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The Red Devil Diary

Well guys, another day and another one full of surprises by Kratos.

Got 2 more Serpae Tetras for the 125g because I loved them so much. It would’ve been a school of 8 if 1 didn’t disappear so now I have a school of 7 and those 2 were the only ones left.
As soon as I set the bag in to acclimate the Tetras Kratos wasted no time and went crazy, not at the tetras but at the bag. I was looking at his eyes and he wasn’t even looking or focusing on the Tetras. Hard to explain but you just had to be there to get it I guess. It happened for only a minute or so and then he calmed down. He wasn’t taking shots at the bag anymore but he was flaring a bit for the next couple minutes and after that he ignored it. I’m glad I lifted the bag because I was going to move it to the far end of the tank when I saw that the little bugger punctured it. So the acclimation period was cut short, I usually acclimate my fish for 20-30 minutes but it was only around 15 unfortunately. After I let the tetras out, they immediately joined the 5 and started schooling. I kept an eye on them for around 10-15 minutes and he paid them no mind. I’ll monitor them closely for a couple days and fingers crossed, I think they’ll be okay.

Here are a couple pics after he calmed down and was checking the tetras out:

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Just a little update, Kratos is doing well, he’s eating like a pig and always begging for food. Loves digging and rearranging stuff, he has dug various pits throughout the tank.

I’ve noticed that he has a grain of sand stuck near his eye? No idea what happened and how that got there? It doesn’t seem to affect him cause he still goes about his business as usual and is still eating well. Never had this happen with any of my cichlids before and all have been avid diggers so I have no idea what he was getting upto. Maybe as he’s swimming around and doing more stuff it’ll fall out. Here are a couple pictures:

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So, the grain of sand is still there and I’m wondering if I should be worried. It doesn’t seem to be impacting him in any way as he’s still eating and digging and going about his business. Taking him out and getting it out myself will be the last resort because I know that’ll be extremely stressful for him and I don’t even know how to even begin in attempting to get that out. I feel like I encounter the most unusual problems in my aquariums😐
 
Cichlids-r-beasts said:
So, the grain of sand is still there and I’m wondering if I should be worried. It doesn’t seem to be impacting him in any way as he’s still eating and digging and going about his business. Taking him out and getting it out myself will be the last resort because I know that’ll be extremely stressful for him and I don’t even know how to even begin in attempting to get that out. I feel like I encounter the most unusual problems in my aquariums😐
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To my eye it looks like a natural color speck left over from peeling (like the little blotch on his fin). You could ease him out in a net. Wet your finger and lightly touch UNDER the eye. If you don't feel anything its color. Sand would feel like a little grit and roll off. Or rinse his head off and check again. Place his head mouth first under the stream not into his gills.
 
FINWIN said:
To my eye it looks like a natural color speck left over from peeling (like the little blotch on his fin). You could ease him out in a net. Wet your finger and lightly touch UNDER the eye. If you don't feel anything its color. Sand would feel like a little grit and roll off. Or rinse his head off and check again. Place his head mouth first under the stream not into his gills.
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I’ve observed him closely thinking it was that but it isn’t, somehow it’s a grain of sand that winded up just near his eye under the skin on his head? It’s not on the outside. I don’t even know how to explain it but it’s like in this area of the eye:

It hasn’t bothered him, he’s still very active and bold, colored up and is eating like a pig still so maybe I should just wait it out and see if it falls out on its own as he’s swimming around etc, if not then I’ll have to take him out and see if I can get it out myself.

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Well update, it’s gone now so I assume somehow it fell out. Maybe I’m crazy but definitely didn’t look like part of the peeling process to me. Boy am I relieved though!

Also, I think he is definitely picking off the tetras one by one cause now I’m down to 5 when I woke up and saw 7 this morning? Looked around and can’t find them anymore so I think he’s picking them off and eating them? I’ll look for torn fins and scales when I’m doing his water change tomorrow. Since he’s showing typical Amph behavior and wanting to kill everything then I might move them to my male JD in the 90 gallon, whose only tankmates are 3 swordtails which he doesn’t bother.

I think Kratos has also grown maybe quarter or half an inch longer since I’ve got him and is slightly taller, with consistent water changes and a good diet I think he’ll definitely match my female Butti and Oscar in growth rate.
 
Well I have some sad news, guess Kratos wasn’t too pleased with the water change so he went on a killing spree and killed 3 (likely ate 2 of them cause his stomach is very big now) of the tetras smh. I thought they’d be able to last one more night and I’d have added them during my water change on the 90 tomorrow but I guess not. Took me 5-10 minutes but I got the remaining ones out and into the 90 immediately.
Really bummed as I quite liked them and their schooling behavior. I thought he’d pay them no mind since he’s larger than them and they’re mid-top level fish while he’s mostly near the bottom, not to mention the original group was added at the same time and since he was so young I thought he’d ignore them. I also did not think his mouth would be large enough to swallow 1.5 inch Tetras whole as a 4 inch fish, especially since Amphs don’t have the largest mouths but I was wrong. Then this guy has the audacity to beg for food with 2 Tetras in his stomach?! What a greedy a**!
Kratos will now live the rest of his life in solitude, never putting fish with him again. I was too naive to think they’d live peacefully and I should’ve known better smh.

Edit: I will also be fasting him for a day or 2, I don’t over feed him but I definitely don’t under feed him either, don’t want him getting fat so I won’t feed him tomorrow.
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