Been very busy with the fishkeeping (cyano bacteria in the PNG tank, swim bladder issue with one of the white clouds) and school half term so haven't been as active as usual. Here's an update for this project.
First the bad news. One of the 'Super Blue' Emperor Tetras showed symptoms of what looked like neon tetra disease (Erractic swimming and s-shaped body) so I removed it straight away. Ran a course of eSha 2000 on the tank. Nothing cures neon tetra disease but eSha 2000 claims to stop transmission between fish. I've been keeping an eye on all the fish and currently have a 'Super Blue' with a small white lump on his flank and one with a single eye popped out but no one showing symptoms for neon tetra disease. I'll be starting a course of Melafix/Pimafix on the tank today. On the whole I'm not overly enamoured with these fish. They are super blue but only when they catch the light in specific ways which is not often enough.
One of my female apistos turned out to be a sleeper male and as he was so small compared to the other males was hounded until he had popeye in both eyes and was not in a good way. I decided euthanasia was the best course for this poor guy. The remaining three males are looking good but definitely in territorial mode, especially the alpha male.
At the moment I'm holding off from running a dewormer on the tank as it will kill my snails and shrimp. If problems persist I'll have to go that way. The shrimp are still clearing the algae from the woods so I need more of them anyway. So that's quite a bit of bad news.
The good news is that the Green Fire Bloodfin Tetra are doing great and haven't shown any issues yet. They do nibble the Bacopa in the tank but it's OK as it's growing fast enough. They're growing nicely and their greens and reds are looking good. I wasn't expecting the tips of their fins to be such a pure white though but it only helps to make them look better. Really liking this fish.
On the subject of pleasant surprises. I had no previous experience with Apistos so when one of the females turned a bright golden colour and its lateral line turned into a dot it was all very exciting. Some pictures below but they don't do justice to how beautiful the fish is or the shiny iridescence around the head. Looks like something out of Tron. The dot is also turning back into a line. I've looked this up and it's a good sign that she is with eggs or has laid them already.
I'll lose this first batch as I have no breeding tank setup. That will change soon as the Forktails are 2 cm long and ready to go in the PNG tank and after the Amazon tank treatments the L397's can be moved out of the grow out tank and into the main one. Anyhoo, it looks like it will be easy to breed the Apistos. If, like Matt, you want some of these let me know. These are £20 a pair fish for which you'll be charged shipping only. Of course it will be a while as I'll have to grow them out to a size where they can be sexed.
Topic: South America Project Update (Read 12791 times) 35 replies
July 06, 2013, 07:16:30 PM
