Going bigger

[Si4geckos]

Your swordtails look great but it seems you have 1M & 2F - the pineapple coloured one surely looks like a male to me. Gonopodium forming and sword hasn't grown yet.

I was just sat here pondering that....

[Si4geckos]

I agree with Ric. They might not grow a full swordtail, although my plat-tails did grow a sort of sword or point on their tail, it wasnt a full sword.
Do you know how old they are Si?

Not sure on age. Went for the biggest sword-free ones. Turns out I'm crap at sexing these! That's what happened last time. Went for the fattest looking girls and a few weeks later all boys.

Not the hugest of issues, but rather have had more females than males. Will sort the ratios if/ when they start breeding.

[Ric]

So the search continues (for more females)? Or swaps?

Bummer when that happens.

[Si4geckos]

So the search continues (for more females)? Or swaps?

Bummer when that happens.

I'm not bothered. I could take a male back if I wanted or just rehome it probably eventually. Depends how they harass the females. Will have to see how they get on when in the main tank. The 2 males currently in there try and mate with the congos and the gourami. Their enthusiasm may be dispersed enough.

[Gingerlove05]

Sounds like typical livebearers, try and mate with anything...
Easiest way to sex them is the anal fin, females have a fan shaped fin whereas males have a gonopodium or spike shaped fin. In juveniles you can sort of tell if they haven’t quite matured (they all start off female) yet as the outer/bottom edge of the anal fin starts to look thicker and the fin starts to curve in towards the body instead of staying fanned out. Hope that makes sense.

[Si4geckos]

Today I amended my big tank light. The whites are too cool at 10,000k or 17,000k (depending on which spec I found). This makes the pale sand white and quite harsh to view. Rather than investing in an expensive new adjustable lighting system, I went on the super cheap and decided to use gels/ transparent coloured plastic to warm the whites up. To get even cheaper (free) I used some old plastic wallets/ files and just chopped the covers into strips and sellotaped them onto the light.
















The difference probably doesn’t show up well on photos, but it’s a subtle tweak but it has dramatically changed the tank. Sand isn’t as harsh of a white colour and the oranges of the fish show up nicely. Not sure if it’s the ‘right’ colour temp yet or if I’m 100% happy with it, but it’s good for now and adjustable/ tuneable moving forward.

Just a simple idea for anyone with he cheap Chinese lights with ‘marine’ harsh white LEDs looking for a cost effective adjustment.

[Ric]

Yes, I had to struggle a bit noticing the difference on the photos but I can imagine that you do see it more strongly in real life.

[Si4geckos]

Decided colours were too muted and blanket orange wasn’t working. It washed the blues out and the cardinals weren’t bright. I’ve now basically covered 95% of the whites but uncovered all the red and 90% of the blue LEDs and it’s looking a lot better.

The orange fish in the tank really pop and the reds and blues still glow too.

Keeping a very close eye on my electric blue rams tonight. They keep disappearing behind a massive bush and sitting both pretty much on the floor (I can’t see well annoyingly!). Hoping they’re choosing a laying spot. Not sure they’ll ever get the peace they need with that many sterbai in the tank. Hopefully looking good though. Assuming that’s what they’re up to.

In other news, here’s my 2 new splendens from the auction. Reasonable size, just need fattening up somewhat.

https://youtu.be/l6lUGxAsHbg

[Si4geckos]

Sold 15 sterbai today. Overdue a clear-out to reduce numbers/ stocking. Sad picking the ones to go. Like picking your favourite children haha. Left with about 10 normals and 6 albinos. The small ‘selecting tank’ looked very cool with 20+ catfish in.

I’ve treated the new fish with meds so hopefully they should be good to go into the big tank after the weekend. Can’t wait to get the new massive swords in. And the new Brochis.

My honey gourami have healed well. They’ll be back in. Which leaves my quarantine tank empty and the small tank with x3 tiny rams and x2 still recovering cardinals. Just messaged a chap about filling the quarantine back up with stripey new friends

[Si4geckos]

Sad times. Lost one of the female swords in quarantine. Started getting lethargic yesterday morning. By afternoon I think there were small white lumps like ich on the tail fin (only a few and tiny). I went out for tea, came back to set up a quarantine from quarantine tank and she was already dead.

I’ve ordered white spot cure with malachite green in (arrived earlier, amazon are fast!) as a precaution for the other tank mates.

Went downstairs just now and noticed a ram sat outside one of the plec caves. Very weird white stringy tail hanging out the cave. Turned out to be a congo tetra in head first. Swam in and maybe panicked and got stuck. They do panic and just keep going forwards when spooked. Found one wedged behind things a few times when they’ve flipped out. Sadly this one didn’t make it and looks like it’s been munched on, I assume by plecs. Very sad. One of the smaller ones, so unlikely to be a natural/ age related death. Very sad.

Just wondering if the caves are ‘safe’. Never seen a post about fish getting stuck in caves. Never seen a Congo go near one before. Plecs don’t bother too much and the odd sterbai pops in and out.








Sorry if it’s a bit graphic. Just like to be honest and document what happens so everyone can learn. Scales completely removed from one side.

Should I remove the caves or is this likely to be a freak occurrence?