Watermelon 210g, Part II

[mark razmandi]

there is a chance that its not an altifron but an aripuana and if so, its SUPER RARE and they are only imported rarely, often by mistake. ill be able to ID with a photo

[TaTeR ToT]

was it the larger juvie in the 200g with the fronts and girraffe catfish?

if so, its a Geophagus Altifrons Apripuana II

[TaTeR ToT]

the 2 he had in there were a pair.
if you didnt get both i would reccomend getting the other.

[Matt in Houston]

was it the larger juvie in the 200g with the fronts and girraffe catfish?

if so, its a Geophagus Altifrons Apripuana II

Yes thats him...I didnt know they were a pair...is it bad to split them up? I guess I could take another trip out tomorrow and get the other one, but I didnt have intentions of breeding them.

[wesleydnunder]

Looks good, Matt. Why did you get rid of your discus?

Mark

[myjohnson]

Good pick up Matt. Beautiful fish if you allow it time to grow it's trailers out.

I wouldn't keep anything that would nip at its fins.

And if you can pick up a female also, up on it!

[myjohnson]

there is a chance that its not an altifron but an aripuana and if so, its SUPER RARE and they are only imported rarely, often by mistake. ill be able to ID with a photo

Did I hear "SUPER RARE"?

Me like super rare.

[Matt in Houston]

Looks good, Matt. Why did you get rid of your discus?

Mark

I had a bad outbreak and I lost many of my fish. I was able to save only 4 after spending a lot of time and money on different medications/microscope and removing them to a large hospital tank for treatment.

Apparently one of my first few fish was a carrier of gill flukes and a tough case of internal parasites. Even though I was able to QT other fish before they came into my tank, I didnt realize the carrier was already IN my display tank, so as I added healthy fish they stopped eating and became sick and scratching. It seemed to happen so fast. I tried to treat the main tank first but since its 210 gallons with a 40g wet/dry & sump, that wasnt very easy. I did see some progress, but I then had to go out of town for Christmas. While I was gone my friend called me and told me he was pulling dead fish out of the tank. I was gone for a week and I think I lost 4 or 5 due to the illness and me not being there to help.

It was sad...I spent hours trying to save them, water changing a 210 every other day for 2 weeks before I was able to get them into a large QT. In the end, I decided for me that discus are best kept in a smaller 50-75g, species only, bare bottom tank. Although they can be hardy fish physically...from everything I've read, I believe their immune systems are very fragile compared to most other tropical aquarium fish.

In addition...I now have a baby on the way, June 11th to be exact. Knowing this, I am trying to simplify my aquarium routine. Ive already disconnected the co2, cut my lighting in half, and removed many plants from my 85g SA planted tank. Now it still looks awesome, no algae to battle, no more trimming over grown plants every 2 weeks...etc...etc...

I hope to make my life a little easier with the 210 as well. Of course I still want a little challenge and something unique, so I picked up a black aro and a few other more aggressive/tough SA cichlids. So far its been great...Im loving the constant activity and appetites of the new fish. I figured, Ive got the room...I should take advantage of it! Much more my style I think.

[Darbex]

Its whatever works for you

[mhx]

update you pics man!

[Matt in Houston]

UPDATE:

Got some smooth river rocks from a local place...I changed them again today for about the 10th time...Its harder to place rocks then I thought. I didnt want to go over board, just a few here and there, and half buried to give the "mostly sandy" river bottom look.

I also raised up a branch of wood, which gives the fish more cover and looks better than before IMO. I really want an open floorplan and it seems there is still tons of swimming space.

Latest additions include a Geophagus (not fully sure if it is an Altifrons Aripuana II (Rio Branco) or not). and also a Crenicichla sp. Venezuelan which is a pike cichlid.

In QT I also have a nice Chocolate Cichlid and a Hypsophrys Nicaraguensis (Macaw Cichlid), which will probably be the last of my stock.

All my fish are juvi and will grow up together. There has been little aggression so far...sometimes just a little chasing around during a feeding of frozen foods. Few times I did see my pike trying to ram the Geo...then a few min. later they are swimming around together...so, I will be keeping an eye on him. Im sure as these guys age there may be stand offs, but most of my stock is at most moderately aggressive...and they have plenty of room to run if they chicken out lol.

Anyway...enjoy the pics! And click on them for a much better view.













And a sleepy dog....lol.

[cichlid1409]

great pics! see you found a true parrot somewhere

[myjohnson]

Love the camera work Matt!

[mark razmandi]

sick geo

[Matt in Houston]

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