been awhile since I updated this, so I thought I would let everyone know how things are going... sorry, no pics yet. I tried to get some, but they looked terrible, and I just cannot post those. I will try again, hopefully before I move. If not, it'll have to wait until I get settled into the new home sometime after Aug. 1. Anyway...
7 "blue flash" cyps (not the jumbo variety): so far so good. all are alive and well, and very active. a couple of the males are even displaying fairly often, and the dominant male is apparent. he is a little bit of a bully, but so far, not overbearing. a little chasing and challenging, but no real fights have been breaking out yet. there are 3 males and 4 females. one of the males was pretty banged up when he got here... but his wounds are healing nicely, and while I thought he might not make it at one point, as he was not eating or swimming much, he seems to have made a full recovery, and is just as active and greedy as the others are.
5 gold occies: talk about some characters! I thought that calvus were my favorite tang cichlids hands down, until I got these guys... now, I'm not so sure. I can watch these guys antics for hours! and the thing is... so far, so good! most have claimed shells... one of them has even claimed two shells! LOL... I am trying to see who might be male and who might be female. I noticed two of them working together digging and arranging a shell to their liking, taking turns going in and out of the shell... makes me wonder if they have paired up. they will chase other occies away from the shell, but they so far have not bother the cyps at all, and they have ignored the calvus and comps so far... so, again here, so far so good. I find my biggest challenge with these guys is making sure they get enough food, because once food hits the water, the cyps go crazy first, then the calvus and comps join the frey. but these occies will jump in and get theirs too... I just make sure I watch and feed enough so they do.
Calvus & Comps - aggression has practically become nonexistent! HUH??? I mean, these guys were sparring a bit pretty regularly, though, not fiercely, before I added the cyps and occies. after I added the cyps and occies, its been two weeks, and so far, I'm telling you, its remarkable... there is very little aggression. they stay out in the open more than they did now, and really don't pay each other much attention. interestingly enough, the male and female yellow calvus hang out with each other, while the comps tend to hang together... not sure how they know this, but at any rate, no one seems to be going after anyone with any kind of gusto when they cross paths in open water. sometimes a bit of a stare down might happen, but not much in the way of chasing or sparring, like it was. will be interesting to see if this lasts.
other than that, my plecs are striving and growing, and no one bothers the nerites... so... so far, all is well!
oh... one thing I found odd... they don't seem to go crazy over bloodworms, like most fish do. go figure? they do eat them now, more than they did at first... but they clearly prefer the flakes. some of them seem to have a tough time with the pellets, constantly sucking them in, then spitting them out a few times before eating them... maybe softening them up? I dunno... just an observation.
Anyway... that's the update for now... I will get pics up at some point, I promise. just gotta get better at taking them of the fish, because all I keep getting is blurs! LOL...
-Rich
7 "blue flash" cyps (not the jumbo variety): so far so good. all are alive and well, and very active. a couple of the males are even displaying fairly often, and the dominant male is apparent. he is a little bit of a bully, but so far, not overbearing. a little chasing and challenging, but no real fights have been breaking out yet. there are 3 males and 4 females. one of the males was pretty banged up when he got here... but his wounds are healing nicely, and while I thought he might not make it at one point, as he was not eating or swimming much, he seems to have made a full recovery, and is just as active and greedy as the others are.
5 gold occies: talk about some characters! I thought that calvus were my favorite tang cichlids hands down, until I got these guys... now, I'm not so sure. I can watch these guys antics for hours! and the thing is... so far, so good! most have claimed shells... one of them has even claimed two shells! LOL... I am trying to see who might be male and who might be female. I noticed two of them working together digging and arranging a shell to their liking, taking turns going in and out of the shell... makes me wonder if they have paired up. they will chase other occies away from the shell, but they so far have not bother the cyps at all, and they have ignored the calvus and comps so far... so, again here, so far so good. I find my biggest challenge with these guys is making sure they get enough food, because once food hits the water, the cyps go crazy first, then the calvus and comps join the frey. but these occies will jump in and get theirs too... I just make sure I watch and feed enough so they do.
Calvus & Comps - aggression has practically become nonexistent! HUH??? I mean, these guys were sparring a bit pretty regularly, though, not fiercely, before I added the cyps and occies. after I added the cyps and occies, its been two weeks, and so far, I'm telling you, its remarkable... there is very little aggression. they stay out in the open more than they did now, and really don't pay each other much attention. interestingly enough, the male and female yellow calvus hang out with each other, while the comps tend to hang together... not sure how they know this, but at any rate, no one seems to be going after anyone with any kind of gusto when they cross paths in open water. sometimes a bit of a stare down might happen, but not much in the way of chasing or sparring, like it was. will be interesting to see if this lasts.
other than that, my plecs are striving and growing, and no one bothers the nerites... so... so far, all is well!
oh... one thing I found odd... they don't seem to go crazy over bloodworms, like most fish do. go figure? they do eat them now, more than they did at first... but they clearly prefer the flakes. some of them seem to have a tough time with the pellets, constantly sucking them in, then spitting them out a few times before eating them... maybe softening them up? I dunno... just an observation.
Anyway... that's the update for now... I will get pics up at some point, I promise. just gotta get better at taking them of the fish, because all I keep getting is blurs! LOL...
-Rich
