New Pair of Cockatoos

[FoundMoney]

I'm excited, but reluctant, to post about my new cockatoos because of all the bad luck I've had with them. So far, I've bought three pairs of them and the males from the first two pairs have died. The females have survived but have been sick. (This is not to mention the pair of Agassizis that I also lost )

My lfs has been trying very hard to help me with this problem. Last week, we took the two ailing cockatoos out of the tank and I brought them to the lfs. They are now there "under observation". My oldest female is in terrible shape. When I saw her on Sunday, she was listing badly to one side and couldn't swim straight. She also suffers from a bad eye but I believe that is a permanent condition at this point. The other one appears stressed and lethargic. They are being treated for parasites as that is what the lfs suspects. I will check back with the lfs over the weekend to see if there is any progress. If the older female does not improve, it may need to be euthanized.

In order to improve my chances with the new cockatoos, the lfs, put on hold two nice cockatoo specimens - male and female. They have one tank in the store that is not in their system; a small 20 gallon heavily planted tank with a bunch of tetras. They put the new cockatoos in this tank for a few days for me to see if there were any problems. These fish colored up very nicely and were quite active before I took them home.

Prior to that, I removed the sick cockatoos and did a large water change and gravel cleaning in my tank. I put the new cockatoos in on Sunday and they seemed to take to the tank immediately, acclimating much better than any of the other dwarf cichlids I've introduced. I'm taking this as a good sign but still a bit apprehensive, based on prior experience.

Without further ado, a present my new cockatoos:

The picture quality, especially of the pair, is not great, but I don't have time to wait for the perfect shot.

 

[pnyklr3]

Beautiful! Ant it appears that the female is a bit yellow. I don't think she'd start going yellow if she wasn't happy. Good Luck! I assume that these came from a different stock than the previous ones? I hope that you fair better this time, because cockatoos are a joy to have and watch!

 

[FoundMoney]

Even over the last few days, I've really enjoyed watching these fish. They already seem to realize that I'm the "keeper of the food" and come to the front of the tank when I approach. The male seems a bit frisky but so far the female does not seem responsive to his advances.

I'm not sure if these fish come from different stock or not because the guy in charge of buying was not in on Sunday. Hopefully, these guys will thrive. Apart from buying these fish from a different source (haven't located another local one yet), I don't know what else I can do. If these guys don't survive, I think I'm going to give up on cockatoos and try a pair of keyholes. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they survive.

 

[lucky62]

Break a leg

 

[longhorn13]

i hope these work out for you, mine have been such a joy to have.

 

[Jer-]

very cool lookin- cockatoos are steadily becoming my fave apistogramma. My LFS jus got a shipment of Vijetas and cockaoos in and the vijetas are NOTHING compared to cockatoos. Ive only seen the vijetas for the first time.

i will post a pic of my only male remainin soon.... as soon as i can get my hands on one of my friends digi cam.

ur variety is a double red rite?

looking Great! Good Luck

 

[FoundMoney]

Yup, he's a double red.

 

[gwlee7]

We are still rooting for you !!

 

[Griz]

All the best this time. Sounds like you are off to a great start with them.

 

[FoundMoney]

Day 3 and they're still looking good. I think they're showing spawning behavior already. However I just need a little reassurance that what I'm seeing in normal. I've read that when the female is ready to spawn she will turn a brighter shade of yellow and start to show her belly to the male. She is exhibiting this behavior but she is doing something else as well. She seems to be twitching a lot, almost like she's having some kind of spasm. She doesn't do it constantly, generally when she is interacting with the male but I saw her doing it when she was by herself, as well.

 

[pnyklr3]

*cues music* "I've been really trying, baby. Trying to hold back this feeling, for so long. And if you feel, like I feel...."

That's right: Let's get it on! Most females turn bright yellow (but not all), will show their bellies, and do what I call a "shimmy" (or in your case, spasm). Yep, this is normal. If your male is around, and interested, he will "flare" his dorsal fin and shimmy as well. It's pretty neat to watch! You may see them shimmy at each other for a bit, and then leave for a cave. That's where the fun begins.

Next lesson: When a mommy fish and a daddy fish love each other very much.....


*Sorry if I offend, I'm just in one of those moods!*

 

[FoundMoney]

They were doing "the shimmy" for a while but seemed to eventually lose interest in each other and started looking for food. No cave action yet, as far as I can tell.

 

[pnyklr3]

Mine shimmy even when it's not "that time". I'd say if they are showing spawning behavior, that they are content.

 

[FoundMoney]

Thanks for the reassurance. These fish definitely look like they're comfortable. Let's hope they have a long and happy life!

 

[Seb R]

Good Luck with them, I've had trouble with them so I know how it feels. Gotta say they are one of the nicest cichlids . Going 2 get another pair for a new 70L tank on friday hope their as nice as yours

oh and that 'shimmy' stuff always good to see lol