• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

More tank pics, updated

Two funny updates. One, my fiesty rainbow cichlid Pepper has decided to take on both synodontis catfishes. I like his ambition but I don't think fighting a 7" and 6" catfish at the same time is gonna work. He tried to run both fish out of their branch cave. A second later Pepper came shooting back out like a gold bullet. So he went after them again, popping them on the head and making them scatter. Cash (the larger syno) got pissy and tried to chase but Pepper's too fast and can change direction like snap. All I can say is, good luck with that.

My drama queen O has gone on this pellet 'will he, won't he' thing for months. I suspected he was scoffing pellets on the sly but now I have proof. He eats red wigglers and vitamin soaked mealworms. So now the jumbo mealworms he chews all the 'goodness' out and spits out the chitin shell part. I'll find the shells on the floor. Sometimes he eats them whole. Or as he swims he'll only eat the red wigglers on one side of the tank (depending on the day of the week).

The pellets I put a bit of garlic guard on them, mostly to get Bobo to stop being finicky. He won't eat large pellets unless they have garlic. He seems to like small crunchy pellets off the bottom so I mix/match those. So late yesterday I dropped some of the garlic pellets into my O's "Pit". Sure enough, when he thought I wasn't looking he scooped up some. He doesn't want me to see him eat nowadays. This is another new phase. He may eat once a day but looking at him you can hardly tell.

Brick needs to get this life time achievement award:

Oscar.jpg
 
NEWS!

The new arrivals got here at about 3pm this afternoon. Extremely healthy looking and perfect fins. This male acara is the biggest one I've had to date (even bigger than Skyy was)...he looks like a silver shark and settled in right away. I picked him up out of the bag and he lay in my hand quietly while I set him into the QT tank. The little redpoint tucked away in some bushes at first then came out to explore. He's only at 2 inches right now. I have a divider just in case. I set up the tank to give sight breaks and hiding spots.

The acara is unflappable. He settled in like I had him for months. Unlike my other acaras he seems to like swimming at the top. The RP darts and scoots mid column and near the bottom. Working on names once I get a better feel.

Hopefully the RP grows quickly. He looks like a lil' convict. Purchased on Ebay from bioacuatica .

Pics coming soon. :grinyes:
 
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Days away from year 2 anniversary for the fish.

Right now my lil' goon Pepper (rainbow cichlid) is sporting a nice beauty mark on his head...he and the syno catfishes go back and forth over the branch cave. He gets chased out then flies back in and pops the catfishes in the head. Its so ridiculous they roll over sideways when Pepper gets close. They get especially nervous when he's near their eyes. Pepper is getting chunky.

Since pissing off my Oscar Brick weeks ago (he took a shot at the oscar in the side.) Bobo has paid the price. If he creeps across the tank too far he gets chased and pressed in the corner. Brick will run him into his house then sit there in the sand, daring Bobo to come out (he doesn't). He's pretty much under house arrest. My oscar forgets nothing. Brick will grab his tail if he doesn't move fast enough. Bobo's lucky the oscar isn't violent. But he will bully as the mood strikes. He either ignores Bobo or hassles him for the **** of it.

Status quo for the parrots. Kong is seeing 'monsters' again when I wear a black top. So she wouldn't come out and eat until I covered it up with a jacket. Tango is huge, a big fat coin shape. Boss is a big ass ball. He grows vertically and sideways. Patch cranks out eggs like a chicken factory. But she's gotten a lot better at clean up (grateful me).

The QT crew

My jumbo male acara Nemo is playful, goofy as hell and oblivious. I could blow a trumpet at the tank and he will still race across the front glass for hours like nothing is going on. Mostly silvery with blue head patches and flowing fins. Gets along well with the HRP, unlike my other acaras who squabbled with smaller fish after a while. So far I haven't needed a divider.

Pip is the honduran redpoint. He's growing amazingly fast. I feed heavily and give 80% wc every 2 days. Sometimes he's dark and sometimes he's boldly striped. Fearless. Reminds me of a water sprite. Seems to have the attitude of a convict. The few times Nemo moves at him he comes right back. Pip comes up to the top to snatch food from my fingers, something even Pepper didn't do.

Brick is breaking out his black...his chin is black sometimes. He has lots of black across the top of his back. Looks like I rolled him in pepper. And yeah, white scales with black dots too. What he'll look like in the next year or two is anybody's guess. His parents must have had one helluva night.

Lots of pics in the works. Just sayin'. :grinyes:
 
Lol silly news.

Another typical week in Goon City. So Pepper the Rainbow had a 'beauty mark' on his head that is now healed. Now Bobo (Choc) is sporting a couple of scratches on his sides. Brick banged himself up, getting a head scratch and two body scratches (likely from chasing Bobo). The catfishes also have small scratches on their heads that come and go. Brick's head scratch healed in a day, the body scratches are almost gone now.

Bobo no longer gets chewed lips since he avoids lip locking with Boss. He will lurch at the parrot at times (payback). Boss (BP) hates anything near his belly and will clear out. BUT he goes right back over to Bobo's turf anyway. Go figure. Brick's in a puppy phase right now and comes up for pats and tickles daily. We also have sessions where he plays with his ball. Two months ago he went weeks without wanting contact. Now its the opposite. Typical moody O, all over the place.

Brick comes out for his daily exercise runs and chases the Chocolate to a corner or swims at him head on slowly with his maw open. Bobo tips backwards takes off like a shot. Don't think I'd like looking at that big mouth either.

The QT crew is doing well. the redpoint Pip is growing like a weed and shows a blue circle near each gill (sometimes they disappear). The acara Nemo is still goofy but playful.

Will have updated profiles with the new pics. Countdown to year two is underway.
 
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Well, things have taken a turn. ?

Looks like Bobo might have ich...I noticed he was in tiger stripe mode. Saw some white pimples on his head and sides up top. Very light and totally out of nowhere. Also noticed Pepper flashed a little the other day and even Brick flashed once. I didn't think anything at the time since sometimes the hikari pellets cause irritation if they break up in the water. No additions to the tank so have no clue what got this going.

Breaking out the ich-x I have. Gonna go through it quick with only two bottles, so I ordered a gallon. So far Bobo is the only one with the dots so I'm hitting this hard and fast.

Its been awhile since I treated the main tank. Brick had ich once when he was a baby. Fishkeeping keeps you on your toes.

I read somewhere that Chocs sometimes break out in pimples. If anyone knows about this please share that info here.
 
FINWIN said:
Well, things have taken a turn. ?

Looks like Bobo might have ich...I noticed he was in tiger stripe mode. Saw some white pimples on his head and sides up top. Very light and totally out of nowhere. Also noticed Pepper flashed a little the other day and even Brick flashed once. I didn't think anything at the time since sometimes the hikari pellets cause irritation if they break up in the water. No additions to the tank so have no clue what got this going.

Breaking out the ich-x I have. Gonna go through it quick with only two bottles, so I ordered a gallon. So far Bobo is the only one with the dots so I'm hitting this hard and fast.

Its been awhile since I treated the main tank. Brick had ich once when he was a baby. Fishkeeping keeps you on your toes.

I read somewhere that Chocs sometimes break out in pimples. If anyone knows about this please share that info here.
Click to expand...
I'm wishing you the best!
 
GentleGiantsCichlidKeeper said:
I'm wishing you the best!
Click to expand...

Thanks. The first dosage is in and everyone immediately came up top and started swimming around. ? I changed out the mechanical filtration and did a 50% w/c. Also did a siphon of the sand. The gallon jug should arrive by thursday. I've got some reserve ich treatment from my lfs, but its two drops per gallon...might get me through wed. I'll probably end up using the whole bottle of that.

So the instructions say a min 30% w/c each time, change out mech filtration but keep filters running. Dosage is minimum every 24 hrs and maximum every 8 hrs. Treatment for 3 days after no spots are seen. I'll start on the conservative side. Will finish up with big w/c, filter swap and siphon.

Wild thing is I went downstairs to do a regular w/c before discovering the ich.
 
Sounds like a good plan, I had to deal with Ick in my BP tank a few months ago so I know how you feel. Some Super Ick Cure for a few days and turning the heater up to 82-86 fixed it for me, but I know that brand of treatment has a better reputation. I then put some aquarium salt in it and the issue was done.I took the same steps your now other than that tho. It feels good to have protected them after the fact!
 
Update.

The medicine apparently provided some instant relief late yesterday. Three hours after the first treatment there was a lot of pushing, shoving and some chasing. This morning some of Bobo's spots have disappeared (they are really tiny!) and everyone was hungry. No flashing. Next treatment this afternoon. Fresh filter floss each treatment. Bobo ate a nightcrawler, Brick ate two. Everyone else polished off their pellets.

I had to use a magnifying glass to get a good look at Bobo's spots. His color shifts make it tough at times. I also discovered his tiger stripes are stress stripes, although sometimes he stripes up randomly.
 
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