P. Spendida (Red Bay Snook)

[Mikeeyy]

Hi, i just picked up my first P. Spendida, or Red Bay Snook as it was labeled at the LFS. IMO Here in Aust they are a super rare find, so as soon as i saw one i pounced on it and the first time i saw a picture of one of these i had to have one, so im pretty excited. It was one of the bigger ones from its batch so im assuming its a little male.

But i was just wondering, mine doesn't seem to have any coloring, no hint of a redding, or peachish color. and it doesnt even really seem to have much speckles. Like the metallic speckles ive seem some have in pictures, it does seem to have a few black spots. Will my little guy develop these once he starts to get some good size to him? Or might i just have not picked up a good one.

thanks

 

[Mikeeyy]

ohh yeah forgot to add, its around the 1.5inch.. so its still pretty tiny, but i can already see the awesome huge mouth on it

 

[mad ness]

mine still had some minor black blotches in mid-section that went away. can't remember exactly what size, roughly 4inchs... mine eat like pigs but very slow growth rate. beautiful and underkept fish. love that bucket mouth and super big head. this is an older photo, as they mature, get like a chrome horizontal lighting bolt like lines from the gills to the tail.

 

[Mikeeyy]

oh man, i think your one is really nice. Hope mine gets color like that, or some color atleast. Thanks for the reply. And yeah i'm loving the big mouth as well.

And awesome Pbass man, if i ever spot one of them down in Aust, id definately grab one or two, if i have the money for them that is, not to mention the tank space. I love the predatory cichlids

 

[HiImSean]

i'm pretty sure at a young age they are pretty much colorless, then "molt" and turn red. even if you have the green morph, consider yourself lucky. the green morph is beautiful and very hard to find. either one does get very big, most sources say males get about 15" and females 8-10"

 

[Mikeeyy]

Thanks HiImSean, thats good to know. and yeah i've seen those green ones, id love to get myself one of those, but i highly doubt i've got that morph.
Do you think 200g is decent enough size? Atm its to small for me to put the snook in there, thats my main tank with my big cichlids, i plan to put it in there when it gets big enough. Atm im housing it with my Flowerhorn fry growouts, at about an inch long, in a 30g. BUt im thinking about moving it outta there, cause i'm thinking it might snack on my runts.

 

[HiImSean]

a 200g will be plenty big. they do have huge mouths so anything that will fit in there will become dinner

 

[jimyv1]

they will take some time to color up......I found a few green morphs in my area and was thinking about picking them up....Great fish with lots of personality!!

 

[Mikeeyy]

they will take some time to color up......I found a few green morphs in my area and was thinking about picking them up....Great fish with lots of personality!!

I guess im just going to have to be patient then.. siighh.. lol. I've got big expectations on my little guy, i really hope he grows to be a really great fish, i reckon you should go for it man, this is my first time having one, but i think it'll will be a lot of fun, and those green morphs sure do look good.

a 200g will be plenty big. they do have huge mouths so anything that will fit in there will become dinner

Awesome, i'm excited, just gonna wait now and fatten it up, and hope for the best. And yeah i have a good idea if i'm not carefully im gonna lose a few fry. eeee..

 

[Mikeeyy]

Also guys, is it safe to house my snook with some of the tougher CA cichlids, My 200g currently houses my 6" Female Jaguar, a 10"/11" breeding pair of Oscars (they're friendly giants though) a 5" Red Devil and a 5" Flowerhorn, (but i'm looking into getting rid of the flowerhorn soon).

I have to say though, my fish seem to defy the stories i hear about vicious blood thirsty monsters everyone makes these guys out to be. But my fish honestly all get along great, of coarse, i get the odd arguement, but my fish rarely do damage to eachother. I raised them all from small together, until now, except the pair of oscars who i've had for over 5 years now.