NEW Stock: Vieja zonatum / Nandopsis tetracanthus

[Spiritofthesoul]

Nice pickups, congrats for aquiring those beauties.

 

[fishmamma]

Hey they look great, Justin... I may have to fight your kids for Wag though!!!!

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Looks great Justin where did you get the cubans from? I have noticed that the ones from Conkel are more aggressive than the ones originally floating around. and they will pair out and spawn at that size. looks to me like they are already starting to pair out. which might keep them in the loop if they do pair to help hold off the others

 

[JK47]

Sounds like Wag should also have his own theme song! Something like "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" by the Geto Boys.

But seriously, the stock looks great. It's funny to see a swordtail like that though lol

Thanks man! Wag gets his own aquaponics tank with a handicapped pleco when these guys move to the big tank.

Cubans are one of my favorite. Great pick ups and hope you have much success raising them.

Thanks Jeffery!!

That's one feisty swordtail !!

Love zonatum BTW. The pics of Aquamojo's male are the seminal pics on the www. Hope your's get's as impressive in time !!

Thanks Alan! (LOVE the new avatar BTW)

Nice pickups. Welcome to the world of CA cichlids. I enjoy amazon SA fish as well but CA tend to bring a lot more personality and often color. Sometimes a lot more frustration as well. Cuban's can definately pair that young and might even spawn. Just be careful with them until they get there larger tank. I doubt the Zonatus will bother them but cubans do bloat easily if stressed and are not usually very good cichlid community type fish. In a 300g they should feel plenty comfortable though.

Good luck

Thanks JD, I have always looked up to your taste in fish! Thanks for the comments. My wife is more about personality of fish than colors, rarity etc.. so I think she is going to really love them as well. Thanks for the heads up on the bloat. So you think they will get on fine with a zonatus harem and just this pair in a 300 gallon for life? Would you keep dithers in that setup if it were yours? Thanks again for the advice bro I really appreciate it!

Wag is my hero, nice CA's!!!

Thanks Joe! Wag is a fav of mine (and my kids) too lol I shot a vid of him "checking" the largest zonatus this morning.. I'll get it posted up after the game tonight.

Nice pickups, congrats for aquiring those beauties.

Thank you Ryan!

Hey they look great, Justin... I may have to fight your kids for Wag though!!!!

Thanks Erica! So whats it going to take to get you into SA/CA's??? Should I be keeping an eye out for a new thread on Steiny's from you soon...???

Looks great Justin where did you get the cubans from? I have noticed that the ones from Conkel are more aggressive than the ones originally floating around. and they will pair out and spawn at that size. looks to me like they are already starting to pair out. which might keep them in the loop if they do pair to help hold off the others

Thanks Jason! The Wet Spot here in Portland brought in the zonatus. I was looking trying to talk myself out of picking up a group of Tomocichla sieboldii and he told me there is a pair of CA's he has not been able to stop watching. If he says you can't pass these up, you jump on it. there are none left, and won't be any coming in soon per him. They were a VERY clearly formed pair.

I have a 45 gallon that is empty, do you guys think I should move the pair on their own unil I put them in the 300 gallon? They are in a 125 gallon right now with the 5 zonatus and Wag. I'm giddy like a school girl lol

 

[jgentry]

Thanks JD, I have always looked up to your taste in fish! Thanks for the comments. My wife is more about personality of fish than colors, rarity etc.. so I think she is going to really love them as well. Thanks for the heads up on the bloat. So you think they will get on fine with a zonatus harem and just this pair in a 300 gallon for life? Would you keep dithers in that setup if it were yours? Thanks again for the advice bro I really appreciate it!

Thanks for the kind words. You should be fine in your 125g until you get your other tank setup. I would not move them to a 45g as it will give the female no were to go if they decide to get aggressive.

Typically in my experiece cubas don't do great in a mixed cichlid communty, but a 300g tank is huge and changes things a bit. If you are just planning those 2 fish types you will probably be fine. Just remember that cubans can be really aggressive and tend to stress and die when the going gets tough. They are far from delicate but don't take well to being picked on. Much like a beani, haitien or some of the herichthys labridens types in my opinion. Just always have another tank as an option along with an eggcrate divider incase it is needed. Most cuban pairs that you see are in species tanks with just the 2 fish but very few people have a 300g tanks as an option.

As far as dithers go swordtails and mollies are native to there water. You will just need some good floating cover. Some will get picked off but if there is enough cover they will repopulate themselves.

 

[flowerpower]

Great stock! It's gonna be interesting to see them develop and pair out in that tank.

 

[Gruff Master]

Man, you're buying up everything lately! Festae, Cubans, Zonatum...what's next? They all look very nice. It's pretty cool knowing that you have a pair forming at such a small size. I have to get used to your new stock list. Every time I see your threads I expect to see some exotic Geos. But you've been full of surprises lately, including that maniacal Swordtail! I love it. LOL. Good luck with your ever-expanding list of species and beautiful tanks.

 

[fishmamma]

Thanks Erica! So whats it going to take to get you into SA/CA's??? Should I be keeping an eye out for a new thread on Steiny's from you soon...???

You will, I'm settin that baby up this week..... Eeee I'm excited!!!

 

[peathenster]

Looking good! I'm sure they'd enjoy all the room in your 300. Are you redoing the background?

 

[Aquanero]

Good luck with them Peat. Great pick ups and very nice looking, my set-ups are starting to move more South while yours are moving more Central, guess the universe has to stay in balance. Can't wate to see the 300 set up.