Welcome to Gaia! ::

I released the first fish for my new tank an hour or so ago. He's a baby Black Belt Cichlid (C. maculicauda). It's only about an inch long, and the poor thing is terrified. I hope I can get him a tankmate in a few days. He explored the tank for a minute or so and promptly hid under the flower pot.

The tank is a 30gL. If it (hopefully) survives that long, I'm moving it to a 55 once it hits about 6".

He's got his bands on full blast now, and I have the light off for today, so I'll take some pictures of him once he's not so extremely terrified. He's a real cutie. Great finnage for a baby, too. His belt and colors haven't come in yet, so I'm afraid aside from being cute he's rather boring. He was very personable and interested in me at the store, so I hope that will be a continued trait. Woo.

Getting a new fish is always an interesting experience!

It takes a lot for someone to make me budge away from the tank when I bring a new one home. I like to watch it and see how it reacts with the other guys in the tank.

Doing that also helps me get an idea of what name I should give them. I try to match their name and personality together.

However, no matter how long I sit and watch my guppies, I cannot manage to find names for all 40-50 of them u__u It's ridiculously difficult to keep track of them. (And hell to give them their mini-health check ups every day. Sheesh, it's a lot of trouble being doctor mom to so many fishies. rofl )

Anywhoozles.. Cichlids are very pretty, I bet your new one will be really lovely, especially when it grows a bit. I can't wait until you can show us a picture (:

Have you given your new little baby a name yet~?

Aw, it's too bad about the first black belt ):

I hope your new fish adapt well to their new home! Maybe Motobu will get used to Angelfish-san soon and they'll be able to get along. ^-^;

Let's hope for that anyway! It's always a shame when tank-mates quarrel.

I don't think it's a territorial dispute. Uriel(the angel) can't fit in any of the caves Moto hangs out in, and they always swim around with each other. She's just an aggressive b***h. Probably why she survived all of her brothers and sisters(Yes, every single other Black Belt in the group died) crying

And she doesn't force Gonzo(the spiny eel) out of any of the caves. I don't think she's concerned about territory at all. She's a 1.5 inch fish with a 30 gallon tank almost all to herself, and nobody to challenge her for space.

I still think I'm going to trade in the poor angel, despite how much I love it. It will already eat from my hands crying

I was thinking I'd get a Green Terror. I wanted one before I got the tank. I was gonna get one the day I got the spiny eel, but the GT's at my LFS were a bit too large and I figured they'd beat up on Moto too much, and the ones they had at Petsmart looked quite starved. I'd really hate to see Moto's impeccable fins get roughed up a bit by another aggressive tankmate, but I don't want to get a pair of shyer cichlids just to be her bitches.

I'm going to be adding some stones from a local river soon, so if for some reason it is territorial, the tank will be rearranged at that time. I'd like to not muss with it too much while I'm treating the ich.


Gonzo. He's a cutie. Still a bit yellow(every fish in Petsmart is. They must feed them some really piss-poor food), I expect he'll look a bit more natural after I get him to start eating. He won't touch frozen bloodworms. I gave him an earthworm, but it was too large for him to choke down(he made it about halfway before he gave up). So I'm going to consult my LFS about other live food options.

Also, if it matters to anyone, you can see in that photo I'm using a sand substrate. Once I take care of this ich I'm gonna get a plec to handle the carpet of algae growing on it(not pictured). The first plec I bought from my LFS died within 24 hours of bloat. And coincidentally after he died Uriel showed visible signs of ich. So he would have gotten infected anyway. Other than the whole carpet of algae thing the sand is working out pretty well considering it's the first time I've used it.

EDIT: Oh, and I should mention that Moto is infected as well, although she only has visible parasites on her dorsal and caudal fins. So it's possible they were both already infected when I got them.

It's a real shame that the eel didn't make it. ):

That earthworm that you were trying to feed him, did you try cutting it in half or quarters and then let him have a go at that?

Maybe whatever Petsmart was feeding him was all he was used to. Poor guy.

Did the LFS give you any advice about it?

I would have, but it seemed pointless. He wouldn't go after anything that wasn't alive and squirming.

Plus I'm really squeamish. I didn't want to cut the poor thing up.

And no, I didn't ever get around to it. It sucks he didn't make it, but I'm not particularly shaken up. I didn't get terribly attached in the week or so I had it.

Moto ate the angelfish a while ago. So he or she(fins are getting pointier) has been all alone for a month or so. Might be getting a much-needed pleco today if Petco is not out of them again. I'd go to the LFS but they're changing location and I don't know where to yet.

Kind of shocking when it happened. They went from coexisting to me waking up to an angelfish with no fins or eyes and holes through its body.

I bought a baby firemouth, and he has predictably infected the whole of the tank with ich(I don't have a quarantine tank). I think I may need to get a divider until he gets a little bigger, since he's having a lot of trouble getting any food because Moto is such a hog. Buh.