My Dovii Growout Thread

[RampageRR]

I'm going to keep a progress thread on these guys, I'll use this thread to update growth and pics as we go along. Bought 4 at about 1.75" or so on 4/6/13.



I'd put the smallest at around 2.25" now, and the dominant one has grown to 2.75" to 3" (eyeballing). The dominant one has grown noticeably larger than the rest, although the 2nd largest one is somewhat close in size. Those 2 run the tank without a doubt, and keep the 2 smaller ones in hiding unless it's feeding time. The dominant dovii is already claiming the entire tank as his, and is super interactive and curious already at this size. He doesn't hide when I come to the tank, and will finger chase and flare at me. Took these 2 pics with a different white balance on my cell phone, so that's why the first pic looks yellowish. Was trying to see if one would show the blue freckling on his face any more than the other, but seems like it doesn't get picked up with my cell yet. Maybe in a month or so he'll show more coloring.



Couple of shots of the tank right before a water change. There's an awesome 40" piece of driftwood floating at the top right corner, just waiting for it to sink a bit before trying to place it into it's final resting spot. Going to go back out to the river I found this stuff at, and get some more rocks to place in there at some point.

 

[RampageRR]

One month update shot. This is by far the largest and most dominant one of the 4. I'm thinking it is a male at this point, has the head profile and also starting to get a bunch of black spots above the lateral line. He is a complete bastard to the others, he keeps all of them huddled up in a group in one corner of the tank and has basically claimed 90% of a 6 foot tank as his own territory. Pretty sure this is the one I am going to keep though, he is super outgoing and is always at the front of the tank begging for food. Not skittish in the least bit.

He's starting to get a lot of turquoise color in the face and gill plate area. Kind of hard to catch it in pics as he moves around so much, but you can see some spangling in the face area in this pic.

 

[NWatson]

I would say a male from those pics but it can be hard to tell. I have had a female that I thought was a male for sure until she was a solid 3 inches, maybe more. Good color, dominating a group and a good profile. The spotting is the best way I know of to spot a male at a small size. Keep us posted, pretty soon the color will start popping out.

 

[rwellbaum]

Nice dovii!

 

[badazz07sti]

Very nice keep them coming. Monthly updates are nice with fast growing fish.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[weirdfishlover]

Nice looking babies

That tank is a mansion for them

 

[RampageRR]

Here's a quick video of the dominant one swimming around. Any guesses on male/female? I am pretty sure it's a male, with the spotting above the lateral line (you can't really see it in pics, which is why I'm posting the video).



Excuse the crappy cellphone video, it's all I have available at the moment. I'll get some better pics/video up when I get a hold of a better camera.

[video=youtube;6VJv3DbaRVI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VJv3DbaRVI[/video]

 

[RampageRR]

Quick little update, I've had to divide the tank due to ridiculous amounts of aggression. The dominant one is on the left, and sub-dominant on the right. The smallest two have been moved into another tank to let them grow out without being killed by the larger two. Larger one on the left is about 5.5", the one on the right is probably 4".

The dominant guy is still giving me issues with determining sex - body/head shape screams male to me, but there is no spotting at all on him/her. There was a good bit of spotting, but it seems to have completely disappeared. A lot of color though, yellow/copper on the body with a lot of turquoise spangling on the face and gill plate (also on top of the body in places). Fins are purple/reddish, sometimes flashing to bright turquoise/blue when attacking the divider and while feeding. There's also a cool strip of red at the top of the dorsal fin, much like a Rio Mag umbee. Not sure if any of this is coming through on the video, as my cell phone camera doesn't handle the lighting without washing everything out a good bit.

Anyone have any guesses as to sex?

[video=youtube_share;R_06JaneuO8]http://youtu.be/R_06JaneuO8[/video]

 

[RampageRR]

Well, it's a girl for sure...