The Hunt for the Red Bulu Points - F1's from Europe

[Delock]

I think alex problem is that he keep them the dark alot. Also, he need to pull them out the back room and move them up front.

[geoff_tropheus]

After what happened last time to that AWESOME big male he had...he'll never do that again

[Zulaab]

Well what are the chances for Bethestaboy to get a shipment to College Station from the lake or somewhere else ?
Easier or harder than Tropheus Livua ?

[geoff_tropheus]

Jesper there's a reason why the F1's juvi's at 2-3" are $315 each.

In the US there's only like 3 colonies, and probably less than 100 indivduals. I would think Europe could probably triple those wild numbers and in addition they have F1's for sale.

[Zulaab]

they look so cool though :)

[geoff_tropheus]

Yes,..sir they do. If Alex could get his going or atleast let me and others borrow them for a while..

[76dragon]

So is the problem is that they are hard to get, easy to kill or no one wants or can afford to bring them in??

[geoff_tropheus]

They are very hard to get, their location was kept secret for many years, and is still rather coveted. They also very recluse, singular fish in deep water.

Lots of people want them, and in this Global Economy that’s a lot of FN people.

As for easy to kill, they do that themselves. Very agressive fish.

All of this makes for a very high price tag.

[76dragon]

Didn't know that, thanks for the heads up..

[JandJ]

Having worked at UF, Alex could have more success if he did more frequent water changes on a regular schedule. I would also advise that he feed them a more varied diet, as puppy chow and one other food just isn't going to cut it. They need more veggie matter, perhaps Dainichi or NLS with puppy chow and high quality algae wafers...NOT the ones that come bulk in a box and are then re-packaged. I like omega one.
Alex has never done a water test on the PH of that tanks water either, when I had a problem with my tropheus breeding I did a test, after taking Alex's word that "Houston has hard water...no need to buffer," and lo and behold it was not even quite at 8!(Fluctuated between 7.8 and 7.6 depending on the time of the year, most likely due to city putting chemicals in to control algae in the reservoir) So adding some baking soda to buffer would benefit. I also have asked him to start using rock salt in that tank and epsom salt. I like to keep the salt levels consistent and do an on and off epsom salt regimen. In other words, epsom after one water change and then none the next. That way the fish get flushed and salts are not allowed to build up in the system or their bodies. Lighting is also VERY important to a fish, if they are not comfortable then they will not do their natural thing, as far as I know, the lights on that tank have NEVER been changed, in fact the fixtures are antiques that oceanic used to make, they have big external ballasts that get super hot and sometimes burn stuff they are touching. Fluoro bulbs have a useful life span of 9 months, just because our eyes can't see it, the fishes bodies can sense it. Just as humans are affected by too much light or too little light so are fish. Humans require light to produce a vital vitamin in their body...why wouldn't fish do the same?

There is no attention to the rock structure in the tank either, clearly seperated piles would really help allow differing males to take different "spots" in the tank and get them breeding.
In fact I have a crappy video of his red bulus breeding, but he called to tell me they didn't hold after that.
Could have been water quality, feeding, lighting or any number of things.
The KEY word here is consistent and regular everything, which unfortunately Alex doesn't seem to have the time to do and NONE of his employees know enough or are willing to learn to do it.
I did, and I have even offered to help with all of this but Alex is a stubborn person with a great sense of pride. If he can't make em do it, then da***d if someone else is going to "show" him or "help" him do it.
It breaks my heart to know that those fish could be breeding (in my opinion), especially after having watched with my OWN EYES breeding occur in there!
I am not trying to be critical of Alex, I just feel that I had a good idea of what was and probably still is happening there as I worked there for a bit of time and still have on and off.
In fact, I knew NOTHING about fish when I started there, and look at where I am now...company of my own and have had success breeding absolutely everything that has passed through my hands. Shipped the babies all over the country etc. Not to mention brought my tropheus colonies, puffers, etc on the airplane with me, just told em it was stuff for college!
Thanks to Alex I know something, I just wish he might allow others to suggest advice to him every once in a while.
If there isn't "time" to do all the things required to get them there, then time has to be made to get them there.

Please, I hope that no one goes off and says "oh la di dah..so and so was being critical!"
I simply say it like I see it. If feedback is never given or said out loud, then no one has a chance to correct possible mistakes, any good restaurant will tell you that. They love to know what is good as well as bad, it is the only way we move forward and learn.
I can talk on the subject of fish for way too long, I have to go make dinner for GF and feed the saltwater corals.
Please feel free to PM me or call.

[geoff_tropheus]

When you worked there what was the agression like on the males? Do you think that if he had seperated piles they would have less agression?

I'm not sure I ever saw him with seperated piles, but everytime I was in that office the large Male ran about 7.5ft of that tank and the 4-5 females stayed in the corner. Even the Trophs he had in there were sometimes killed.

He also tried a couple times with other Males at first, but he always had to remove them.

I think he should have tried with some other Males and see if the same pattern repeated itself.

[J-WS6]

It's simple. That tank needs way more filtration and flow. Consistent light schedule would only benefit them. The last time I saw the tank, there was a large giraffe in there, which I think needs to go. Sadly, now that fish are not Alex's primary focus, they tend to get neglected. He could easily have them breeding if he made them priority. If I were him, I would at least take the tank out of the dark back room and move it home for my own personal enjoyment. I could stare at that tank for hours

[JandJ]

What I saw occurring in that tank is the same problem I had with my chimbas. The rocks touch each other or don't have enough space between them and the SM (super male) fish responds by claiming all of the rock structure as his territory. I did see the "super male" syndrome, where even if a rock is simply too close to another the fish becomes hyper aggressive and takes over everything. In fact, with my chimbas Alex suggested holding the super male in a net and the next thing I knew the whole colony ganged up on him in the net as soon as the lights went out and hammered him to death in a matter of minutes. Fish have more of a memory, or something like it, than we give them credit for. It was odd, the chimbas literally ripped his eyes out and just shredded the super male in minutes and then went on their way. I didn't even have time to get the canopy open to let him out.
I decided to try something I had read about in maybe one article, keep the rocks tall and separate, like 7-12" apart if possible and maybe more if the tank permits. Tall rocks that jut out from the back of the tank towards the front obstruct the view of the fish in the tank and they are less apt to see the others. I also used medium height rocks in front of these structures to further obstruct view and give a kind of meandering coursework for the fish to explore.The rocks touching the back of the tank were thin in back and bulged out in front to give that space between them I refer to. I used lots of smaller-medium pieces to achieve this. Almost 250-350 pounds of the stuff. I kept some on reserve under the tank to adjust when needed.
In a 6 ft. tank I managed to create 4-5 separate structures that had lots of overhangs and jutted out from the back to the front. After one day, 4 males claimed the rocks and females began going back and forth to multiple male partners and bred like mad. This ensured a very diverse genetic pool and kept everyone in the tank so busy there were never again issues with aggression.
I was producing babies at a rate where every month I pulled about 80 babies and had a 55 gallon filled with almost 100-120 at some points in time, every 3-4 months.
It got to the point that I began giving the fish away as christmas presents as I knew that what I had was just the tip of the iceberg. I watched my giraffe suck down probably 4-5 babies every week or so. And who knows how many he got at night.

Alex seems to like doing single massive rocks that don't allow the structures I speak of, I prefer smaller to medium rocks that give more play room or creativity with the structures.
Rocks are my thing, I focus heavily on structures that follow natural forms.
I did more of a wall with my Nkondes and only 2 males were able to claim territory, as there were basically only 2 structures, since a 90 didn't permit what I wanted.
I also stupidly picked big pieces thinking it would be easier to pull all the rocks out to pull babies.
What I had in the 6ft. was best, and I had been doing a "pull" every 3 months. I would let the baby population skyrocket to almost 100 in the tank and then just tear it down and pull all of them and fill a 55. then I used pictures to re-create the structure, as Alex told me they would respond to differences in the rocks by killing everyone in the tank off.
I later stopped doing that and just had fun with the structures and never saw anything like Alex predicted.

[JandJ]

If you or anyone else would like to see pictures of the 6ft. tank I speak of with the chimbas Pm me, as I do not want to break HFB rules and post my website link as I believe it would be considered commercial if I did.

Side note, is HFB gonna do sponsors or have a way for stores and businesses, non-brick and mortars to offer anything up? Im just curious as I started mine and actually offer consultation in addition to the usual maintenance and installation. I feel like a cheap floozy giving it away sometimes on here, but I know that only the hardcore find their way to the Petro and Troph forums...I restrain myself in the main forums so I don't take money from my mouth so to speak. But yeah, where does the donation go, and where do I sign myself up?

[geoff_tropheus]

Send Traci (imagirlgeek) who is the site owner a PM, and she can tell you more about site sponsorship, and putting links to your business and whatnot.

Please PM me your store address, I'd like to come and see one day.

I too have had a lot more succes in tanks where you can do more complex of structures with smaller rocks. But man..its a pain sometimes for cleaning, but definately alot more territory is setup and lots more babies produced and thrive.