Continuation from http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=49154&highlight= with log and pics for J, An t-iasg, and whomever else is interested. Profile of P. Gertrudae: http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Gertrud.htm Figured too much info is better than too little for archive, but if this post is too long tell me 
Bought these from Rarefish (Tanner) of aquabid -- met his breeder/source (nice guy) and saw my first fish room. Pretty cool. His P. Furcatus looked good.
Picked 9 at around 10am today -- breeder threw in extra but said at this size (<1") only definite sexing are *some* females (he pointed one out to me). He also said males' fins would grow out with time. Acclimated them over 2 1/2 hours with slow water transfer method: breeder probably has same tap, but CO2 injection makes my tank ~1pH lower than tap (to 7.0). Probably should have qt'd but didn't.
Color is dull but figured they were stressed.
Dropped one way current in river tank from ~240gph to ~140gph to ease transition. I hope to increase current after a week, but can drop it or figure out something else if necessary -- these fish are said to come from Giddy River and streams, as well as billabongs, so figure its best to experiment. Left tank lights off, released fish into tank, and observed untill going back to work: they *seem* to dig current and handle it well, since they checked out the tank, spent time near sump return, and didn't seek refuge behind dense plants, which helps break up current. Hard to tell if they colored up.
After coming back I turned lights on and they darted, but seemed alright. Fed frozen bloodworms. Color looks better, especially the blue eyes and yellow pectoral fins (they look like ears ). (Poor) Pics from tonight:
Pic of their home. Please excuse the algae issues at the moment
I'm thinking of renting a macro to take better pics of them and other critters, but as you can see I suck with cameras. Will log results of current experiments and such if anyone is still interested.
Bought these from Rarefish (Tanner) of aquabid -- met his breeder/source (nice guy) and saw my first fish room. Pretty cool. His P. Furcatus looked good. Picked 9 at around 10am today -- breeder threw in extra but said at this size (<1") only definite sexing are *some* females (he pointed one out to me). He also said males' fins would grow out with time. Acclimated them over 2 1/2 hours with slow water transfer method: breeder probably has same tap, but CO2 injection makes my tank ~1pH lower than tap (to 7.0). Probably should have qt'd but didn't.
Color is dull but figured they were stressed.
Dropped one way current in river tank from ~240gph to ~140gph to ease transition. I hope to increase current after a week, but can drop it or figure out something else if necessary -- these fish are said to come from Giddy River and streams, as well as billabongs, so figure its best to experiment. Left tank lights off, released fish into tank, and observed untill going back to work: they *seem* to dig current and handle it well, since they checked out the tank, spent time near sump return, and didn't seek refuge behind dense plants, which helps break up current. Hard to tell if they colored up.
After coming back I turned lights on and they darted, but seemed alright. Fed frozen bloodworms. Color looks better, especially the blue eyes and yellow pectoral fins (they look like ears
). (Poor) Pics from tonight:
Pic of their home. Please excuse the algae issues at the moment
I'm thinking of renting a macro to take better pics of them and other critters, but as you can see I suck with cameras. Will log results of current experiments and such if anyone is still interested.
