Parachromis project (RTM)

[DMD123]

Just got 9 RTM fry from @lloyd378. These are parachromis motaguensis, or Red Tiger Mota (RTM)

This will be kind of tough call as to what to keep because the female of this species is absolutely gorgeous but a big male is no slouch either. A solo male will be fine for life in this tank. This will be a fun project and who knows maybe one ends up in the 300, lol

Blank slate, a 75 gallon which will be a permanent home for one of these future monsters.

9 of these hungry little mouths to feed

Largest one about 5/8”, smallest about 5/16”

One of the little guys in the tank.


@lloyd378, I forgot to get pics of the parents. Could you add that to this thread one of these days? Thanks again for the cool fish. Will be fun growing them out.

 

[DMD123]

Had to order some supplies so I got this coming to feed these little guys. Will use some flake until it comes in

 

[DMD123]

Good sign that they would eat the same day they were moved. Fed a little bit of tetra crisps and later they got a little bit of bloodworms. They are a bit small for the bloodworms but they figured it out, lol.

 

[DMD123]

This one made me laugh

 

[lloyd378]

Love it... yes I’ll get some pics tomorrow. I don’t have a light on the 125, so I’ll need to get one going on it

 

[lloyd378]

I just went and installed the light on their tank... unfortunately it made them a wee bit photo shy.... here is the best I can do tonight

 

[DMD123]

Thanks for the pics of the parents @lloyd378

 

[DMD123]

Hikari micro pellets are the perfect size for these fry. Readily accepted and they chowed down on them. The ones I see eat, Im pretty confident will do well. The super small one is one that concerns me. I dont see it eat and it spends a lot of time hiding while the others are pretty fearless.

 

[DMD123]

Lost one, believe it was the littlest. Found it stuck on the AC110 intake tube. Head count came out to 7, which means another is missing somewhere.

 

[DMD123]

Head count still at 7.

 

[DMD123]

Down to 6 now. Saw one bloated last night and was breathing heavy. It was dead this morning.

 

[lloyd378]

Wow, they are knocking each other off quickly.... the only silver lining will be that if they are all lost, my pair just laid again and I have wigglers. Also, a sub adult male (6-7”) has recently become available in the Tacoma area, though I don’t know the cost

Down to 6 now. Saw one bloated last night and was breathing heavy. It was dead this morning.

 

[DMD123]

I need to change out the heater on this tank. I did the experiment of swapping the 250 watt with the 150 watt. With these thermocontrol Eheims it just does not work. They do a horrible job of getting hot and heating. They do however maintain the temp perfect if sized correctly or oversized.

 

[DMD123]

250 watt heater got tank temp back to where it needed to be and green light on. The 150 never went green was in heat mode the entire time and temps were getting pretty low. Whatever technology these thermocontrol use, heating a cold tank up not it strong point. Great to maintain a temp though.

 

[DMD123]

Still have six of these guys but notice that two have odd bulging bellies. I lost one to that already. Almost seems to be bloat, but not all the fish have the issue. They are being fed the Hikari micro pellets which is a perfect sized food for them. Im not over feeding but am concerned about the bloated tummy on the two.

 

[DMD123]

Lost another to the bulging belly issue. Down to 5 in numbers but have only been able to count 4. Think another will go soon so that will leave a trio that seem healthy and eating well without bloating.

 

[DMD123]

Just found another of the bloated ones dead so official count is 4. Of those one is a hider and looks to have the tendency to bloat out too. Ive never even seen these ones really eat to be having these problems. Weird stuff...

Looks like 3 will go on strong but Im sure aggression will weed it out to just one very soon.

 

[lloyd378]

What in the world is going on? Do you think the pellets may be a bad batch and causing these deaths?

 

[sir_keith]

Bummer. I don't know if 'bloat' has the same etiology in neotropical cichlids as it does in Africans, but in Rift Lake fishes it is all about stress. That said, I've never heard of 'bloat' being an issue in such young fishes.

 

[DMD123]

What in the world is going on? Do you think the pellets may be a bad batch and causing these deaths?

I think it is stress as @sir_keith mentioned. These were pretty tiny fish and the move was quite a big change for them. Dont think it was the food since Ive been feeding it to my newly made community tank with Monk tetras, angel fish and bristle nosed pleco and they are all fine. In fact one of the tetra was very thin and sickly looking and it is now putting on size and filling out on the pellets. And its not aggression at this point, Ive seen what that was like when I had raised those wild caught oscars from young. These RTM haven’t figured out the aggression/pecking order just yet. Plus 1” fish in a 75 gallon have lots of places to hide and escape from each other. Its just weird...

Bummer. I don't know if 'bloat' has the same etiology in neotropical cichlids as it does in Africans, but in Rift Lake fishes it is all about stress. That said, I've never heard of 'bloat' being an issue in such young fishes.

I think it was stress from the move. bloat is the best way to describe it but the fish almost appear to maybe have a blockage that prevents them from pooping. They look ready to explode! Then there is the labored breathing and soon dead after. Like mentioned earlier, it not like Ive even seen them eating...