Official Xingu Grow Off Thread!

[bassinmike85]

Yes sir Mike that is why were doing this public comparison of sort's to get all view and opinion's from experience. I and most of have laway's believed the above statement and agree with it 100%. But it's those sutle difference's that were looking for ultimatly in the end when we all see and have followed there progression. (I appoligise for all spelling error's) Kendragon to me is the leading and by far the head runner out of this shing dig but I still do it for the OG's so I raise mine that way. I do want to say I don't do anything to obtain my pH and I don't think the others do ither.

We all as keepers have a set style of keeping even after my 22 years of Fresh Water bliss I still find I have old habbit's that need to be broke. I am learning daily from the Old and the New we all have a thing or two to learn from someone out here.

awesome thanks for sharing..before pbass i use to raise largemouth bass etc..got into pbass little over a year now on and off..but hulon has helped me out alot..i'm stickin to it this time around and going to keep my orinos and hopefully other pbass for aslong as i can..i am thankful you guys post up this info and share it..i honestly never paid attention to ph levels which i know someone might say something to that..but its true..but after reading this thread and seeing how eatch one is diffrent i'm going to totally step my game up on that..

 

[kendragon]

Very good thoughts. I don't control pH as well. I believe the low pH in my tank is due to one WC a week and only 25-30 percent. I have so much fish sh*&t in the tank that one might think that was my substrate. Operating in such a low pH is very dangerous because without proper buffering a pH crash can kill the bio filter.
Like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with composite fuselage, I like to think outside the box in filtration. I think the ease of tank cleaning will stress the cichla less which keeps them fat, dumb and happy. A filter is a filter. They all do one thing but they vary in maintenance. Controlling filter cleaning whether often or not I believe is key. But keep in mind this does not mean you can do less WC. It just mean you can control when and how much as needed with ease.
Interesting thing is I only feed once a day (pellet only) and sometimes skipping a day. So I'm thinking growth is not totally related to feeding.
Well, these guys are still in the 55g. So growth is not totally related to tank size.
Perhaps water quality or stress free environment?
Beauty and the beast.

 

[gangster]

YOu sure are growing some beefcakes Ken. I think the number of xingus in the tank has something to do w/ growth as well. Ken your x's have a lot of competition amongst eachother....therefore they encourage and push each other to eat more to keep up pace w/ the growth of the pack. In my tank I have one xingu and he is leaps larger than the orino's I have him with. The orino's eat like pigs while the xingu eats like a bird.

 

[bassinmike85]

you know ken i think your on to something..i been thinking about this since i read this posting lastnight..and i think your right..less wc does mean less stress on the fish..i'm glad you brought that up..it makes alot of sense..once i have a better canister filter hooked up along with a HOB filter i am going to test this and see if it works..i also noticed (not to get off topic) but with my orinos thier growth rate sslowed down and not staying as fat once i started doing more water changes..i can tell wc stresses the fish because they hide and takes a while until they start swimming everywhere again..thanks again man..and i'm loving the xingu's..

 

[kendragon]

YOu sure are growing some beefcakes Ken. I think the number of xingus in the tank has something to do w/ growth as well. Ken your x's have a lot of competition amongst eachother....therefore they encourage and push each other to eat more to keep up pace w/ the growth of the pack. In my tank I have one xingu and he is leaps larger than the orino's I have him with. The orino's eat like pigs while the xingu eats like a bird.

Hulon has 10, HCR has I think 8, and I have 10 so we all have similar size X?. They push each other to eat more but yours eat less but is larger than the O. I'm confused.

you know ken i think your on to something..i been thinking about this since i read this posting lastnight..and i think your right..less wc does mean less stress on the fish..i'm glad you brought that up..it makes alot of sense..once i have a better canister filter hooked up along with a HOB filter i am going to test this and see if it works..i also noticed (not to get off topic) but with my orinos thier growth rate sslowed down and not staying as fat once i started doing more water changes..i can tell wc stresses the fish because they hide and takes a while until they start swimming everywhere again..thanks again man..and i'm loving the xingu's..

Hope you can help confirm.

 

[bassinmike85]

I'm going to start this theory starting this saturday..only because i'm not home tomorrow..even going to only feed once day..how long should i try this for? 2 weeks?

 

[kendragon]

I'm going to start this theory starting this saturday..only because i'm not home tomorrow..even going to only feed once day..how long should i try this for? 2 weeks?

Do it till it hurts.

 

[bassinmike85]

freakin beautiful I want a xingu so bad now

 

[gangster]

Ken the more competition amongst eachother the more they push eachother to eat. Kinda of like a pie eating contest.

I have one xingu w/ 4 orino's. My xingu is about 5in while the orino's are about3-3.5in. The orino's push each other to eat...but their bossy attitude keeps the xingu at bay a little. My xingu isnt nearly as aggressive as my orino's.

 

[Cakilla]

I'm going to start this theory starting this saturday..only because i'm not home tomorrow..even going to only feed once day..how long should i try this for? 2 weeks?

After I do my water changes today I will give the theory a try , it sounds like it should work but just to make sure and be safe will monitor the water params a minimum of 1 time per day .