Rapps pinima, kelberi, black aro, and other Amazon Biotope Tankmates

[Albertan]

I said I would post on sevank21's pinima thread, but decided to make a new post since I have some other fish to share. All are stock for an 810g glass tank I am having built. In the meantime, they are all being grown out a bit in 90g and 120g tanks. My apologies for the shallow depth of field. I had the Canon 30D at home for the night and was in a bit of a rush to get pictures, so I didn't put much effort into the settings.



Pinima (2 kept in glass bottom 90g with black arowana)

Black Arowana (looks to be around 10"-11")

Bahia (4 kept in glass bottom 90g)

Monoculus/ocellaris (8 LFS pickups yet to be ID'd in aquascaped 120g with the spotted SDs)

Spotted Silver Dollars (11...thought they were M. maculatus; now thinking M. lippincottianus)

That's probably about all I will have room for in the tank...I'm not much for overcrowding. And I want to keep the maintenance to a minimum so a lighter stocking is probably wise. I may swap out a couple of the LFS mutts for some C. melaniae as well at some point. And I haven't decided on what's going on the bottom yet. I was thinking vulture cats, but may yet go rays. Input is always welcome.

 

[kendragon]

Great collection already. What are you feeding? Need some parrots. haha

 

[Albertan]

Hi Ken. All of my Rapps fish arrived at my house Saturday evening after a 40 hour journey to Western Canada. The kelberi and the arowana haven't eaten yet. Jeff told me both were on pellets, so I'm sure they'll come around in the next day or two. I'm trying to get the pinima onto pellets using sevank21's recommendation of mixing bloodworms and Massivore. It's a work in progress that's going to take a lot of water changes before it's done. But at least they have level bellies. The kelberi arrived looking pretty fat. The pinima were emaciated, which works well for shipping. The mutts are gonzo for mysis shrimp as you can see by their bellies. Pellet training is in progress with them as well. And the SD's are easy. Whatever the mutts are eating, with daily algae wafers thrown in for good measure. I'm looking forward to seeing them all in the big tank.

 

[sevank21]

Looking awesome bro, so jealous that Ur having a 810 built. And that's one.helluva clean black aro!

Ya that BW mixture gets super messy, but once u switch the mixture to chopping rather then crushed, it doesn't get too messy anymore.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[gangster]

If you make the mixture into a thick paste and let em smack the spoon it doesnt make too much of a mess. There is a fine line between too much on the spoon and just enough.

 

[isde02]

Looking good so far...good job

 

[AmazonKeeper21]

Everyone looks good an soon will be growing like weeds!!! Cant wait to see em go in a 810g!!!

 

[Albertan]

If you make the mixture into a thick paste and let em smack the spoon it doesnt make too much of a mess. There is a fine line between too much on the spoon and just enough.

The pinima come look at the spoon, but wait for the food to fall off. Occasionally they smack it on the way down, but usually they eat it off the bottom. Scared the crap out of me this morning at 7am when I was holding the spoon and the aro came and chomped on it and I wasn't looking. lol.

 

[krichardson]

A 40 hour journey,that's awesome,glad they all made it.

 

[Albertan]

Jeff had them very well packed with lots of newspaper and heat packs. All I had to do was open them in a dimly lit room after keeping them in the dark for forty hours. The kelberi were just starting to come out of their shells this morning. I didn't get home to feed them at lunch today so hopefully it's on in the fishroom tonight. lol.