWN FACTOR
When the BP Tango and Syno Cash join the group soon, all this stuff will probably be trash.
So now to the main event. Sometimes you see things about your fish that don't add up. So for the last few days I noticed Boss' lip was sort of white, which told me he'd been fighting. But who? Then the was the mystery of Brick missing a scale on his right side. Very odd.
During every W/C I notice the Syno Rex comes out. Could be the sound of rushing water as the levels drop. And this is where everything goes to hell. I've mentioned that lately the BP and Syno have had some 'action.' Well it turns out even more than I thought.
As water levels drop and the tank is 'compressed' everyone gets testy, looking for a space to go. For the most part its just mild scuffling then settles down. But the real story is what happens after. I don't like mysteries that indicate fighting. So I went to watch when I normally don't. And I got full style arena action.
So the W/C is nearly done, tank almost full. Rex scoots out (on the side where Boss is). Boss goes after him and the fight is on. Brick glides over to check it out. He drops himself like a wall between the other two. Boss goes around him to get at Rex. They swirl around the O until he gets bored with it all and swims away. Chip sees this but stays out of it for once.
Then Boss bangs Rex into the sand like a jackhammer, refusing to let the catfish get up and defend himself. As I said before, Boss is very tactical and learns how to fight each fish differently. When they first fought they would swirl in open water then Rex would scrape Boss with a barbel on his sides. Boss hated this and would swim off. This was different. The Syno's head was slammed down like "Hammer and nail time!" Boss finally tires which enables Rex to move just enough to defend himself. He tries to and they lip lock. But something happens. Either Boss pinched his mouth or a barbel because suddenly Rex jerks away like his mouth his hurt. After that he avoided Boss openly. Later on under 'moon' light I saw Boss going after him again, popping him in the sides relentlessly. Poor Rex swam away weakly. He's not trying to fight but Boss has some wire go off in his head when he sees the Syno. Some of this has to do with Rex scraping him the past, I'm convinced of it. But this is concerning. Rex is exhausted from fighting. Whenever he does fight back it just incites Boss to go crazy. Is Boss turning into Kong? It looks like my prediction about Boss was accurate. When parrots hit maturity they get super pissy. And Boss shares the piss equally with Chip. But why Chip doesn't use huge areas of the tank at his disposal is beyond me. There's more than enough room, but he still wants the small area inside the space Boss has now reclaimed (I think I said that right). In other words, his lease is up. Round two is the fight for space.
So Chip charges headlong at Boss (hits a wall) then tries to intimidate Boss by shaking and flaring his fins (waste of time) then in desperation tries a cheap shot (and gets popped sideways). Then Boss shoves him away like a nuisance. Chip is tough but he has the wrong body. Might be hitting maturity too which is why I believe there's so much digging and 'claim' staking going on. Brick watches all this from a distance... the King don't care.
Boss pretty much treats Chip like a sparring toy. If Chip isn't serious neither is he. They often 'spar' in open water. When Tango enters the scene...well that's gonna be interesting. I may actually let Tango rest in a bag in the main tank to see Boss' reaction. Muscling another parrot won't be easy as slapping around a severum and syno.
Speaking of the QT crowd, all are healthy and eating like pigs. The jailbreak will be coming very soon. Tango is a very responsive and energetic parrot. And beefed up considerably in the last few weeks. Cash hangs at his favorite spot around the filter. Maybe having a buddy will help Rex too. At least that's the plan.
More pics:
First, a typical "fight" between Chip and Boss. Ends up going nowhere...
I turned on the lights and found every tank completely trashed. Plants uprooted and pulled everywhere, stones shoved around, filters laying on their sides with the air hose loose. The main tank had all the filter pads pulled out and both heaters pulled off the glass. The pothos was bitten and chopped with loose pieces everywhere. Plants were dragged in piles in total disarray. Someone knocked over an 8 inch bolder next to the glass. (I don't regret spending extra for tempered glass because I anticipated this with cichlids) My Oscar puffed and flared at me as if to say "Where have you been?"
So I spent a bit of time restoring order so that the tanks looked like aquariums instead of salad bowls. One problem solved, on to the next.
ROTTEN OSCAR
For the last month or so the "King" has decided that he no longer wants pellets. They can rain over his head and he ignores them. His highness patiently waits for his gourmet meal while the others still relish the pellets. But surprisingly he eats the mealworms delicately from my fingers. If they float at the surface he'll gulp with loud noise. But if I take a second too long he grabs a knuckle. I put pellets in the tilapia but that trick only worked once. The second time he spat out the mashed pellets and ate the tilapia.
So first he loved Krill (this lasted 2 days) and now its meal worms and tilapia. He also declines crickets. Since we're stuck on these selections I am soaking his meals in Boyds. But make no mistake...when this stuff runs out he's going on a crash diet to pellets. Brick's already halfway through the bag of meal worms. Patch and Kong like the Krill as well but will pretty much eat anything. The others aren't top feeders so they don't get the benefit.
Now that we're rolling into June, its time for Brick's monthly measurements. As expected, no real gain in length but the mass is kicking in. He's finally cracked the 2 inch thickness barrier.
UPPITY CICHLIDS
Some of my fish decide what color pellet they want on some days. This is going way too far with pickiness. Patch will eat large green pellets but not small ones. Chip sometimes doesn't like green pellets. Since I rotate pellets and combine them anyway, this isn't a real problem.
SNEAKY SEVERUM
I suspect my Severum Chip is the one slicing the pothos. I've already caught him more than once biting and eating stems. At least he leaves the roots alone. He likes to graze algae where he finds it, even on the glass or in the corners. Gotta love this guy. Chip will win you over with his stubborn "I won't take stuff from nobody even if I can't win" attitude. Moving forward I think he will do just fine. Brick is less inclined to chase him as much now that he's bulkier and slower. The deal with Boss isn't intense as much as it's fairly constant. Almost like play sessions. If Chip doesn't push it too far, Boss basically just messes around, giving him nudges or pushing him everywhere. And of course Chip doesn't have the strength or bulk to prevent it, so he has to back off. But if he gets overly aggressive at Boss the parrot goes hard on him. I think being in the main tank has toughened Chip up. He's nothing like the flighty and skittish Severum he was months ago. Chip surprised me one day by coming up for a fin tickle. So far it seems to be a one and done situation but we'll see. He's been observing me pet Brick for weeks with great curiosity. But he's quite settled and bold now, especially eating around Boss and Brick. In fact he snatched a pellet from Boss a couple of times. At night he sleeps near the Oscar. Brick will chase him away when annoyed (or Chip hangs around too long). Boss does the same thing. Chip's gone from being the pinball to the thorn in everyone's side. His finnage is really starting to show well. Chip is really turning into a nice specimen. He's rounding out and has doubled in thickness. Eyes remind me of a cat. He's fiesty as f+++ and its the only thing that lets him survive against the tank muscle.
THE QUEEN AKA DIVA
Patch does her fan dances and aggressively chases fingers. She will bang the glass during water changes with the siphon hose. But someone needs to tone down her egg maker. She just laid eggs two weeks ago and is eating like crazy again. Last time around she surprised me by polishing off the eggs herself. I'd have a store of Blood Parrots if left up to her. After water changes she's in hyper aggressive high energy mode.
THE BANGER
Kong still redecorates his tank every other day. I'd literally be posting every two days showing how he changes stuff. He still bangs the glass and gets too excited over Patch. Never mind the fact she cut him up weeks ago. I think he likes rough females. If I'm working on her tank I have to cover his with a towel to keep him calm. He also loves to watch what's going on in the main tank. Likes to play in the sand by rubbing his belly and fanning up clouds.
THE LONER
Rex basically does his own thing. He hides a lot more than he used to but there's a reason. A big, round, orange reason. But he's put on size and weight (maybe over 6") and his color is clear and even. His barbels have grown out long and healthy compared to when I purchased him.
THE KING
Can't really dispute the tank leviathan. Brick is 11 inches long, over 2 inches thick, and 5 inches in height without fins extended. His mass is now taking over. He moves with the slow and easy motion of an adult oscar when cruising. Lately he investigates or ignores other squabbles. Sometimes he interferes. He'll still try an ambush of Boss on occasion but stops immediately when he sees me watching. I'm excited about his potential since Brick isn't even a year old. He's a rotten water puppy that gets his pats and tickles on a daily basis. Very active despite his size, he's not a 'lurching' Oscar and loves to play in water currents. I love this "sunken ship" thing he does now. He'll just drop and sink to the bottom. Then he'll rest with his fins out like sails. It's really cool.
THE BOSS
Boss is Boss, even though the Oscar is King. If that sounds confusing, it should be...the relationship with Boss the BP and Brick the O is complicated and impossible to define. Their alpha status is in constant flux. For now it seems to have settled to mutual respect. Brick is King because of his sheer size and the intimidation factor. Boss is Boss because he's the only one who can kick everyone's @__, including the King. Boss has survived every attempt by the Oscar to batter and bite him. For all that he only got a scale popped loose once. (Boss returned the favor). Boss is no lightweight either, he's the size of a fat softball.
ITS THE PITS
Everybody is digging pits these days. Brick, Boss, Patch, Kong. Even Chip is tossing some sand. Chip showed some surprising strength dragging a couple of plants to different spots.
THE UNKNOWN FACTOR
When the BP Tango and Syno Cash join the group soon, all this stuff will probably be trash.
So now to the main event. Sometimes you see things about your fish that don't add up. So for the last few days I noticed Boss' lip was sort of white, which told me he'd been fighting. But who? Then the was the mystery of Brick missing a scale on his right side. Very odd.
During every W/C I notice the Syno Rex comes out. Could be the sound of rushing water as the levels drop. And this is where everything goes to hell. I've mentioned that lately the BP and Syno have had some 'action.' Well it turns out even more than I thought.
As water levels drop and the tank is 'compressed' everyone gets testy, looking for a space to go. For the most part its just mild scuffling then settles down. But the real story is what happens after. I don't like mysteries that indicate fighting. So I went to watch when I normally don't. And I got full style arena action.
So the W/C is nearly done, tank almost full. Rex scoots out (on the side where Boss is). Boss goes after him and the fight is on. Brick glides over to check it out. He drops himself like a wall between the other two. Boss goes around him to get at Rex. They swirl around the O until he gets bored with it all and swims away. Chip sees this but stays out of it for once.
Then Boss bangs Rex into the sand like a jackhammer, refusing to let the catfish get up and defend himself. As I said before, Boss is very tactical and learns how to fight each fish differently. When they first fought they would swirl in open water then Rex would scrape Boss with a barbel on his sides. Boss hated this and would swim off. This was different. The Syno's head was slammed down like "Hammer and nail time!" Boss finally tires which enables Rex to move just enough to defend himself. He tries to and they lip lock. But something happens. Either Boss pinched his mouth or a barbel because suddenly Rex jerks away like his mouth his hurt. After that he avoided Boss openly. Later on under 'moon' light I saw Boss going after him again, popping him in the sides relentlessly. Poor Rex swam away weakly. He's not trying to fight but Boss has some wire go off in his head when he sees the Syno. Some of this has to do with Rex scraping him the past, I'm convinced of it. But this is concerning. Rex is exhausted from fighting. Whenever he does fight back it just incites Boss to go crazy. Is Boss turning into Kong? It looks like my prediction about Boss was accurate. When parrots hit maturity they get super pissy. And Boss shares the piss equally with Chip. But why Chip doesn't use huge areas of the tank at his disposal is beyond me. There's more than enough room, but he still wants the small area inside the space Boss has now reclaimed (I think I said that right). In other words, his lease is up. Round two is the fight for space.
So Chip charges headlong at Boss (hits a wall) then tries to intimidate Boss by shaking and flaring his fins (waste of time) then in desperation tries a cheap shot (and gets popped sideways). Then Boss shoves him away like a nuisance. Chip is tough but he has the wrong body. Might be hitting maturity too which is why I believe there's so much digging and 'claim' staking going on. Brick watches all this from a distance... the King don't care.
Boss pretty much treats Chip like a sparring toy. If Chip isn't serious neither is he. They often 'spar' in open water. When Tango enters the scene...well that's gonna be interesting. I may actually let Tango rest in a bag in the main tank to see Boss' reaction. Muscling another parrot won't be easy as slapping around a severum and syno.
Speaking of the QT crowd, all are healthy and eating like pigs. The jailbreak will be coming very soon. Tango is a very responsive and energetic parrot. And beefed up considerably in the last few weeks. Cash hangs at his favorite spot around the filter. Maybe having a buddy will help Rex too. At least that's the plan.
More pics:
First, a typical "fight" between Chip and Boss. Ends up going nowhere...
