• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

More tank pics, updated

Very interesting development with Tango the bp. Since his mouth has healed he's lost most of his skittishness and is more responsive than ever. Now he looks to get my attention whereas before he would swim out, stare, then tuck away and peep. He's literally a different fish and It's almost as if he knows I helped him based on this radical change in response. I went through this same thing with Patch. The more I treated her the more she responded (and she was quite responsive to begin with). She got really good anticipating when I would take her out for treatment and would immediately go into her hide. I don't doubt that large pimple in Tango's mouth was bothering him. Day 1 after treatment Tango didn't trust me (darting away when I got too close) then on day 2 the complete turnaround. Cichlids are truly remarkable.

Meanwhile a certain Oscar has gone into a 'brat' stage. If I don't give him immediate attention at feeding time he launches his ball out of the tank. or slaps the surface. This phase has been going on for 4 days now. It came out of nowhere like all of his 'Oscary' moods.

I'll probably get the fry out of the 125 this weekend, no later than next weekend. Their growth is too rapid now and they've doubled in size the last 3 weeks. The proof was today when I saw them sucking down 1mm -2mm pellets where before I would have to break them up. Plus I'm starting to get the cloudy water syndrome that happened last year in the 225 with 50 growing hrps and the bigger fish. None of my hrps seem to have the "growth inhibiting hormone" memo. None of the fry get eaten either. They strut around the tank with no fear. Papa Slade takes the mob out for a swim.

My male acara Rocky is now a finger nipper. Thanks for nothing, Rocky.
 
More small news...

I've observed that the pink fry seem to be feistier than the striped. Not sure if that means anything. They all rumble and are starting to mix it up.

Corn the severum may have to go on a diet...he's getting thicc as a fryer.

HULK the hrp is still growing, and now looks like a soda can top. He's out and about more. His size is ludicrous. He and bp Boss get along quite well now often eating together. HULK has 2 siblings that are built similar and are catching up. We'll see.

Huey, Hugo, Stripey and Dusty are closing in on Hulk's size. Stripey and Dusty have a wide triangular shape. Huey and Hugo are more blocky in build like Hulk.

Dynamics of the hrp family are interesting: Mongo is naturally hyper aggressive, more than any of his kin except daughter Speck. His brother Slade has outstripped him in size but only matches aggression when defending his fry. Otherwise head to head he tends to back off.

Scooter is the only son that seems to have a tight bond with Mongo. They share a log and Scooter actually bullies Mongo (he's the only one who gets away with it). They fight together and cruise together. Scooter isn't the biggest son but he and Dusty are the 'for real' fighters of the tank. Speck is just nuts with her blindside attacks when defending her fry. When this happens her much larger brothers are banging into each other trying to get away from her!

It's crazy. They're anywhere from 2 to 3 times her size and it doesn't matter. She even took on 2 brothers once at the same time. Speck 1, brothers 0. The only time she loses out is during the feeding frenzy where their bulk and size is a distinct advantage...she gets banged around and usually stabs at food once the others are full.

Slade sometimes wants her to stay in her log and chases her in. She pops right back out on the opposite side. Lately she schools with her fry. I think Slade has given up trying to get her to stay put. He just watches the fry and doesn't bother her too much.

Huey and Hugo look big and impressive but are wimps and stay hidden for the most part. Stripey shares a log with brother Shade who's considerably smaller.

Dusty and Scooter are the true alpha males in the 125 and will take on Mongo. None of the other sons will. Scooter keeps Mongo in line. Dusty is the only other son that will challenge and make Mongo back off. He doesn't start fights but he'll finish them.

in the 125 categories

Lightweight Speck
Middleweights Shade, Mote
Light heavyweights Mongo, Slade, Scooter
Heavyweights Dusty, Hugo, Huey

Will grab a solid pic of Hulk when I get the chance.
 
Some follow up pics of the large aquarium thread and others. Not a whole lot today.

Here's the top view of the 225. Each glass cover is 21" long. I'll have to get replacement hinge strips because the glass is heavy and 2 of the lids have torn hinges. As usual my busybody Oscar drifts up top to see what I'm doing. Brick sticks his nose in EVERYTHING. His ball floats over his tail. You see he goes across a good deal of the span.

Brickuptop.jpg
 
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