2' Yellowcheek aka Elopichthys bambusa, 1 for 5 so far...

[thebiggerthebetter]

My first game with yellowcheeks is over.

The hurricane Irma killed my last cheek in the koi pond Sept 10-11, 2017. No pumps and a ton of debris blown in resulted in oxygen deficiency that was too much for the cheek to handle.

One more koi couldn't handle it either. Of course a big one. Likely had eggs. That places an unusually high demand on oxygen supply.

Everyone else made it, although I saw some intense surface breathing in the morning until I hooked up my pumps to generator, one one day, the other the next. There are 1-2 hundred of koi in there and likely equally many native intruders and free loaders - walking catfish, cichlids, bluegills, bass, etc. The pond is ~20,000-40,000 gal.

Anyhow, back to the cheeks. My conclusions are that:

-- they are poorly suited to thrive or even survive in sub-tropical climates in the hot half a year;
-- they are very poorly suited to cohab with ATF and perhaps some others, like dorado, mahseer
-- they are not built to handle soft water and/or water with an unstable pH and hardness.

Final measure is 27".

 

[kendragon]

wow....hate to see that. Thanks for sharing. Biggest on MFK for sure.

 

[Chicxulub]

Gorgeous fish, sorry you lost them. Again though, a learning experience that helps us all. I had honestly expected bambusa to be a bit more like ATF in temperament.

As to the teeth: I've seen fishing reports that seem to indicate that these fish are unique among cyprinids in that they have plates in their jaws that function like teeth, to the point that they can damage fishing gear and give painful bites. Granted, these reports are anecdotal, but I had believed them. You didn't see any sign of these plates? I found it odd that this one cyprinids was reported to have maxillary teeth. Perhaps these reports are in reference to the pharyngeal teeth that some predatory cyprinids have.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Gorgeous fish, sorry you lost them. Again though, a learning experience that helps us all. I had honestly expected bambusa to be a bit more like ATF in temperament.

As to the teeth: I've seen fishing reports that seem to indicate that these fish are unique among cyprinids in that they have plates in their jaws that function like teeth, to the point that they can damage fishing gear and give painful bites. Granted, these reports are anecdotal, but I had believed them. You didn't see any sign of these plates? I found it odd that this one cyprinids was reported to have maxillary teeth. Perhaps these reports are in reference to the pharyngeal teeth that some predatory cyprinids have.

Pharyngeal teeth / grinding plates carp and koi have.

I did pay attention to the cheek's jaws. The cutting edge is smooth and even along the length but is rather sharp, not razor sharp by any means. The cheeks favor small prey that they can grab and swallow easily.

 

[moe214]

Sorry to hear. Your opening line of "my first game" makes me think you'll be getting more? If so I'm interested what your luck will be like once you settle back in hopefully the next ines can stand against storms

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Sorry to hear. Your opening line of "my first game" makes me think you'll be getting more? If so I'm interested what your luck will be like once you settle back in hopefully the next ines can stand against storms

I too am interested to see if I can be more successful this time and apply the knowledge I gained, which has been paid by the lives of five cheeks. One killed by hurricane 27", one by bullying 23", and three, I assume, by soft and unstable water, ~4"-8".

I've three 6"-ers on reserve with our benevolent Master Wes. Last time I started with 1"-1.5"-ers. Tiniest guys.

 

[Chicxulub]

I'm looking forward to this

 

[moe214]

I'm looking forward to this

+1

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

... I've three 6"-ers on reserve with our Benevolent Master Wes...

Has anyone noted my accidental reinterpretation of BMW?

I just can't thank Wes enough for bringing all these wonderful fish into our hobby. Without him, it seems we'd lose access to half the monster fish gems we all have been enjoying. Wes is truly a Titan carrying half the world on his shoulders.

fugupuff

*********

Bayerische Motoren Werke

BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or, translated into English, Bavarian Motor Works. If you're a little rusty on world geography, Bavaria is a southern state in Germany where BMW originally started making airplane engines around 1917.

 

[moe214]

lol I didn't even notice that