Took a gamble on a different looking RTC - thoughts?

[johnnytaboo]

Well, I was at one of my favorite local fish stores and there was a tank FULL of baby RTC's. I stood there staring thinking of the fabled dwarf version wishing I could find one. After a long while of staring into the tank, I noticed one looked a little shorter that every other fish in there.

After a somewhat short internal struggle, I called over an employee and told him I'd take one; one in particular. He fished the little guy out for me, and I went to pay. The owner told me he looked a little different and asked if I wanted a different one. I calmly said no, he's the one for me.

Now as much as I wanted him to be the mystical dwarf RTC, upon closer inspection at home, it looks like he might just have a messed up tail. I'm posting pics for you guys input. They're the best I could do sitting in front of the tank for 15 minutes with an iPhone.

Thoughts?



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[KiiNGGiiNGER]

Im no expert and I was very skeptical reading this post but after looking at the pics you may be onto something. ..

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[Adamrhh]

Doesn't look odd to me, looks like a normal.

 

[Khapham_1997]

It looks kinda short! But I'm going with semi short!? But i'm no expert tho . Or prob the store fed them too much. And they look short. Hehe


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[BichirAddict]

Where did you get him at? Seeing as you appear to be around my location

 

[houie925]

He's a bit stubby looking but I'm not sure it's anything out of the ordinary.

 

[B33zl3bub13]

Short body ?

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[Oxydoras]

Spinal deformity. What is commonly referred to in the hobby as a "short body", though to what level of extreme is yet to be seen. Keep us updated with pics as he grows out a bit.

 

[Karl K]

You might just have hit the jackpot
Good luck, keep us updated.

 

[johnnytaboo]

Will do Karl! And Paul, I found him up at Greenbelt Aquarium. If we are indeed close to one another, I'd love to check out your bichir collection some time! Mine has grown to 4 recently.


I admit, though it is hard to see in my pics, there is a definite deformity in his tail region. He was a definite oddity in the tank, and was noticeably shorter than everyone else, but I realize that it doesn't mean he's a true short body. Well, time to start growing out another monster. Hope I don't run out of tank too quickly.

Thank for the input everyone, I will keep you posted - also, not that it's a surprise, but the little guy easy VERY well. I sometimes worry he will pop.