Made the jump to wilds

[Phillydubs]

Roland,

Looks like your new additions had a nice first week! They appear to be very settled and calm and enjoying the environment you provided for them!

They are showing little if no bars or signs of stress to my eye. If anything I am already seeing some reverse bars which I love and is a true sign of calmness. Sounds like they are hungry buggers as they should be! With your care, WC regiment and feeding regiment these guys are going to be beasts in no time...

I had to laugh cause they look like they had a ton of room in that 40, my guys were busting out of theirs!

Just don't be like me and try and get cute if and when you move them... Let them do their thing and enjoy it! Resist the evil temptations! Hahah...

[farebox]

Thanks Phil, will definitely take your advise. Maybe more folks might try wilds in the future. I'm truly glad I make the jump to give them a try, plus didn't break the bank getting them. I asked my family members for a Xmas gift, rather than some clothes, hat, ect., how about pooling together and get dad something I wanted this time around. I guess when you're 67 yrs old and have three adult kids over 30 you can do stuff like this, LOL......

[Phillydubs]

Thanks Phil, will definitely take your advise. Maybe more folks might try wilds in the future. I'm truly glad I make the jump to give them a try, plus didn't break the bank getting them. I asked my family members for a Xmas gift, rather than some clothes, hat, ect., how about pooling together and get dad something I wanted this time around. I guess when you're 67 yrs old and have three adult kids over 30 you can do stuff like this, LOL......

I stand by my claim - - - if I am not on the family gift list next year - you are officially banned from simply!!

[farebox]

Here's the group of six at the second week mark. All doing just fine, eating good, don't mind the WC's. Setting in great, more easily than I thought for wilds...https://youtu.be/UULT4bnTUeg

[Second Hand Pat]

They look great Roland. They starting to joust with each other? I am pretty sure my little Unini's have grown some.
Pat

[Phillydubs]

Good to see and hear ! Keep the updates coming I am enjoying!

Do you find them to be more active or very dosile? Like take your video for instance how they kind of hang in a group hover around a bit... is that standard for them?

In my experience wilds seem to take much longer to come around. And granted when you consider where they come from how we get them and all that it is not quite surprising that they never feel like a new tank is their last tank.

For me it takes weeks for them to really start to display some personality and even then maybe a few months until they are truly comfy and feeling like I am not going to get scoopedmout of here nagged and sent to some other dudes tank

[Second Hand Pat]

Mine are like that too Phil. If I observe from afar they are way more active. Lots of jousting with young heckels.
Pat

[farebox]

It's 0735 AM (CST) and the guys are waiting for breakfast: https://youtu.be/tSHlgxqQJ88
Okay, breakfast served: https://youtu.be/34UkQJWsxKE
So far these little guys are doing great, totally satisfied I got them from John. By the way their feasting on Al's FDBW cube floating on top of water.

[William1]

Pretty cool. Best of luck. That is a tempting price. Hope they go good for you.

[farebox]

Quick update, had these guys for three weeks now, all doing great. I got nice fish from John to grow out and really digging these guys. Check it out: https://youtu.be/FXBavd_O390

[William1]

Those guys look really nice. Very healthy and a give. Like I said on another thread, keep doing what you are doing because it works. Keep up the good work!

[farebox]

Fourth week update; thing are going pretty routine with these guys. Feed, siphon waste off bottom of tank, wipe down sides with paper towel, do 80% WC, and refill with 70% RO/30% aged tap water. One thing they hate is when water level drops down to about fin level they will start jumping around a little. Quickly start refill and they settle back down and enjoy the rest of the water change. Check video today: https://youtu.be/_h0sxed0Q9g

[Phillydubs]

Looking real good!

What do you observe thus far between this group and your experience with domestics. Are you starting to see each fish come into their own. ? Any big growth rates or things to note ?

[farebox]

So far I found the wilds aren't that hard to keep as I thought they would be, ph/water hardness, etc. The domestics were my learning curve kinda of say in keeping discus fish. Once I got educated thru SD and people like you, I have enjoyed the hobby. One thing important is that you must start with good stock to succeed.When I got the wilds I'm guessing they were 3" fish from John and in the four weeks have noticed a little growth and grit on these guys. Around the head area there seems to be some blue coloration coming in. Also they are more active in the tank, eat from the top, or pick at flake food on the bottom. They seem to be always hungry, I guess that's a good sign. So far I have five very healthy guys with one lagging in behind in size compared to the rest of the group. Also trying to get them to take FDBW from my hand....

[farebox]

Okay at the fifth week mark now and alot has happened. It all started a few days ago, one of fish started to just whirl around then swim across the top of water real fast. Still was eating okay and normal feces. Yesterday morning left the house around 10:00am, and returned back home around 2:00pm to find this fish on the floor. I picked it up and placed back into the tank. I had no idea how long it been out, but the fish started to swim around. Later on all seemed fine, until the pm feedng time it started a lie on bottom of tank then do that "whirling" thing again. After doing this a few times I went on to remove him and put it out it's miseries. For the time being I did the normal 80% WC and added 4 TBS of table salt. I have negative meds on hand, but ordered some Prazipro from Ken's Fish.com. Bummed that I put that fish down, but I guess it was the best thing to do at the time.