My New Rotkeils

[minnnt]

Went to pick up my new fish tonigh from verminator. They are absolutely amazing fish! I love them already! Also got 9 Tiger barbs and an Orange Spotted Pleco. All settling in well, the TB's are flirting about all over the place and the Sevs are just starting to come out.

Here are a couple of pictures of them whilst starting to settle in...

After an hour or so...

Absolutely Stunning fish!! Can't wait to see them in a week or two!

Thanks James, you're a star!!

 

[Verminator89]

Not a problem buddy Make sure you get pics of them all once settled, full tank shot included

 

[Carlovel1]

Cuties

 

[minnnt]

I will do mate. One of them is moving shed loads of gravel around. Seem to be owning the tank now. Lol.

 

[Verminator89]

The one i kept was the 'leader' of the three when they were in the 300L, so you may find one of them decides to stake a claim now if they feel like they are top dog (fish).

 

[minnnt]

Thanks James. Looking forward to watching their progress over the next few weeks/months/years.

 

[Skins]

What stunning fish

Keith.

 

[snowflake311]

Great color but the shape of his head is weird to me. I have never seen a severum with a pointed mouth. Maybe he will grow out of it.

 

[minnnt]

Both of them are like it?! I do believe they were originally bred by Star4 on here.

James do you know how old the sevs are? Cheers.

 

[minnnt]

Not a problem buddy Make sure you get pics of them all once settled, full tank shot included

Here you go...

And my baby

 

[Verminator89]

I can't say for sure as she had three batches of fry and they were all in a tank together. But i've had them since around November i think, so i'd say less than year old in total. Thats all i know. The one i have at home has a slightly protruding mouth, i think its just the genes.


Oh boy i bet that plec loves it in their! So many hiding places, and no pesky Oscar chasing him round the tank as he was at mine Love the no fishing sign, atleast i know the Sevs are safe

Very cute firemouth, yours has the vibrant red and blue hues in the finnage. Alongside a vibrant throat its what i love about firemouths.

 

[minnnt]

Before i found this site i had the FM in with some Fairies and he was flaring all the time, the colours were amazing. Since i have split them up he has lost his colours a hell of alot. Quite a good picture of him to say i am useless with a camera, especially when photographing fish! Thinkin of removing the Angels from the tank (Need another tank though! lol) and try and thin the rocks out and replace with slate or something similar to open the tank up a bit more so they have a bit more space to display. The plec has moved around a bit but has found his place underneath the wood. I have chucked some courgette in the tank and he has finally found it after about an hour. He is lovely! Is he definately an Orange Spot?

Thanks for the info on the Sevs, can't believe they are this big after not even a year!

I have some Jade Eyed Cichlids and they don't seem no bigger than when i got them about a month ago (ish i think)

Here you go,the Plec getting his share.

 

[Verminator89]

I had three firemouths, i got rid of two and kept my favourite because he had the most colour. After removing the other two the one i kept lost all his colour and looks like the other two, can't win lol.

IMHO with the rocks i'd keep them. Slate can look very one dimentional, unless you get decent shaped ones like th erocks you have atm. Slate often comes thin and flat, and anything otherwise can be hard to source, and if you do find it they can be expensive. What you have works well, if it were me i'd stick with it. Perhaps get some plants to open up the tank in a different way, such as larger Cryptocorynes or Echinodorus species.

That plec loved sitting underneath the wood all day, often coming out in the evenings to have a scavenge. You'll see him more than i did, as i mentioned i had him in with my Oscar, and he liked to make sure the plec knew his place in the tank

 

[minnnt]

Maybe i will then. I do like the setup i have now, it's possibly the best it's looked. Definately need some better plants, can never get them to stay particularly healthy though and the co2 thing beats me! lol. I may buy a powerhead to put in the tank, do you think this would help?

 

[Verminator89]

Circulation within a planted tank is important to push nutrients around the tank. However, if the balance of lights, ferts and CO2 arent met in the most basic sense its a waste of money. The cheaper CO2 sets are pretty poor IME, i tried two different ones and they were too unreliable and gave fluctuating levels of CO2 which caused algae outbreaks in my tank.

Depending on the plants you get will effect what you need to use. Plants such as Java Fern, Anubias, Cryptocorynes, Java Moss and some Echinodorus species are all plants that can be grown without anything other than water, a light and substrate or rocks/wood, depending on the plant.

If you wanted better plants try Java Fern, Anubias barteri var nana, Cryptocoryne Wendtii green or brown, and various Echinodorus species (Bleheri, Osiris, Ozelot, Quadricostatus, Red Flame, Red Special, Rose and Rubin) Those Echi's are good easier starter ones that are more readily available in LFS that stock good plants (Tropica or Aquafleur). Jsut my suggestions for good plants to try. You shouldnt require the CO2 reall. Adding CO2 just means you increasing the plants need for light and ferts. So if you can't do all 3 be carefull.

Hope this helps,
James