More tank pics, updated
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
Phase 2 completed of "the big move." The sub adults from the growout are now added to the tub along with the large adults. The last group for the tub will be the 'teenagers' from the 125. The tub will be full at that point but water changes are easy so there's no problem. Everyone in the tub goes.
The fry out of Squiggy/Flash will be transferred (tbd) as will Mica's handful of fry. The ones in the 125 will stay for now.
Brutus, the hrp boss of the growout is one of the keepers. His foul temper and over the top aggression is funny asf. Once I cleaned the growout and cleared it out he went right back to pushing everyone around. Previous tank boss Blackbeard gave him some grief but backed off. Those two will be going in the 125 as I work towards an all male tank. It's a guarantee they won't boss anyone there. They've got some big cousins to deal with (Scooter is the enforcer). That tank is ruled by the bad brothers and nobody has been able to take over. They won't be able to boss their sister Blaze either. She's the current dominant breeder there and has fry (she took over this spot when I moved her mother Speck).
And I'm happy to report my acara Jazz is on her last treatment for popeye! The eye looks normal but she will finish up Sunday. Still concerned about the apparent permanent injury from her flop into the garbage disposal. She's starting to bend herself a little bit and seems to be reverting some with the nose down thing. I'm hoping a reduction in stress from removing fish in the 225 helps. Tank is definitely calmer. I know from past experience stressed fish do the nose down thing.
I was more conservative in Jazz's treatment as opposed to Rocky. Kana Cura gives you the option of 24 or 48 hour treatment windows (no more than 14 days). For her I went with 48 on a schedule.
Brutus, Ace*, Blackbeard, Neet*, and Xena are the keepers in the growout. Ace and Neet are the quad colors.
Kept another female with nice color but no name on her. She and Xena are silver/striped. Xena and Brutus still have fry in the growout but they've been thinned down some. Maybe around 15-20. Ultimately I'd like to toss all remaining fry in one location but first things first.
The fry out of Squiggy/Flash will be transferred (tbd) as will Mica's handful of fry. The ones in the 125 will stay for now.
Brutus, the hrp boss of the growout is one of the keepers. His foul temper and over the top aggression is funny asf. Once I cleaned the growout and cleared it out he went right back to pushing everyone around. Previous tank boss Blackbeard gave him some grief but backed off. Those two will be going in the 125 as I work towards an all male tank. It's a guarantee they won't boss anyone there. They've got some big cousins to deal with (Scooter is the enforcer). That tank is ruled by the bad brothers and nobody has been able to take over. They won't be able to boss their sister Blaze either. She's the current dominant breeder there and has fry (she took over this spot when I moved her mother Speck).
And I'm happy to report my acara Jazz is on her last treatment for popeye! The eye looks normal but she will finish up Sunday. Still concerned about the apparent permanent injury from her flop into the garbage disposal. She's starting to bend herself a little bit and seems to be reverting some with the nose down thing. I'm hoping a reduction in stress from removing fish in the 225 helps. Tank is definitely calmer. I know from past experience stressed fish do the nose down thing.
I was more conservative in Jazz's treatment as opposed to Rocky. Kana Cura gives you the option of 24 or 48 hour treatment windows (no more than 14 days). For her I went with 48 on a schedule.
Brutus, Ace*, Blackbeard, Neet*, and Xena are the keepers in the growout. Ace and Neet are the quad colors.
Kept another female with nice color but no name on her. She and Xena are silver/striped. Xena and Brutus still have fry in the growout but they've been thinned down some. Maybe around 15-20. Ultimately I'd like to toss all remaining fry in one location but first things first.
Phase 3 is now in the books and it only took 5 hours. 
The 125 got a full breakdown and water change. Blue bucket set aside for keepers, white for all fish going into the tub. When catching hrps you have to remove everything but the tank floor. They will find the tiniest cracks to squeeze into and hide behind. They will fold themselves under rocks sideways. They leap OVER the net to avoid being caught. Once you catch them they fly out of the net. This went on and on. Eventually everything sorted out and now all fish for donation are in the tub. Tub got a water change too.
Debating whether to keep syno catfish Cash. He's pretty much invisible in the 125. Took him out to get a look and he's really thin. Like Spot, his whiskers are also trimmed to stumps. So by deduction I now know the hrps are responsible for this in both tanks. I've put him in the tub with the others and hope to get a little weight on him. He's clearly being outcompeted for food (or not allowed to get any). He wasn't this thin a month ago.
My female acara Jazz is now relaxing in a normal pose in her bucket. The other day her bucket had a strong bacteria odor. Don't know if she purged something or what but she's no longer nose down and her popeye is gone for about 3 days now. She goes back in the 225 tomorrow after the water change.
The 125 has a much needed reduction in bioload now. Skirmishes broke out because of the new changes. Bad brothers Mongo and Slade went at it to redefine their turf. So once again each hrp boss has claimed a side. Mongo the north, Slade the south. The big sons got run around some before everybody settled in. Tank looks weirdly empty because redpoints are bottom dwellers and everyone is in their hidey holes. The small fry stay together near the bottom and corners. It may take a few days for them to acclimate back to the mid levels since they can no longer school with their older siblings. I think I have an extra vine I can make an arch with to get them to move off the floor.
The 125 got a full breakdown and water change. Blue bucket set aside for keepers, white for all fish going into the tub. When catching hrps you have to remove everything but the tank floor. They will find the tiniest cracks to squeeze into and hide behind. They will fold themselves under rocks sideways. They leap OVER the net to avoid being caught. Once you catch them they fly out of the net. This went on and on. Eventually everything sorted out and now all fish for donation are in the tub. Tub got a water change too.
Debating whether to keep syno catfish Cash. He's pretty much invisible in the 125. Took him out to get a look and he's really thin. Like Spot, his whiskers are also trimmed to stumps. So by deduction I now know the hrps are responsible for this in both tanks. I've put him in the tub with the others and hope to get a little weight on him. He's clearly being outcompeted for food (or not allowed to get any). He wasn't this thin a month ago.
My female acara Jazz is now relaxing in a normal pose in her bucket. The other day her bucket had a strong bacteria odor. Don't know if she purged something or what but she's no longer nose down and her popeye is gone for about 3 days now. She goes back in the 225 tomorrow after the water change.
The 125 has a much needed reduction in bioload now. Skirmishes broke out because of the new changes. Bad brothers Mongo and Slade went at it to redefine their turf. So once again each hrp boss has claimed a side. Mongo the north, Slade the south. The big sons got run around some before everybody settled in. Tank looks weirdly empty because redpoints are bottom dwellers and everyone is in their hidey holes. The small fry stay together near the bottom and corners. It may take a few days for them to acclimate back to the mid levels since they can no longer school with their older siblings. I think I have an extra vine I can make an arch with to get them to move off the floor.
That’s a huge difference in size between those fry of the same age. Would be interesting to select for that “jumbo” trait and have a strain of monster hrp. Then select for color and have quad color jumbos.
What's odd is that none of the jumbos have produced fry with one exception. Stripey hooked up with Pip but all of those babies were mini Pips (donated). Could be circumstance or that jumbo trait has low fertility. Not that I'm complaining, I still have around 250 or so fry too small to donate.
I've discovered the quad colors don't stabilize or appear right away. Ace suddenly started showing blue fins, as did Mica. Mica has a small group of fry I'll be keeping an eye on. The father Mello is a pink marble.
I want to see how large Harlequin gets. His red tail color is starting to show. Blackbeard (older sibling) I'm keeping a watch to see if he shows blue fins. He has all the other quad pattern except for that one color.
So far the monster strain seems to come through Pip. That being said both hrp tank bosses (pink marbles) are equally large but their proportions are different. Think fat cigar vs pancake.
ratio is pretty consistent
5% jumbo
20% large
60% average
15% small
My female acara Jazz is going to drive me to drink. She went into the 225, had been perfectly fine with her healed eye/buoyancy for days. Was in the tank ten minutes and went nose down again. Most of her potential stressors were eliminated from the equation. So the last thing I could think of was the water pressure. I put her in the 125 and she's doing better there (although hrp boss Slade didn't appreciate her muscling into his cave). She's not leaning against the wall like she did in the 225 and seems to stay at the bottom better. Looks like she's going to need a 'care' tank that's not too deep. I'll put her in one with her buddy Salt the red rainbow and one of the female hrps. Updates as I get them.
Yeah, I'm kind of analytical and like to research things. I would LOVE to get a black marble hrp fry, basically a reversed out version of the pink ones. But none of the pinks are more than about 20% black. Slade actually has the most black (it's increased as he's matured) he might be about 30%-40% black now. All of his fry so far are mostly pink. This is true of Mongo's offspring as well as he only has a couple of black markings. But the black half bar on his back appears on some of Slade's fry! All in the family I guess.
Jazz was starting to swim somewhat normally in the 125 but she 'upset the balance' by taking over the largest log plus I still can't get her to eat and her tail still lifted. She's in a small 8 gallon tub right now where I can keep an eye on her. Of course she went nose down. There are two air stones, sand on the bottom, a heater, and a corner plant and floating piece. I also put in a couple of rocks (she moved one of them). For cover I use a green mesh sport bag. I'm hoping her lack of appetite is her cycling off the meds. So this evening she got her second fresh dose of water and I put the net cover over the top. She almost immediately stopped the nose down bit and hung next to the heater. This is curious because the water temp hovers between 80-81 degrees. I find the plastic tubs have insulation properties similar to acrylic tanks. Sterlite has especially clear tubs and when you put a light on them the clarity is amazing. You can get up to 50 gallon size that have wheels on them! A great alternative to smaller acrylic tanks. You can easily drill the lids for filtration hoses or hang a hob or two on the side. There's one caveat. Around 18 gallon size and above (68 liters) there's a LOT of bowing so you need to double those. You'll also need to use netting beccause the lids won't fit because the tubs deform several inches on each side. They won't burst but doubling adds stability. If you get the industrial strength ones (up to 50 gallons/200 liters) you may not have the bowing issue at all because the walls are reinforced. They aren't overly expensive and make great alternative tanks.
The smaller regular tubs don't really bow much at all. I'd say up to 20 gallons then at 30 some bowing. Also depends on shape of tub. Shallow ones bow the least.
Below is the industrial stuff. You can see the walls are different.
40 gallon size $ 36.98
50 gallon
Got a pleasant surprise. I've been keeping an eye on one of my hrp males Blackbeard (pink marble) because he showed some characteristics of a quad color (pink body, black spots, red markings, blue fins). IT'S HAPPENED. His fins are turning blue! He's always had special color and now blue is added. Will take a pic.
Quads are now
Blackbeard (male) Slade/Speck
Mica (female) Slade/Speck
Neet (unsexed) Slade/Speck
Ace (unsexed) Slade/Speck
Harlequin (male) Slade/Speck
Blaze is a daughter out of Speck (has fry in 125)
Zena also a daughter ouf Speck (has fry in growout)
Mica, another daughter of Speck (has fry in bp Tango's tank)
All quads are out of Slade so far. Slade btw has blue eyes if you catch him at an angle! It's like a reflective color thing. Mongo currently has babies with Blaze so it will take time to see if any of his fry turn into quads.
Speck is now showing dominant female traits. She stays in breeding dress with bright blue cheeks and her top fin is turning yellowish. She also has a trailer up top now. Speck is currently housed with bp Kong. Daughter of Pip/Mongo
Still amazed at these color variations. On the pink marbles the blue fin color consistently comes in last.
Quads are now
Blackbeard (male) Slade/Speck
Mica (female) Slade/Speck
Neet (unsexed) Slade/Speck
Ace (unsexed) Slade/Speck
Harlequin (male) Slade/Speck
Blaze is a daughter out of Speck (has fry in 125)
Zena also a daughter ouf Speck (has fry in growout)
Mica, another daughter of Speck (has fry in bp Tango's tank)
All quads are out of Slade so far. Slade btw has blue eyes if you catch him at an angle! It's like a reflective color thing. Mongo currently has babies with Blaze so it will take time to see if any of his fry turn into quads.
Speck is now showing dominant female traits. She stays in breeding dress with bright blue cheeks and her top fin is turning yellowish. She also has a trailer up top now. Speck is currently housed with bp Kong. Daughter of Pip/Mongo
Still amazed at these color variations. On the pink marbles the blue fin color consistently comes in last.
Forgot to include Flash, also a daughter out of Speck/Slade. She has fry in Lazarus' tank. So that brings the total to 4 sisters currently with small fry. Mica is the only pink, the others are striped.
The dynamic seems to be one dominant female breeder at a time in a tank. Once I split into groups the pattern follows. It seems to be a bit different with the males. They re-establish pecking order if I move them. The female hierarchy seems more static.
Out of hundreds of fry I STILL have only one solid pink one, Pinky. He/she is in the 125.
Mild news in the 225. Syno Spot annoyed the Oscar during water change by squeezing underneath him. Anyone that has an O knows they hate being crowded. Brick grabbed him by the head but let him go immediately (a warning I guess or orbital spines?). In any case Spot got the message and raced away.
Red rainbow Salt is now bossing the jumbo hrps around. LOL
There are four generations in the fish room currently. Pip and her sons in the 225, Pip's daughter Speck housed with Kong, and Speck's daughter Mica housed with Tango. And Mica's small fry, the newest generation.
Waiting on the tank I ordered for Jazz, my female acara. I'll add her buddy Salt and one or two handpicked hrps. Its through Tanks Direct. Got a good deal on pricing. Background will be black. She's doing extremely well in her 8 gallon tub and is greedy as ever. Her Popeye is long gone!
The dynamic seems to be one dominant female breeder at a time in a tank. Once I split into groups the pattern follows. It seems to be a bit different with the males. They re-establish pecking order if I move them. The female hierarchy seems more static.
Out of hundreds of fry I STILL have only one solid pink one, Pinky. He/she is in the 125.
Mild news in the 225. Syno Spot annoyed the Oscar during water change by squeezing underneath him. Anyone that has an O knows they hate being crowded. Brick grabbed him by the head but let him go immediately (a warning I guess or orbital spines?). In any case Spot got the message and raced away.
Red rainbow Salt is now bossing the jumbo hrps around. LOL
There are four generations in the fish room currently. Pip and her sons in the 225, Pip's daughter Speck housed with Kong, and Speck's daughter Mica housed with Tango. And Mica's small fry, the newest generation.
Waiting on the tank I ordered for Jazz, my female acara. I'll add her buddy Salt and one or two handpicked hrps. Its through Tanks Direct. Got a good deal on pricing. Background will be black. She's doing extremely well in her 8 gallon tub and is greedy as ever. Her Popeye is long gone!
