Fishstery
- #1
So there is a fish store about an hour (and very painful traffic) drive from my house that I visit about twice a year. They aren't the "best" in my opinion for their cleanliness (my favorite store runs massive UVs in their underground sumps so every single tank gets sterilized) but this store does get the best stock and has the most variety of oddball or rare fish. Anyways, I didnt really go in there to specially buy anything but since I finally got my tank back in order and restocked some since my move last month, I figured maybe I would find something I liked. The tank oringally had my blue gularis killifish and GBR only (they were BFFS) but sadly they didnt transition well after the move and passed despite the water conditions being very similar at my new house. I restocked with 10 cardinal tetras and my personal favorite, 4 honey gouramis. I needed one more centerpiece or pair to complete the community but I wasn't sure what I wanted. At the fish store none of their GBRs really caught my eye, but their amazingly vibrant bolivian rams did. In another tank they had what looked to be a dozen juvinelle german/Bolivians and some adult "blue frost rams". After observing both tanks for about 20 minutes I noticed two juvies, clearly Male/female, were a bonded pair. They had the best coloring although they are fairly small and have a lot of growing left. Also the male caught my eye because he seems to be some type of gold/electric blue hybrid, his head is very yellow and his body is very blue. If I was getting more GBRs juvienlles weren't even a thought in my head, but I always like the quirky or runty ones. After some conversation with the store employee on what he thought would be better suited for my tank I decided to get the pair. I think peaceful fish always do better when they have friends of the same species, and these two are girlfriend and boyfriend after all! I've had trouble in the past with getting GBRs to bond or accept their mate, and I think the most effective way to ensure a bonded pair is to just observe the holding tank at the store for 20 minutes and watch the tank interactions. I'm very pleased these two are very attached to each other and are still young so I expect them to stay this way. For some entertainment heres pictures of my tank since I moved and my new GBR pair. *note how small they are compared to my cardinals, which aren't full grown yet either I'll update with more pictures once they get comfortable and color up more and get larger!
Edit: if you notice the apistogramma in the tank photos he is NOT in this tank anymore don't worry!
Edit: if you notice the apistogramma in the tank photos he is NOT in this tank anymore don't worry!
