Uaru questions...

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I really like this one... I think I might have to go get another if I can afford it... I really do hope the blue stays...

Can you guys school me on any tips or tricks with Uaru? Anything special you can think of to let me in on? Any foods they like or temp or anything to look out for?
 
beantickler;3578460; said:
I really like this one... I think I might have to go get another if I can afford it... I really do hope the blue stays...

Can you guys school me on any tips or tricks with Uaru? Anything special you can think of to let me in on? Any foods they like or temp or anything to look out for?
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Keep them warm like discus. I keep my tanks in the mid-80s. Make sure they have very good filtration and stay on top of water changes. They are sensitive to bad water quality and high nitrate. They are prone to HITH. It's one of the main reasons I got rid of my fernandezyepezi. I missed one week of water changes while on vacation and when I came home they had massive pits in their faces.

Uaru will eat mostly anything but they appreciate a very veggie-heavy diet. Mine are in with festivums and severums and they all devour veggies. I put in whole leaves of Romaine lettuce, sliced zucchini, cucumber, peas, etc. and they love them. Mine also take flakes (both algae/spirulina/veggie flakes and regular cichlid/tropical flakes), pellets, mysis shrimp, bloodworms, and the occasional snack of beefheart.

I turn my filters off when I feed because Uaru tend to be messy eaters and I don't like all the extra to get sucked up in the filter. That's one of the things that contributes to declining water quality. If you do that, don't forget to turn them back on. :cry: Been there, done that.

Get them some small, passive tankmates. They're pretty much big babies. They can and will push each other around (they're cichlids, after all) but they are usually very peaceful with other fish, even small ones.
 
beantickler;3578460; said:
I really like this one... I think I might have to go get another if I can afford it... I really do hope the blue stays...

Can you guys school me on any tips or tricks with Uaru? Anything special you can think of to let me in on? Any foods they like or temp or anything to look out for?
Click to expand...

Any foods they like... I ACTUALLY posted a thread asking if there was anything they wouldn't eat because I couldn't get food to my pleco's.

1) Keep up on your WC's and don't skimp on the filtration.
2) Keep it above 80 degrees, they do better in warm temps and will show better colors in the temps 80 to 84 gegree range. Mine gets darker if the temp drops below 80.
3) I would keep an eye on your plastic plants and make sure they are not getting pieces ingested. Say goodbye to any real plants if you have any.
4) I feed hikari cichlid pellets, beefheart, bloodworms, algea wafers and spurilina. Shrimp sometimes when it steals it from the pleco's.
5) Unless you powerfeed (not a good idea with them anyway) try to avoid tank mates that need time to eat. Uaru are quick and you'll have a hard time getting food to finiky or slow eaters, I did at least.

EDIT - Ryan beat me to it, didn't see his response. Good point on the HITH bro.
 
In addition to JK47's comments... it's true, they eat anything. That includes silk or plastic plants if they're bored/hungry. They also chew on driftwood pretty heavily. You can see teeth marks all over mine.

If you have any sponges in your tank (sponges, prefilters, etc.) they will chew them until they disappear. No amount of feeding will curb this IME -- I used to think they weren't getting enough to eat, but now I think it's just something they do out of boredom or maybe to aid in digestion? I guess it's technically roughage. :-P
 
ryansmith83;3578523; said:
In addition to JK47's comments... it's true, they eat anything. That includes silk or plastic plants if they're bored/hungry. They also chew on driftwood pretty heavily. You can see teeth marks all over mine.

If you have any sponges in your tank (sponges, prefilters, etc.) they will chew them until they disappear. No amount of feeding will curb this IME -- I used to think they weren't getting enough to eat, but now I think it's just something they do out of boredom or maybe to aid in digestion? I guess it's technically roughage. :-P
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Yeah but you have to admit, nothing is funnier than watching these guys nub down an algea wafer with those big Ol'buck teech sticking out. :ROFL:
 
Hey thanks A LOT guys... You have been very helpful! My tank is right around 83 all the time already so i'm good there... I was do 50% water changes weekly on all of my tanks. I didnt know I could feed them like pleco's though... I am going to go out and get some romaine and zuchini today.
 
Try raw potato, excellent food! Just remember to pull it out when they are done chewing on it, potato rots REALLY fast in warm water hahaha it makes a real mess. Uaru are great, would love to see some pics of them as they progress :D
 
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