Colu Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Nice looking tank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 Was watching my humpback limia a bit this evening and decided to take a little video. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 My ctenopoma's new favorite hiding spot. Do you like her hat? 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 No Python? No problem. My hubby came over to me while filling my wheelie bucket and said, "Do you think your hose is long enough to reach the 75 from here? Big brain moment. X3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 You keep some pretty unique fish. Very cool! It's neat to see how people water change. There are so many types of issues and exponentially more solutions people come up with. I don't use a python exactly how it was intended. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 The little albino senegal is still in quarantine growing out, and she is certainly taking her time (I'm calling her a she until I can verify her sex). The bin has been set up so long that it's going through a diatom algae stage. She started off smaller than my pinky finger, and I had to feed her the tiniest slivers of food. Now she's handling larger pieces which she can tear up herself. She's almost to a size where I'd feel comfortable putting her in with Dragon and Pyewacket. I just want her to be bulky enough to handle the bullying that will come as they figure out the new social dynamic. I've also started calling her Dinky Do. She now knows that me taking the lid off the bin usually means food, and she's so cute when she comes up looking to be fed. I took a little video of her. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 She’s super pretty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 The way that she zooms up to the water's surface reminds me of my axolotl Mochi! Although Dinky Do is considerably more graceful 😂 Absolutely lovely! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 So this weekend I randomly decided I needed to rearrange my 75, and proceeded to make a gigantic mess. I tore it all apart save for the jungle val, lily and crypts. I took all of the anubias and bolbitis off of the various wood they had been growing on, and took a sledge hammer to the large pieces of flagstone to reshape/resize them. Removing everything kicked up 2 years worth of mulm and dirt and made the tank crazy cloudy When it all settled, I had mulm drifts. This morning I couldn't take it anymore and did some vacuuming (I should be running errands but yay procrastination). It's looking better. The bichirs are still kicking up clouds of dirt when they swim around the bottom, so I'll do some more vacuuming this weekend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 On 1/12/2021 at 2:55 PM, H.K.Luterman said: Guess who I drew. AHHHHHmazing!!! I truly love your fish pics. They are excellent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 @H.K.Luterman What’s the plant in the foreground of the second picture? I got one that looks just like it from my LFS but I don’t know what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 15 minutes ago, Hobbit said: @H.K.Luterman What’s the plant in the foreground of the second picture? I got one that looks just like it from my LFS but I don’t know what it is. Bolbitis heudelotii, or african water fern. Really slow growing rhizome plant and one of my favs! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 Picked up a little blood parrot on Monday. I had gone out to pick up root tabs, and did my usual peek at what livestock they had. I've thought about getting one for over a year now; I'm very cautious and careful about deciding what to add to my tanks, especially Dragon's since bichirs can be tricky. But blood parrots are known to make fine tank mates for both senegal bichirs and ctenopomas, and I've heard nothing but great things about them from people who have kept them, so I finally made the plunge. He's in quarantine, and is a shy little guy, as I read he would be. I've been quietly sitting by the tank now and then to try to help him get used to me. I'm thinking of naming him Igor. He really is so cute. Dinky Do the albino senegal is now in the 75; Pyewacket had been added at roughly the same size with no problems so I decided to go ahead and add her. Senegal bichirs are not known to be cannibals, and Dragon was a good boy last time I did this. So far so good. The baby is getting settled in, and I've seen her swimming around with the other two. Dragon and Pyewacket both have been completely ignoring her. I'll probably get some video in the evening, since during the day the 75 is full of glare. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 19 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said: Picked up a little blood parrot on Monday. He's in quarantine, and is a shy little guy, as I read he would be. I've been quietly sitting by the tank now and then to try to help him get used to me. I'm thinking of naming him Igor. Shy maybe, but not too scared to eat! That's good!! He's a cutie. Will he get much bigger? Are blood parrots peaceful fish? I don't know much about them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 18 minutes ago, Alesha said: Shy maybe, but not too scared to eat! That's good!! He's a cutie. Will he get much bigger? Are blood parrots peaceful fish? I don't know much about them. They can top out at 10 inches, but it seems like most get around 7 to 8 inches. They get chunky though! They're categorized as "semi-aggressive," but from what I've read and seen online, they're just spunky. They're categorized as a community safe cichlid, but still may eat really tiny fish. There's ton of space in my 75 and I will be adding a cave just for him so hopefully everyone will have their own spot and be happy together. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) The bichirs were super frisky tonight. I got some mating behavior recorded I still need to edit and get on Youtube. But here's just some footage of the 75 tonight. At the 3:30 mark you can see Dinky in the crypts. Pyewacket looks funny because she has some sort of short body deformity; her pectoral fins are also affected. Edited February 12, 2021 by H.K.Luterman 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Aww! I love it when the frisky fish go and rub up on their other-species tank mates. My loaches do that to the gouramis sometimes and they’re like, “Dude, what??” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 Just now, Hobbit said: Aww! I love it when the frisky fish go and rub up on their other-species tank mates. My loaches do that to the gouramis sometimes and they’re like, “Dude, what??” Gertrude the ctenopoma puts up with so much. I just imagine her rolling her eyes and sighing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 I ordered the largest vase decor off Amazon I could find in preparation for the addition of the blood parrot. The edges seemed pretty sharp so I spent some time sanding down parts of the inside lips on all the entrance holes. Everyone is weirded out by it except Dinky; he went right in. I took a pic of Dinky tonight, too. Igor, the blood parrot, is doing well in quarantine. He LOVES frozen blood worms, but he's also eating New Life Spectrum's cichlid pellets, as well as Xtreme Nano. I think he has some parasites, as I saw him twitching a bit, so I added Prazi Pro to the tank on Friday; this morning he was shaking his head a lot so it might have been flukes. He wasn't twitching anymore tonight at dinner time, so I think the Prazi did the trick. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Was about time to make Pooka's cave a bit bigger, since she's gotten huge. Raised up the roof a bit this afternoon, and she's been swimming in and out of it all evening. Think she likes it. Water's still cloudy from working in there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 I've been training Igor to take food from my fingers. He's much more eager to do it when the camera isn't on him. Isn't that always the way. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 It's a lazy sort of evening. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Bichirs are so gosh darn cool. One day I’ll really start to research them. I’d love one in the future. Can they stay in the 75 for life? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 3 hours ago, OceanTruth said: Bichirs are so gosh darn cool. One day I’ll really start to research them. I’d love one in the future. Can they stay in the 75 for life? Senegals are the smallest of the species, and can stay in a 4 ft tank their whole lives (55 gal or 75, I prefer 75 because it's deeper front to back). I wouldn't go smaller than a 55 for a senegal, since they're actually pretty active for bichirs and need the space. I'm happy answering any questions you might have about them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 We're making progress in socializing Igor. He's no longer fearful of my hand, and doesn't dive into his cave every time I move. I wonder how weirded out he'll be when he's moved to the 75. I knew blood parrots have deformed mouths that can't close, but I didn't know what that meant entirely; so I'm actually surprised just how much movement he does have with his jaws. He bites me, and I definitely feel some pressure to it, though not a whole ton. And he manages to kill and eat any snails I put in there with him (except this one ramshorn, who I guess he likes). I keep finding empty pond snail shells a few hours after putting them in. So far he's shown no issue with eating, but I am keeping his food small; I'm also training him to eat from my hands just in case I need to help him, since my ctenopoma might act as competition. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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