My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?

[Viktor Jarikov]

Prochilodus lineatus returns from a year long exile in a 240 gal to the 1800 gal. It's been alright for 2 months so far.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Our first ever swing at a website went live in Aug 2021 and now in Dec 2021 we'd like to introduce it to everybody.

[Viktor Jarikov]

The tale of our two Peru piraiba continues. The skittish one had spent 1 year in a 240 gal in timeout. We are trying it again back in the 4500 gal and arriving close to where we left off - a very different set of tank mates but the tank mates bother it (first it was the assertive piraiba, then it was the TSNxRTC hybrid, now IDK who yet, maybe same two maybe not); the fish is skittish and perhaps this even tempts some tank mates to bite it every now and then, especially at nights; it feeds some but not to our satisfaction because of the skittishness.

Both fish came from Mark Chen of Discus Origins in 2017 as "Peru piraiba" and are currently around 5 years old and have been stuck at 2.5ft for a year at least, in drastic difference from our 7 yo, 5ft Suriname piraiba that kept and keeps growing.

I became aware that many peers in the hobby think that the "Peru piraiba" is not a filamentosum but a capapretum aka false piraiba. Yet capapretum young look obviously different from the piraiba young, let them be from anywhere. If anyone can shed some more light on this, it'd be greatly appreciated. Mis-ID, or another species, or indeed such drastic geographic difference in filamentosum? Here is one thread on the topic of this confusion: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... se.744994/

[Viktor Jarikov]

The 5 barbels have done exceptionally well so far. As soon as they came, within minutes, they started feeding and didn't care what I offered to them - all was eagerly consumed, wolfed down really. Amazing greed and a matching digestive system. I feared they'd eat themselves to death. They took NLS pellets, Hikari sticks, koi pellets, cut up silversides and glass minnows.

The 3 tarpons have done well so far. When they first came, I tried to get them to take NLS pellets, Hikari sticks, koi pellets, etc. because Rodrigo told me they took pellets, shrimp and bloodworms at his shop. Two of 3 took some pellets rather inefficiently and reluctantly and one was stubborn and was wasting away refusing to feed for a week. It took pellets on a very rare occasion but apparently spit them out either right away or later. It was going to rather die. So I started offering cut silversides and little by little all started feeding better and the weak feeder turned around, and later they even started to take some pellets as well along with cut up silversides and glass minnows.

At first I had to feed the tank a lot because the 5x Aral barbels would leave little to nothing for the tarpons. Then I had to feed even more because both barbels and tarpons would feed like maniacs and leave little to nothing for other tank mates - Phalacronotus sp and Chinese Hi Fin sharks.

After a month of very heavy feeding, the barbels grew from 1.5"-2" to 6"-8" and the tarpons grew from 2" to 8" (2x) and 9" (1x). I didn't intend this, it just happened. I couldn't take it anymore, because Chinese Hi Fin sharks weren't feeding properly, so I had to transfer them into a neighboring 240 gal.

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

Just some natural, undisturbed entropy tonight...

[Viktor Jarikov]

We have had this bacterial problem with both juruense and tig catfish. Not with piraiba or capapretum or vaillantii. In our experience, filamentosum, capapretum, and vaillantii are hardier to the pathogen spectrum we have in our water.

I've become firmly convinced of the need for UV sanitization of water. I am considering this in earnest, especially now, having lost so many precious, show kind and size fish. A turn key it'd be $10K-$20. As a DIY, we might get away with several thousand $. Up until now, we have not used UV sanitization on our water.

The bacterial killer lives in our tanks+15K filter system and I am pretty sure it came with other fish, most likely in 2018 with the walking catfish from the wild, who were undertreated in QT. The 26K system of the two 4500's, one 1800, and the 15K sump hosts the majority of larger rescue fish that come and go. No surprise, with my lazy man QT procedures, that we have been losing precious, rare fish (while most of the cheap and hardy fish remain ok). But most of all since 2018. Until then, it had been far better.

As for the what kind of bacteria, I am not saying it was the columnaris or only columnaris or the columnaris was the primary cause, not secondary or tertiary. Some fish we have lost in 2018 and since then showed symptoms consistent with columnaris and some didn't. Columnaris BTW is a complex animal and has several known strains, acting quite differently.

My gut feeling says the reason #1 is that the tigs (and their tank mates) were sickened and killed by a dangerous bacteria, and the stress was only a compounding factor, I suspect a mild one at best.

A less likely reason is dirty 15K sump and as a result a high bacterial count in water column, but after I cleaned the 15K sump thoroughly twice over one year, there was no improvement whatsoever. Thus, I am inclined to discard this as the primary cause. Again, a compounding factor it may be. I have planned to make a rearrangement in the sump, take out half the shade cloth media to make the hiding of detritus and bacteria harder and the vacuuming of the sump easier and faster and will continue cleaning the sump more frequently.

[Viktor Jarikov]

We have had this bacterial problem with way too many fish since 2018. I've become firmly convinced of the need for UV sanitization of water. I am considering this in earnest, especially now, having lost so many precious, show kind and size fish. A turn key UV system would be $10K-$20. As a DIY, we might get away with several thousand $. Up until now, we have not used UV sanitization on our water.

The bacterial killer lives in our tanks+15K filter system and I am pretty sure it came with other fish, most likely in 2018 with the walking catfish from the wild, who were undertreated in QT. The 26K system of the two 4500's, one 1800, and the 15K sump hosts the majority of larger rescue fish that come and go. No surprise, with my lazy man QT procedures, that we have been losing precious, rare fish (while most of the cheap and hardy fish remain ok). But most of all since 2018. Until then, it had been far better. As for the what kind of bacteria, I am not saying it was the columnaris or only columnaris or that the columnaris was the primary cause, not secondary or tertiary. Some fish we have lost in 2018 and since then showed symptoms consistent with columnaris and some didn't. Columnaris is a complex animal and has several known strains, acting quite differently.

My gut feeling says reason #1 is that the wyckii was sickened and killed by a dangerous bacteria. A less likely reason is dirty 15K sump and as a result a high bacterial count in water column, but after I cleaned the 15K sump thoroughly twice over one year, there was no improvement whatsoever. Thus, I am inclined to discard this as the primary cause. A compounding factor it may be. I have planned to make a rearrangement in the sump, take out half the shade cloth media to make the hiding of detritus and bacteria harder and the vacuuming of the sump easier and faster and will continue cleaning the sump more frequently.

[Viktor Jarikov]

A fourth shark was separated behind a divider and fed frozen blood worms and baby brine shrimp. I saw it take the feed and spit out. It wasn't getting plum and continued wasting away, until it too died like it's prior 3 kin. Only one remains strong, looking plum, growing in size, feeding well on NLS pellets and minced silversides.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Specific video for the five Phalacronotus - arrival, refusal to feed for a week, success overall in 1 month:

[Viktor Jarikov]

One of the 7 new gulpers died. We got them 2 months ago. It did ok for a few weeks and then stopped feeding and very slowly withered away over the last 1.5 months, while the rest have been doing well in the same tank. So I can only pen it to an unknown reason. 9" / 23 cm final size. Age unknown but likely several years.

[bekateen]

That mouth is amazing. Sorry it died. The others look really good.

Cheers, Eric

[TwoTankAmin]

Viktor-

I am not the best at disease diagnosis. I have dealt with columnaris successfully, for the most part, over the years. However, when it comes to wasting and ultimately not eating there is another option to consider besides bacteria. You may already be aware of this, but I figured it was worth a mention JIK.

Many years ago Flubendazole was recommended to me and a friend sent me some. Some time later I needed more and had to get it on my own and I found it via Dr. Harrison's site. But what is also there are a few articles by him and in one I found this.

Eradicating Hydra and Other Pests with Flubendazole
From: Journal of the American Killifish Association September/October 2003
Vol.36, No. 5
By Charles Harrison, Ph.D.
This article is first about hydra and its eradication. Secondly, it is about a lot of relief from some of the most hideous afflictions of tropical aquarium fish, including wasting disease, which is often associated with the presence of Hexamita, a protozoan parasite, and velvet disease, a common scourge of captive killifish which is associated with the presence of Oodinium or Oodinium-like organisms..........

The hydra-killing Flubendazole that I used in my office aquarium to eradicate hydra led me to a larger realization. The “wasting” fish in that tank seemed to become cured when I added Flubendazole to the water. Whoa! This was quite a remarkable revelation. My intent was to remove the hydra and any possible nematodes and, to my surprise, the disease I have found to be associated with a particular protozoan species was cured.

from http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleArticle.pdf

If you are interested in this here is a link to his site http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, Eric.

Thank you, Chris.

I don't know if our 2018 problem and all the subsequent problems were due to columnaris, or not columnaris, or columnaris plus some other pathogen. One expert I trust said columnaris, other experts said no. External symptoms are often not clear. I am the most primitive diagnostic and use wide spectrum meds based on hunches and prior experiences.

As my main adviser Aquaholic rightfully says, I need to evolve and grow in my skill set and learn to use a microscope and recognize pathogens. I am just not sure if I will be able to recognize much. The cataloged photos of pathogens he sent for me to read and look over present little to no differences to my eye, except for the most obvious and special bugs.

Among the fish we lost in the past 4 years, since 2018, a good portion lost appetite long before dying but far from all. Another recurring symptom is swelling / water retention all over the body. IDK if these are symptoms of the same bug or different. There were other causes of death too... I am about to make a video on the fish we lost since 2018 and try to categorize the losses by possible causes, diagnosis, symptoms. It's hundreds of fish.

You are right, it might be a microscopic parasite. My saying bacterium or bacteria is groundless, a hunch of someone who has no reliable track record.

Flubendazole was banned in the USA some years ago. Fishman Chemical, the wholesale place where I buy my meds, says Fenbendazole is a fair and good replacement and this I have some on hand - it's one of the three usual ingredients I use together, as a cocktail, for internal parasite cleansing, when I suspect such - metronidazole, praziquantel, and fenbendazole through feed.

IDK if fenbendazole is efficient against hydra and Co. But I appreciate the info and the links and will take a read. Thank you.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

......IDK if fenbendazole is efficient against hydra and Co. But I appreciate the info and the links and will take a read. Thank you.

It is. I've used "Panacur" worming powder.

Very effective against Hydra and Tricladia Planarians, Rhabdocoelas flatworms are fairly resistant and I've no idea about other potential parasites. It doesn't effect annelid worms or leeches.

cheers Darrel

[TwoTankAmin]

It could be Flubendazole is banned for use in food fish, But as far as I know it is OK for ornamentals. A fast search found it on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Plymouth-Discus- ... Q75Z5?th=1

Dr. Harrison has been selling it for years and still does. If it had become illegal, he would have stopped.

More interesting is while I was doing a quick search on Flubendazole, I turned up this paper

Zhou X, Zou L, Chen W, Yang T, Luo J, Wu K, Shu F, Tan X, Yang Y, Cen S, Li C, Mao X. Flubendazole, FDA-approved anthelmintic, elicits valid antitumor effects by targeting P53 and promoting ferroptosis in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Pharmacol Res. 2021 Feb;164:105305. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105305. Epub 2020 Nov 14. PMID: 33197601.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33197601/

[Viktor Jarikov]

After 6 years in the jerk tank of 240 gal, the AUSD was upgraded to 1800 gal in the hope that he would behave there. It's been about 3 months in the 1800 gal now and it seems to work. I don't have much time to observe but in whatever little I've seen I have not seen it bother anyone, which is not too surprising as it is extremely selective in who it dislikes.

On the opposite, it lost a few smaller parts, bite size, out of its tail and caudal fins, which means some tank mate dislikes it or the AUSD is "asking for it". Don't know who or how. Also, it couldn't occupy the coveted spot under the pipes as this belongs to the alpha Synodontis eupterus, the "African USD catfish" which the leucophasis couldn't dethrone. IDK how hard it tried, perhaps not hard or not at all.

I've noticed it really likes frozen fish in its diet. It still goes for the pellets but relishes the fish. The video includes 5 feedings in the end portion.

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

So we have been in the midst of cooler season for a couple of months now. The outdoor temps range usually from low 50 to high 80 F, so about 65 F on average. The water temp in the 25K gal has been around 72 F.

Three weeks ago, we changed our 6 RO membranes for new ones and our RO production, and hence the continuous water change (100% = roughly 60K gallons), has gone up 10 times in the past 3 weeks, from 100% in 30 days to 100% in 3 days.

This may have something to do with Happy and Congo, our two Auchenoglanis wittei giraffe catfish, apparently getting amorous. They also for some reason chose the spot, where our 10 pumps sit, to constantly be in. At first I thought it was about hierarchy but now it looks like courtship. I've never tried sexing them. They had had plenty of interaction in the prior years, which I assumed were brief hierarchy disputes, but I had never caught them doing what they are doing now, neither the intensity nor the moves.

They both are 7 years old, 2.5 ft / 75 cm.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Caught one of the biggest Florida palm roaches in the fish house. Enjoyed by two silver dollars:

[Viktor Jarikov]

Six mahseer growouts, 10"-12", go from 240 gal to 1800 gal. Worried about possible predation by dat perches and tig catfish in the 1800 gal. Hesitated 3 months. Pulled the trigger. So far alright. Six feedings included in the vid.

-- 2x Tor malabaricus. One looks right, similar to our adult malabaricus. The other looks "generic", most common mahseer, like douronensis, soro, etc.
-- 2x Tor tambroides. The smallest of the 6. So far also looks "generic".
-- 1x Tor douronensis. From Jeff Rapps.
-- 1x Spinibarbus hollandii. Taiwan mahseer.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Full 1.5 hour video of the wittei giraffe catfish courtship:

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

The feeding of the three rescue pacu:

[Viktor Jarikov]

A mole cricket was appreciated by Mr Oscar:

[Viktor Jarikov]

Feeding the three soldier catfish Lithodoras dorsalis and two black ear catfish Pangasius larnaudii.

From Nov 2021 to Feb 2022, in 3.5 months, the soldiers grew from 5"-6" to 14"-15", while the black ears from 4" to 10".

I gave the soldiers a hide a month ago, a cave. They barely use it, one or two at a time but most usually out and about.

[Viktor Jarikov]

The dourada healed from that bad blister that had been shown before and has been well since last summer of 2021. I estimate its length now at around 20"-22". Some typical feeding - it feeds well to a nice round tummy on fortified herring. On alternate days I give giant NLS pellets, which it also takes but in moderation, just a few maybe.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Update on the 5 Phalacronotus sp. More of the same. Feed with moderation on large NLS pellets and cut silversides, with some preference for the pellets (!). Usually similar kinds of catfish are either voracious or gluttonous. Grow very slowly, but perhaps added 0.5-1 inch in the 2.5 months here but the smallest one or two grew better, having added 1-2 inches and now are of similar size to the bigger ones:

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]