Project Sunshine, L14 set up and questions

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David R

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MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
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New Zealand
After a crazy busy few months I've changed jobs, moved cities and in the process sold both my 1400L and 800L tanks, and set up a smaller 400L tank to keep me occupied until we're settled again and I can set up another 1000L+ tank. My original plan was to keep my favourite plecs from my big amazon tank that would have been hard to replace (L128, L81, huge whiptail etc) but the chance came up to get a really good deal on 8 young L14 and I couldn't say no! So the other plecs have been farmed out to a friend til I'm ready to take them back and the new tank is set up as follows;

140x65x48cm tank (LxWxH) with sump, 8 4-5cm L014, 1 ~3cm L002, 5 small S. leucosticta (may or may not move them on later depending on how fast they grow) and 10 or so C. sterbai.

The sunshines don't seem interested in hikari wafers or sinking carnivore pellets, but love shrimp and bloodworms. They also come out and graze on the NLS Thera A and flake I feed the earthwaters. Should I be trying to add a bit more vege matter to their diet, or are they ok on almost all meaty foods? And if so what? I offered some courgette yesterday and they ignored it.

The other think I'm wondering is how fast the sunshines grow? The tank has a large sump and gets frequent water changes (pH ~6.8 and 25-7C) so the water is always good. I've read they're one of the faster growing species and I know that tank won't be big enough for eight adults (but it is only temprary until we've bought/built another house), but I'm wondering how long I'll have. I haven't noticed much aggression between them. And at what size should I be able to sex them?

Enough waffling, here's some pics...

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Tank2.jpg


Tank3.jpg


Tank4.jpg
 
I tried zucchini/courgette and they didn't go for it, might try pumpkin tonight as thats what the person who bred them and wrote the "Making Sunshine In Indonesia" article on PlanetCatfish used. Not sure how much vege matter they should be eating, I know they are primarily carnivores but should have some greens too.

I've also got another piece of wood soaking as I think they could do with a few more hiding places, noticed them squabbling over the prime spot in the big hollow log today while I was doing a water change.
 
my L14 eat anything i give to them, worms, hikari pellet, fish meat, market prawn, zukini, etc2... it takes 3-4 years for them to grow from 4-5cm to 15cm... sigh... very slow :(
 
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My 5 10" - 12" L014 only get NLS and spirulina and have done fine for years. They can grow from 6 cm to 12 cm in a year. Then slow down as they get bigger.

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@recumbent...beautiful fish!!
 
No thread hijacking.

David R please keep us updated on your L014. If I ever have any breeding success I'll let you know. I hope a couple of yours do the happy dance (like clown loaches). When mine do I always smile.
 
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