Albertan

The other one that was with him at Petland has healed up nicely in his absence and is equally aggressive. It's a piebald color morph with some black blotches on it. If your interested let me know. I may be able to raise him for a couple of months for you for Spring pickup if I ever get the sump going.

Gotta give credit where credit is due Neil. This little fella's diet is 90% NLS pellets. :thumbs:

Yeah, "future" as in a week after I got him. This little guy is a monster. Easily the most psycotic fish I have ever owned...easily. Let me at the 8" dovii next door!!! Who me aggressive?!? How about a nice convict for a friend? Puhweeeeze. Coloring up quite nicely already since I picked it up. A little less lighting to show the excellent coloration on its fins. And growing too. Compared to the original pictures just a few weeks ago, its already outgrown its cave. Cheers. :smokey:

It's no different than any other fish species I am aware of. Fish do not invest in raising fewer but larger newborns as they rise up the food chain the way mammals do. Being egg layers does not offer that opportunity. And I think you hit the nail on the head as to why...predation...including self predation/cannibalism. You only need to consider the general tendency of young dovii to hide in a tank they have all to themselves to realize even the Parachromis genus leads a hard live during its youth. Nice collection Mo. I thought seriously about going last year. Just so many other commitments...

Last May, I bought a 230g/90g sump combo from the Equipment forum here. I had planned on waiting until I move into my new house thise May to set it up. When I decideed to purchase some new fish in the recent FishFarm order, I realized I was going to need to put it into service a little earlier to accomodate my new fish. I've set the tank up in my garage and currently have the FX5 off the 120g filtering the water. I'm not unhappy with this arrangement. But I figured the extra 100g of water in the sump and by topping off the tank would be nice to have. The trouble is, I can't recall how the thing was set up in the previous owners house. I took a few pictures back when I bought it, but they aren't much help. I know it's pretty straightforward, but in the interest of not siphoning 300+ gallons of water onto my garage floor, I thought I would ask for a little help. A couple of the pipes into the overflow box were cut to get the tank off the stand. If anyone could look at these pictures and tell me what I need and how the plumbing should be set up it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys. The tank as it sits now. It's not currently full because I have to keep the water level below the outflow opening in the overflow box. The sump tank and related plumbing. The pump and existing plumbing. Plumbing that was cut to get the tank off the stand lying in the sump tank. The outflow fixture in the overflow box, currently turned up 180 degrees.

Heya Mo. Yeah. You usually post up pics and then we don't hear from you again until the next set arrive. Not that I have a problem with that. And usually replies to your threads are just compliments anyways. While I have your attention, how would one go about getting some of those little guys? I need some mana's to complete my collection and have been drooling over these guys since you first described them on MFK last Summer. Thanks Mo. :thumbs:

Depending on how you're planning to stock the 50g tank, you will likely want considerably more filtration than a Fluval 204 will offer. I run a 404 and two AC50's on my 58, and all that is in it at the moment is a single female dovii. The best way to figure out filtration is by calculating turnover rate. Perhaps this thread will help get you started.

I don't think he replies much on this forum. :boxed: Quinn, these are the fish I told you to ask Ken about....P. managuense sp. "Honduras". Much nicer IMO than the La Cieba loisellis. Now we know they are out there. Just gotta figure out how to get some up here. :smokey:

The genus name Geophagus translates to "eartheater". Need I say more? :shifty: Most New World cichlids dig like mad. My little RD puts that guy to shame.

I remember when my freddies looked like that. Nice pictures as always.

That's great Sue. I put a little 2" female con in my 125 with three tinfoils and my female dovii. It didn't take long for the con to start showing some rough finnage. Yesterday I noticed that her tail fins and caudal peduncle are chewed. I think the dovii caught her and had the back cm or so of her in its mouth for awhile before finally giving up. I've spent too much time trying to catch the convict the past day or so in the evenings, but I have way too much structure in there. I'm going to have to dismantle that whole tank to get it out. I'm not impressed about the situation, but I am stuck trying to get the 230 set up for the FishFarm order. I'm going to go back upstairs right away and try again though. I bet your dovii will be good with similarly sized fish...at least until she has a mate. Congrats on the spawn btw.

Beautiful fish Kevin. What is the substrate in that tank out of curiosity?

I was looking closely tonight and it appears I have five males and a single female...the chances of that happening are less than one in ten for you stats fans. Anyways, I could do to part with one or two of the males if anyone is interested. I'm not looking for any money for them. Just a good home.

This fish is an extrovert with a capital E. Very rarely sits in its little cave, and isn't spooked at all by passing traffic. What a pleasant change from the dovii. I should put the 7" female dovii in the 21g and give this little fella free range in the 120g. :shifty:

I could give you a nice big male freddie that would do great in a 180. But I'm not sure how I'd get him to you.

I had these fish flown in from Gold's via Westjet last February. Here are pics of the as little guys when they arrived... Despite my failed obsession with the dovii, these guys have been the stars of my collection. They have absolutely ravenous appetites, they love to watch what's going on in the room around them, and best of all they get along! Currently they are 7-8 inches long and they all play well together in the sandbox for the most part. There have been the occasional torn fins, and teeth marks on the top of the snout from locking jaws, but nothing serious. Here is a picture or their tank currently... Chilling around their log, which is how they spend most of their time... I highly recommend these fish to anyone who likes the Parachromis body style but doesn't want to deal with the typical highly aggressive nature of members of the genus. I read online that they tend to be significantly less aggressive than other guapotes, and have thus far found that to be the case. Feed me NOW!!! And clean my glass while you're at it.

It's not often we get fish into Grande Prairie that appeal to me period (read CA cichlids), let alone nice ones. I popped into Petland on the 23rd and saw two fish in a tank marked Not for Sale, which is normal until the fish manager inspects new arrivals. I immediately recognized them as two Red Devils/Midas/hybrids. One was digging in the gravel and looked beautiful. The other was tucked up in a corner looked close to dead...big surprise. Being bummed out with my dovii I decided to pick up the nice one, and made arrangements to come back the next day to pick it up. I've only got a 21g to house the fish right now, but it's grossly overfiltered and eight feet from a bathroom for easy water changes. I must confess, this little guy/girl instantly perked up my interest in the hobby. Nuchal humps aren't my gig, but in this little fella I finally seem to have found a fish that shows some personality and promises to grow into a nice wet pet. Although truthfully it hides in its little cave most of the time, it's flared at me a couple of times already, and also just sat there watching me on the couch. Anyways, this is a picture forum...

Been a few months, but I had some time to add a couple of pictures to the original post.

How big are they Quinn? I have something that may interest you. Feel free to PM me.

First and fourth pictures look like a male. All the rest look female to me. I sent you a PM awhile back on sexing them. I hope all is working out well.

Nice fish. I debated picking up some Cubans but decided on the freddies instead.

How big is yours now Sue? I have to do a bunch of work on my tanks today so I'll try to get a good estimate on sizes for comparison.

Still no change with my dovii. So shy that they don't even eat alot and growth has slowed significantly IMO. GOnna have to do something about this fiasco...just not sure what yet. I haven't forgot about you either Sue. I just haven't made it to Edmonton recently.

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't had much chance to drop by lately. In my experience, and that of others I have come across on other forums, freddies are pretty mellow for Parachromis spp. Mine are up to 7" and still get along great with each other. I'm sure they could hold their own with the fishes you mentioned. Not sure if it's in their personality to really be in constant dispute with their tankmates though to be honest. They are a neat fish though. Feeding time still scares the crap out of my family!

Back on the May long weekend they still had a couple of freddies left on a tank sitting on the floor about half way down the aisle. Those were the siblings to mine and they were a lot bigger than 2" two months ago. Why not just ask them what they are? Then you'll know for sure. :P Here is one of my males if it helps...