More tank pics, updated

[FINWIN]

Wow, the growth rate on Brick is unbelievable! He is holding the color great. What a nice Oscar! I would have to agree that diet plays an important role to their color. Reminds me of my early years. Back in the early 70’s, we fed them a chunk of frozen brine mix and occasionally krill if we could afford it to get the colors popping. I still remember my mom having a fit finding that stinky opened 4” x 6” x 1” thick frozen mix running out when the freezer part of the fridge was defrosting. Lol! Man I caught hell for that!

I have to pinch myself when I look at him and remind myself he's still young. So excited for his max potential. He definitely acts like a young O although he's settling down a bit. Has a lot of metallic scales.

Diet is the same for everybody. Large and small bug bites, Hikari Excel, Hikari Bio Gold, Hikari Red Parrot, Hikari Carnivore, Hikari Cichlid Gold.

 

[FINWIN]

Sorry I didn't see your post alert. Yes, I have read that about Severums, that they are good tank mates for certain aggressive fish. That they are generally peaceful but do not take any guff. I have been thinking about getting one for my aggressive Golden Lab Cichlid but he is large and our LFS stopped carrying cichlids. Our local Petco will order fish for me, but they and I don't know what they will send.

Our Petsmart does carry baby cichlids. I can call them and see if they have Severums and what type they have in stock. I could put it in with my smaller golden lab and let them grow together.

What? Brick is turning into a Red Hot Chili Pepper? That is just rockin! But I heard they take their clothes at their concerts. Better put a sock on it. Some people might get upset. (Not me, I'm a liberated kind of guy.). But hey, I thought it was you that said no fish porno when I was thinking of posting pictures of my Siamese Fighting Fish beautifully mating. (I haven't) .
That is interesting that Brick liked one of your relatives over the other. Did one of them have big hair or brightly colored, shiny clothing, or something that might have intimidated him? Did she get very close to the glass and he didn't recognize her as you. < Her (Not you)as seen by him through glass and fish eyes as she gets closer--not to say she is that unattractive in human perspective. They might see a human face as a really large fish looking at them. Try yawning and baring your teeth at him when he is bad. But that might put him off you. I did that once unknowingly and my big cichlid (7inches) turned tail, disappeared, and cowered in his cave. This was at feeding time too. What a chicken s**t. Not saying every fish will react that way, but mine did.

Dainichi, are they just for BP, or cichlids? Spirulina and krill is good for any fish. Sometimes if that is all you have to offer and they get hungry they will go for it. My preferred method is to keep trying it alternating with their regular stuff. Usually works. But some things they don't like. I have a rock hard brand that won't soften either and are too big for the fish to eat whole. They wouldn't touch it broken up either and I don't feel comfortable giving it to them with jagged edges. Company was nice enough to replace it with something else that works better. You might try contacting the company and have them try a different product. Have the company rep try soaking one of their different entrees while you are on the phone. My rep was nice enough to do that. I find the Tetra Zucchini and Seaweed Wafers much tastier and softer. Oh and the fish like it too.

I have read that Flowerhorns get cranky with age. As you probably know, they are another cichlid hybrid. I didn't know BP British Petroleum I mean Blood Parrots do too. Every time I see that abbreviation I think of that company.

You are doing so great on Brick's training and tricks. I have read, that enriches their lives and creates a bond between you.

The Danchini pellets are either plant or protein based, very dense and hard. They don't really soften when they soak they just get mushy on the outside and stay hard on the inside. For cichlids or marine fish. They smell strange to me though.

 

[Fishflyer]

No, I think once everyone settled in they figured out the 'food chain'. But it will likely change as time goes on. Chip showed flashes of passive aggression to Boss. It didn't work but it let me know he'll stand up for himself as time goes on and he matures (they say Severums are like this, peaceful but don't take any junk). Boss will get larger over time too and probably more cranky since BPs do that as they age. Rex is kinda carefree.

Brick's pattern has intensified as he's grown. Sometimes Os wash out and get duller, but I've seen gorgeous huge tigers. I think food and enviroment affect their mood and color a lot. The orange is continuing to spread out toward his fin tips and up his head. Would be something if he eventually ended up all orange like a chili pepper!

Was kind of funny, today one of my aunts came with another one of my cousins. Brick didn't like her and refused to come forward. He slid backwards and gave her the stink eye. Now her sister he was fine with!

My cousin said Patchs' color reminds her of when you cook salmon too long, lol.

I've got some Dainichi pellets but they don't soak too well and the fish aren't that crazy about them. I'll try again. I think if I can get them to soak they'll eat them. I got the Spirulina and Krill color Supreme variety.

Evenutally I'll do a Brick "then and now." side by side pics. That's for later, though. I'm excited about his max potential, whatever that is. He's off to a good start.

Sounds like it is mostly peaceful, though. I love having new fish and observing their behavior. I may get another Synodontis lucipinnis to keep my other company. It is very sharp looking for a catfish. Problem is I rarely see it and I worry that the phenomenally growing Yo-yo loaches over powered it and brought about it's demise. At feeding time I occasionally see it out front vigorously scrounging with loaches for scraps. The loaches knock it about and it cheerfully moves over and continues it's foraging.

I ordered Bug Bites, Hikari Gold, Tetra Min flakes and Daphie fly larvae for when I have fish fry (I didn't put an 'a' in front of fish), and as a treat for the adult fish. The yo yo loaches are 4 inches and the Senegals are 5. I might put them together soon, as I wanted a large bottom forager for the Bichir aquarium.

Do you have some aquarium salt, Stress coat? Singlely or together as you probably know, should speed healing and as a preventative for unbenenficial bacteria.

 

[Fishflyer]

I looked at the Mdoka White Lipped Ciclid. The ones I looked at were nice looking, and a brilliant blue. They are listed as endangered.

That is interesting that the bright colored clothing put off your fish.

 

[FINWIN]

Sounds like it is mostly peaceful, though. I love having new fish and observing their behavior. I may get another Synodontis lucipinnis to keep my other company. It is very sharp looking for a catfish. Problem is I rarely see it and I worry that the phenomenally growing Yo-yo loaches over powered it and brought about it's demise. At feeding time I occasionally see it out front vigorously scrounging with loaches for scraps. The loaches knock it about and it cheerfully moves over and continues it's foraging.

I ordered Bug Bites, Hikari Gold, Tetra Min flakes and Daphie fly larvae for when I have fish fry (I didn't put an 'a' in front of fish), and as a treat for the adult fish. The yo yo loaches are 4 inches and the Senegals are 5. I might put them together soon, as I wanted a large bottom forager for the Bichir aquarium.

Do you have some aquarium salt, Stress coat? Singlely or together as you probably know, should speed healing and as a preventative for unbenenficial bacteria.

I use the pond stress coat. It's identical to the regular stress coat but more concentrated. Got some of the powdered Safe too but haven't cracked it open yet. The big tank gets 4 tablespoons each water change. And I'll toss in a cap of the API conditioner too.

Ran across something interesting. I usually rotate cleaning my filters. So I would clean my filter pads in the hobs with tank water (or dechlorinated fresh water). I would get cloudy haze later (an hour or two). It would last most of the night and be clear in the morning. So I'm wondering what the issue was. Did an experiment.

Figured I'd try cleaning the filter pads with a stress coat water solution. Got no cloudiness and no haze at all! Water stayed clear.

I do have aquarium salt, as needed. Don't generally use it for anything. I find the stress coat helps prevent flicking which can happen after a w/c with the difference in ph.

 

[FINWIN]

I looked at the Mdoka White Lipped Ciclid. The ones I looked at were nice looking, and a brilliant blue. They are listed as endangered.

That is interesting that the bright colored clothing put off your fish.

Well it was red at first but now they're over that. Then it was bright green, and now they're over that too. I simply gave them treats so they couldn't associate anything negative about those colors. I'd heard some fish hate red but don't know the reason.

None of my fish like red plants though. Brick falls to the bottom and the parrots will avoid OR pull them up.

 

[FINWIN]

Small update. I've made a cove for Chip (Severum) to relax in. Pics soon.

 

[Fishflyer]

I use the pond stress coat. It's identical to the regular stress coat but more concentrated. Got some of the powdered Safe too but haven't cracked it open yet. The big tank gets 4 tablespoons each water change. And I'll toss in a cap of the API conditioner too.

Ran across something interesting. I usually rotate cleaning my filters. So I would clean my filter pads in the hobs with tank water (or dechlorinated fresh water). I would get cloudy haze later (an hour or two). It would last most of the night and be clear in the morning. So I'm wondering what the issue was. Did an experiment.

Figured I'd try cleaning the filter pads with a stress coat water solution. Got no cloudiness and no haze at all! Water stayed clear. I will try stress coat for cleaning filter pads. Using Safe over Prime will save you money. Same product. Powdered, concentrated use much less than Prime.

I do have aquarium salt, as needed. Don't generally use it for anything. I find the stress coat helps prevent flicking which can happen after a w/c with the difference in ph.

 

[Fishflyer]

I will try Stress coat for pads. Safe is great. Same as Prime, but powdered, concentrated and save a lot of money.

 

[FINWIN]

I will try Stress coat for pads. Safe is great. Same as Prime, but powdered, concentrated and save a lot of money.

True. I have both. The pond Prime is also several times more concentrated than the regular prime. Because of that I bought some of those tiny measuring spoons that go down to 1/64.I figured I would need it for the powdered stuff.

The silly news front: My O and BP didn't like a large blue plant I put in this morning. Brick went sideways and drifted to the bottom. Boss refused to go in his own grove and backed up into Brick (who proceeded to chase him around). Chip and Rex were cool with it. These are the most sensitive and ridiculous fish I've ever had.

So I had an extra spider plant I replaced it with. Boss gave it the eye but didn't spazz. He's fine now. His grotto is now framed by plants. He drifts along the back wall into the "jungle" and slides into the second pot. Rex pretty much hangs out on Brick's side most of the time. The space I made for Chip got invaded by Brick, who stuffed his pan sized behind into the corner. I shooed him away. I did some small rearranging on his side as well. he has both space and privacy.