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Nov 6 09 10:53 PM

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I recently got 2 little guys from a local seller. I am loving these guys, but I got them against the better advice of various people. You'll see the reason why in a minute.

Here they are on their first day. It's been a week now:

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You can see the 8" Oscar at the edge of the pic.

Here they are 2 days ago:

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Closeup:

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And of course, I just got informed of my other no no - a 6" regular JD in the same tank (you can see his tail in the pic):

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And this is what the tank looks like overall (before I got the JD's):

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#1 [url]

Nov 6 09 10:56 PM

Tank inhabitants are:

2x9" Chocolate Cichlids
1x8" Oscar
1x6" JD
4x 6" Silver Dollars
20+ Corydoras
3x Siamese Algae Eaters
Various plecos (L075,L129, L201, plain BNP)

Tank is injected with pressurized CO2 and dosed with ferts in a low-med light setting.

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#3 [url]

Nov 6 09 11:47 PM

With all the competition for food you'll need some good luck to grow them healthy, big and strong. Then again all my fish seem to like a little fight for food. Only time will tell. I wish them well. They are a great looking duo.

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#4 [url]

Nov 6 09 11:50 PM

Nope, they have not been eaten. Not even harrassed. As an adjustment to the EBJD's I'm feeding in two spots. NLS large fish formula on one side for all the other fish and NLS Thera A community fish (about 2 mm) for the EBJD's and other fish and you should see the bellies on these guys. They just got Hikari bloodworms last night and I thought they were going to explode! So far, all's quiet and everyone is happy.

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EBJazz

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#5 [url]

Nov 7 09 4:31 PM

IMHO - you are taking a huge risk with the EBs. If you don't keep the larger fish, especially the regular JD, fed well the EBs will become food. I have seen it happen.

If the EBs get to subadult/adult size they will never become dominant and are likely to be lighter in color and pushed into cover by the larger JD and other larger cichlids.

Good Luck, but be prepared to lose them.

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Tampafishman

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#6 [url]

Nov 7 09 5:00 PM

I agree totally with EBJazz.

Be prepared to loose those to that oscar or the other large fish.
Best to keep them in another tank until 3" to 3-1/2" or so

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#8 [url]

Nov 7 09 5:30 PM

Unfortunately, I don't have another tank capable of housing the EBJD's (the other tanks are small planted tanks with tetras and shrimps).

I do realize the risk and in retrospect, wouldn't have done it. But as in all things, timing is everything. When I didn't have so many large fish in the tank, I couldn't get any EBJD's and then all the other fish came (they were rescues or cheap additions) and then I found these wonderful EBJD's.

It's ok, I don't need them to be dominant. I always expected the O to be dominant. What I might end up doing if I can convince the wife is to rehome the EBJD's in their own 75 gallon tank upstairs if I can.

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#10 [url]

Nov 8 09 1:36 AM

The EBJD's should be fine with the tetras and shrimp for now.

“All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer” Homer Simpson.

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#12 [url]

Nov 16 09 5:23 AM

Wow what kind of shrimp do you have. How big are they? It is always best to let younger fish grow out a bit before adding them to Large adults. You could grow them out in a 30 gal would be fine short term.

Good luck.

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#13 [url]

Nov 16 09 5:29 AM

snowflake311 wrote:
Wow what kind of shrimp do you have. How big are they? It is always best to let younger fish grow out a bit before adding them to Large adults. You could grow them out in a 30 gal would be fine short term.

Good luck.


Thanks. It's not individual shrimps, but my other usable tank has 100's of Cherry shrimp and Amano, so added together, they are worth 2x what the EBJD's are worth.

The little guys are growing well, and have grown maybe 1/4 inch now.

BTW, they are not the smallest fish in the tank. I think I mentioned that I have a couple of schools of Cories in the tank (20+) and also small plecos (L129, L201). The plecos are also worth more than the JD's, since there are 7 altogether.

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#14 [url]

Dec 20 09 3:06 AM

Your other fish and shrimp may have more monetary value, but your EBs will become your favorite fish and thus be more valuable to yourself.
I would sacrifice ALL of my other fish to save my ONE favorite EB.

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#15 [url]

Dec 20 09 6:33 AM

Actually, this has become my favourite fish:

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And he's more rare too...at least locally. :p

But I still love my EBJD's. The biggest probably I have now is that one has grown significantly faster than the other and has begun bullying the other. I may sell the second one just because I don't want him to get beat up.

As of last week, here's what the bigger one looks like (he's pushing 3" TL now and almost 4" overall).

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EBJazz

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#16 [url]

Dec 21 09 6:27 PM

2wheelsx2 wrote:

...
As of last week, here's what the bigger one looks like (he's pushing 3" TL now and almost 4" overall).

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Nice looking EB. If he looks like this at 4-5 inches you have a real keeper that should be bred. Hope he stays this nice. I have had a few that looked like this and stayed nice at full maturity, but I have also had several that looked like this and developed minor head deformities as they fully matured. Crossing my fingers for you.

Who was the "local" breeder you got them from? Maybe we could locate you a nice BG female if he continues to develop this nicely. Do you have any separate tank for breeding?

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#17 [url]

Dec 21 09 6:36 PM

EBJazz wrote:

Who was the "local" breeder you got them from? Maybe we could locate you a nice BG female if he continues to develop this nicely. Do you have any separate tank for breeding?


Sorry, I should have made it more clear. The seller isn't a breeder, but runs a small business bringing fish in. I never asked where he got the fish from, but I suspect it's from the US.

I don't have plans to breed him at this point, but that may change as he matures. At this point in time, I don't have a separate tank for breeding. I only got two as my research showed me that they are delicate in the smaller sizes and I hadn't seen any nicer (nor affordable ones) locally.

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