[cage623]

Over the last few weeks I have had a few PM's about the fish in my avatar. Because you guys are asking questions I thought I'd go ahead and add a post about him. Yes this guy is mine (or was). I have had him, a RD and a Sal in my 72 gallon bow front for a little over 5 years now. Recently I have had some problems with them getting along, mostly because the RD had started to lay eggs even though there was no pair formed. At first I didn't think this was that bad because years back my Sal had done the same thing. However the RD was much larger and protective. I have done what is best for my fish and given them to a few different people. My JD is now with a friend in a new 90 that he set up with the hopes of getting him a lady friend down the road. I took the RD and Sal to a LFS. The owner changed his mind and is going to be keeping the RD at his own house. I did this because I wanted to start over and raise some new cichlids. I know most of you would have just gotten another tank but me and my wife have our first child on the way and so I thought it was best to keep the tanks to a minimum with all this going on.

Anyways (after I have trailed off), I will get back to the subject. I don't have many pics of my JD but thought I would post a few.

Here are also some pics of my RD and the eggs that it was watching over.

I am really going to miss these fish but was wanting to do what was best for my fish and move on to something new at the same time. Let me know what you think and bring on any questions that you might have.

 

[Japtastic]

Is that a normal JD or an EBJD?

Love the look of the RD I would love to own one, one day in a bigger tank.

Sounds like you are doing good things by your fish, good man, what you going to put in there now?

 

[cage623]

Is that a normal JD or an EBJD?

Love the look of the RD I would love to own one, one day in a bigger tank.

Sounds like you are doing good things by your fish, good man, what you going to put in there now?

He is a normal JD that I had got at a LFS when I was in college. I am really going to miss him. He even would let me pet him when I was cleaning the tank and loved to jump out of the tank to grab food out of my hand (nothing too cool, just a few inches). I didn't think to measure him before the move but I know he was around 10 or 11".

I just wanted to say thanks for the support. Although it was hard for me to get rid of these fish I know that they are better off now.

I got a chocolate cichlid at the LFS that I dropped the RD and Sal at. It is only like two inches long but a really big pig already. I am thinking about getting a GT as well. Does anyone know if this would work?

 

[Hubbynz]

they look amazing

 

[lil mama]

That JD is crazy gorgeous. :drooling: What a beautiful fish. That stud won't have any trouble attracting a girlfriend! The RD is beautiful too. Congrats on the new baby on the way. Kids are so awesome. Is this your first? Child I mean.

 

[lil mama]

Sorry read back and saw you said first child. Best new baby advise you will ever get. Get a music box and play it for the baby everyday. Put it right on your wife's stomach and play it everyday as much as you like. When the baby is born and it starts to cry play the music box and the baby will quiet right down. When you put the baby down to sleep play the music box the baby will go right to sleep. It works like magic! Very comforting to the baby...and helpful for the parents. Good luck

 

[Natalie]

What a beautiful JD! I know you will miss him but he sounds like he'll be happy in that 90g as well. Your RD is nice-looking too, although she definitely has that evil "I just laid eggs and I hate the WORLD!" look. :wink:

 

[cage623]

Lil mama,

Thanks for the advise. I'll give it a try once my wife gets back from her trip.

Natalie,

I agree. The RD was crazy with those eggs. She would act like she was going to come through the glass at me everytime I would take these pictures.

A side note: in case anyone is wondering why there are not too many eggs she also laid some on a different rock a day or two before those eggs were laid. I took out that rock with the eggs thinking that it would solve the problem. Boy did she prove me wrong.

 

[Big Vine]

Gorgeous fish...shame you had to give em' up, but it's definitely the responsible thing to do with the best interests of the fish in mind. Hope you enjoy that chocolate cichlid. Whenever I've seen em' around I've always wanted one, but I've never had the tankspace for it.

Thanks for sharing those pics...your JD is especially impressive! 8)
BV

 

[remarkosmoc]

That is one of the most beautiful JD's I've seen :thumb:

 

[cage623]

Thanks guys. Seeing these comments makes me miss him even more. I also wish I had taken more pictures. I had tried several times, but what can I say, either he was not that photogenic or I can't take go pictures... On second thought it was probably a combination of the two. :lol:

So far I really like my new chocolate but it is not even close to being as nice to look at. The only thing it has in common with my old JD is in how much both of them eat. :lol:

I always thought my JD was nice to look at but didn't really think it was anything too special by JD standards. So thanks again for the comments.

 

[Nathan43]

Wow, I assumed it was a green texas from the avatar... Nice fish indeed

 

[xXGrEeNxTeRrOrXx]

Best looking JD I've seen bar none.

 

[Japtastic]

What did you feed him by the way?

 

[cage623]

If my JD's color is due to the diet I can not give the credit to any one food. I try and give all my fish a wide variety of food. I would feed him, and the others, twice a day. Every feeding I would give them a few of the following types of food: cichlid flakes, pellets, sticks, shrimp pellets, tubifex worms, and krill. He would mostly eat the krill, sticks, and tubifex worms. When it comes to the worms I didn't let them break up though before I put them in the tank. I would just toss in the whole cube and he would eat them. I think he saw them as the perfect bite-sized snack. opcorn:

If anything I think that, besides the good diet and regular water changes, it was the attention. He would love it when I would clean the tank. He would always follow my hand around when I had it in there and would brush up against it. He also loved it when I fed him by hand and would even jump out of the water (only a couple of inches) to get the food.

 

[nothing else matter]

envy your JD and now i miss my departed RD which look like yours but with a much bigger hump. i can see that you did a great job raising them. best of luck in your new endeavor

 

[cage623]

Thanks nothing else matter,

I have started anew with a chocolate, GT and a firemouth. I just didn't think that I could get any of the some cichlids that I had already owned. I liked my old fish so much that if I got the some species it wouldn't be fair because I would (at least in the beginning) compair them to my old guys.