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Just now, OceanTruth said:

Surprise, surprise another adorable fish for your tank. 😛

Plecos, in general, are a neat looking fish though. Is it a male? Or too early to tell yet.

I think it's too early to tell. I guess if you see the "beard" it's a male. Google says about 3 inches is when you can tell for sure, and it's only about 1.5 inches. So tiny!

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Aww yay! I also had to grow out my super red plecos before I felt comfortable adding them to the big tank. Though I think you have a bit more to worry about than me. 😄 They are super cute and brave, too! I haven’t found mine to be shy at all, with me or the bigger fish.

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4 minutes ago, OceanTruth said:

“If I stick my face in some anubias, then no one could possibly see me.”

That is a really nice sized molly. Pretty color too.

Yeah she's HUGE and is the boss of the tank. She's a few years old now and is starting to lose her color; her black half used to be much more solid. 

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On 3/3/2021 at 12:32 PM, H.K.Luterman said:

I think it's too early to tell. I guess if you see the "beard" it's a male. Google says about 3 inches is when you can tell for sure, and it's only about 1.5 inches. So tiny!

That's the problem with the Bristlenose. I have a chocolate that is probably 2.25 to 2.5 inches but no whiskers yet. I really, really hope its a male cause I want the whiskers! But the price of them goes up astronomically if you wait until they are big enough to sex.

Every day though, I'm checking him/her out looking for some signs!

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Well, let's see what's been happening...

Gertrude the ctenopoma has now decided that this one little ledge on the very left side of the tank is hers, probably because she now has to share her cave with Igor. I often see her squashed against the rocks, and she gets angry whenever Dragon comes near - which is unfortunate since Dragon is always over there. So he's getting his butt bitten by her even more lately. 

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I moved my favorite big mystery snail into the colony in the 29, and immediately she became very popular with the guys. The golden one was stuck to her for a good two hours.

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Dinky continues to be absolutely adorable.

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I have a little windelov java fern in my pea puffer tank (my second time trying to grow it, I have bad luck with java ferns), and it made a little baby. When it detached, I stuck it in the 75, pinning it by the leftover parent leaf under a rock. Let's see if it grows.

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With the addition of Igor in the 75, I've been feeding frozen food more often, and now I get this crazy biofilm on the glass. It scrapes off in sheets. Also, I now have hydra in the tank. I think they're kind of neat how they move. I was taking some video of them, and Igor got excited about the camera, bumping into them. So neat how they move with the water currents and react to him brushing against them.

 

 

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On today's episode of, "Tanks of Our Lives"...

Lordy. Ok. So.

Saturday evening I witnessed Dragon throwing up. Which was... gross. I did some research and came to the conclusion that the chunk of fish I had fed him earlier that day was too big. So, I decided the best course of action was to fast him a day to make sure he was emptied out, and then go back to feeding. I feed him once a day, just a small bite, usually.

Sunday rolls around, the fasting day, and I notice he's looking hungry; actively searching around the bottom of the tank with his nose down. Now, he's a big fish. Last I measured him he was a bit more than 8 inches, and he's thick. He's got weight on him. At this point I should probably just be feeding him every other day anyways, according to everything I've read about senegal bichirs, so I figure he's fine. He's FIIIIIINE. It'll be FIIIIINE.

Sunday evening, I'm puttering around on the internet, and I hear a big SPLASH behind me. I turn around, and immediately see Dragon had Dinky by the pectoral fin.

Hooooo boy, I jumped up and hurried to the tank. Dragon let Dinky go by the time I got there (within a few seconds). I stared long and hard to make sure Dinky is ok; he is, there's no damage to his fin, he's using it fine and there's not even any tears to the membrane. I then took a few minutes to think on what to do.

My guess is that Dragon mistook Dinky as food, since Dinky is white and the tilapia I feed him is white. I feed them by placing pieces with long tweezers by their snoots. They have pretty bad eyesight, so I can imagine it would be easy to mistake a white fin moving by his nose for a piece of tilpia. He also let him go without doing any damage, so I think he did realize he didn't have food in his mouth.

REGARDLESS, I proceeded to kick the bristlenose baby out of Quarantine (he's from a good, reputable place, so I doubt he's carrying anything) and put him in the 29 to grow out. I then put Dinky in the QT, and I'm going to put another inch on him before I put him back in the 75. 

Also, I am going to continue to feed Dragon daily, because obviously he gets snappy when he's hungry. At least until Dinky is bigger and less likely to be mistaken as dinner. 

Lesson learned. Keep Dragon fat and happy.

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2 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

On today's episode of, "Tanks of Our Lives"...

Lordy. Ok. So.

Saturday evening I witnessed Dragon throwing up. Which was... gross. I did some research and came to the conclusion that the chunk of fish I had fed him earlier that day was too big. So, I decided the best course of action was to fast him a day to make sure he was emptied out, and then go back to feeding. I feed him once a day, just a small bite, usually.

Sunday rolls around, the fasting day, and I notice he's looking hungry; actively searching around the bottom of the tank with his nose down. Now, he's a big fish. Last I measured him he was a bit more than 8 inches, and he's thick. He's got weight on him. At this point I should probably just be feeding him every other day anyways, according to everything I've read about senegal bichirs, so I figure he's fine. He's FIIIIIINE. It'll be FIIIIINE.

Sunday evening, I'm puttering around on the internet, and I hear a big SPLASH behind me. I turn around, and immediately see Dragon had Dinky by the pectoral fin.

Hooooo boy, I jumped up and hurried to the tank. Dragon let Dinky go by the time I got there (within a few seconds). I stared long and hard to make sure Dinky is ok; he is, there's no damage to his fin, he's using it fine and there's not even any tears to the membrane. I then took a few minutes to think on what to do.

My guess is that Dragon mistook Dinky as food, since Dinky is white and the tilapia I feed him is white. I feed them by placing pieces with long tweezers by their snoots. They have pretty bad eyesight, so I can imagine it would be easy to mistake a white fin moving by his nose for a piece of tilpia. He also let him go without doing any damage, so I think he did realize he didn't have food in his mouth.

REGARDLESS, I proceeded to kick the bristlenose baby out of Quarantine (he's from a good, reputable place, so I doubt he's carrying anything) and put him in the 29 to grow out. I then put Dinky in the QT, and I'm going to put another inch on him before I put him back in the 75. 

Also, I am going to continue to feed Dragon daily, because obviously he gets snappy when he's hungry. At least until Dinky is bigger and less likely to be mistaken as dinner. 

Lesson learned. Keep Dragon fat and happy.

Whew! Oh my word! They are keeping you on your toes lately. That was a smart idea to move Dinky back to the QT. I would've probably left him in the tank, but your moving him is the best option, I agree, to just be SURE he is not injured and that he doesn't become a snack. And poor Dragon...he just wanted a leetle taste!!! 😉 

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2 minutes ago, OceanTruth said:

Dragon is getting beastly! He’s got some serious girth on him.

He's always been a chonker. He's pretty much why I bought the 75 in the first place; it was clear he wouldn't be able to live in the 40 breeder his entire life despite what the internet said.

Here he is at 6 months. I've had him a little over 3 yrs now.

5.3_19.2.png.d64a31d7cee54878f3b95133a5b72d05.png

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