More tank pics, updated

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
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Dec 21, 2018
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I've made a few changes in the tank. Boss has his own area that's shaded off with dense plants. There's a tunnel in the middle. It also eliminates his "charge" lanes when he feels like fighting. Hard to fight when something is in your way. Neither one backs down or is intimidated over 'territory' but it does keep the peace better. They both love exploring and relaxing in the 'shrubbery.'

Another trick I've done to reduce aggression is moving the powerheads in their main swim lanes. Hard to fight when you suddenly go WHOOOOSH!! and sail off. It works and they enjoy flying on the current.

New Setup 1.jpg NS2.jpg NS3.jpg
 
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Fishflyer

Plecostomus
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Nov 23, 2018
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Do you feed often and what do you feed him? I would like to get that growth rate from my golden lab so I can get him to a size acceptable to placement with my full sized lab.
 

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
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Do you feed often and what do you feed him? I would like to get that growth rate from my golden lab so I can get him to a size acceptable to placement with my full sized lab.
Here's the schedule

40 percent w/c on Tues and Sat (225 gallon)
Hikari Gold, Hikari Excel, Hikari Blood Parrot Red, Bug Bites, peas, sweet potato
Brick eats from 15-25 medium pellets a day depending on size (I soak all pellets)
Originally 6 small meals a day, down to 4 due to pellet size increase
Poop Scoop every day

I posted elsewhere in a thread about Oscar growth. He basically 'bursts' every few days especially after water changes. Largest meals are the first and last. I also give them a 12 hour darkness period...no lights at all.

Eventually I'd like to have some nice smaller fish in there to break up the attention the two pay each other...maybe red eye tetras, rosaline sharks or something similar. Anything around 5=6 inch size. I'm well aware Brick will get ideas with smaller fish.
 

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
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Welp, I've removed some things again...Brick decided to bang his head on something overnight so now he's got a nice scrape on the top of his head...second scrape in a week. This must be the 'klutz' phase of O's I've heard about. The first scrape has completely healed so of course he has to go get another one...:wall:

Water change underway so the cloudiness is a lot of micro bubbles.

Bump.jpg
 
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FINWIN

Alligator Gar
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Got some nice marimo moss balls yesterday from a company called Crystal Plants. Came clean and in great condition. Sizes are varied. All were healthy and green with instructions on preparation. As usual, some of the pics are photobombs because my nosy fish never met a camera they didn't like. New measurement on my O Brick coming soon, he is over 6" and massing up. The marimos really improve water clarity from micro particles.

Most of the balls are sunken, you just squeeze them gently so they swell with tank water and sink. Otherwise they'll float for some time.

Marimo 1.jpg Marimo 2.jpg Marimo 3.jpg Marimo 4.jpg Marimo 5.jpg Marimo 8.jpg Marimo 10.jpg Marimo 11.jpg Marimo 12.jpg Marimo 14.jpg Marimo 15.jpg Marimo 7.jpg
 

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
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Today was interesting. Got everyone breakfast before heading off to work. Of course my daft O grabbed my finger by mistake, scaring himself into pooping a cloud of turds before racing off. So I spent extra time cleaning his mess. Fast forward to tonight. Same thing...he's going through the "see shadows and panic" phase. Once again he scared himself at nothing and exploded another cloud of turds. :duh: Two days ago Brick took off and went headlong into the glass with a thump.

When he's not spazzing at ghosts and picking stupid fights with Boss (Parrot), he'll cruise the tank. He's nearly palm sized now, coming up on 7 inches...for those who don't know I purchased Brick on 12/15 of last year at 2 inches. So in less than two months he's packed on 5 inches. He's nearly 3 inches tall right now.

The first pics show my biggest male parrot, Kong. Kong's been throwing tantrums since being returned to a smaller tank two days ago (he terrorized Boss and Brick). Uprooting plants, moving stones and the moss balls (now piled up in front of his pot). Tonight he didn't want dinner on schedule, swimming away. So I made him wait while everyone else got fed. So I go to clean his sand and he crams his big behind between the wall of the tank and his pot...in one shot you can just see his eye peeking through the hole. So every time he throws a tantrum he sticks his head behind the pot now. This is a new thing:

The Eye.jpg Kong Tantrum.jpg Cram Session.jpg
 
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