January 2017 Fish of the Month Competition entries.

Please start posting entries and nominations for the January 2017 competition here.

Please note that a written dated verification picture must be provided or the entry will not be accepted.

Please read the rules before submitting a nomination or entry
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?13359-Fish-of-the-Month-Competition-rules

The January competition will close for entries and nominations on 13/14th January 2017.

 

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Think I'll enter this month. Will do it when I get home later.

 

I entered not to win but to inspire participation

 

Same here as by the looks of things it will be only you if I don't enter haha.

 

Here's my entry.

 

That arowanas right eye looks like its about to pop out.hahah

 

Yes shame, got him like that. He has his good side though haha. It doesn't seem to bother him that much.

 

@stephen after reading your comment again it doesn't seem like you meant it in good faith but rather to make fun of the deformity my fish has and that in the competition section of all places. You could have done it privately. Go educate yourself on big silver arowana in captivity before commenting.

 

@BoelderBeestie I envy you having a Arowana, that's my dream fish you have there

 

Okay, firstly my apologies for the crappy photography.

Let me introduce you all to Emrakul, she is a 1 year old pearlscale, I got her when she was a tiny tot of 2cm now without her tail she reaches 8cm, I have included a top photo of her as you will notice she is not a regular (Bristal standard) pearlscale but a Thai ping pong pearlscale. Based on the assumption that goldfish usually will double in size of the first year of growth and with proper grooming I expect that she will reach around 16cm at the end of next year, a good golfball size.

 

@Saturn these round goldies are super cute haha. Out of all my fish, if where to keep only one it would be my aro. The way they bond with people are amazing, I am still amazed at this, no other fish I ever had did this. Why don't you pull the trigger and get one. The first year or two you have to keep them in a small tank anyway so this gives you plenty of time to think about what to upgrade too, and if you run into trouble down the line they do very well in a R500 kiddie pool till you get a big enough tank. I have him in a 1.8m now but it looks like I'm upgrading in the next few months to a bigger foot print, thinking +- 2mx1mx60cm. Will move my oscars to the 1.8 and my discus to the old oscar tank.

 

@BoelderBeestie, if you have a 2m tank for Aro, ok... move her there but if you going to buy a 2m for her dont.... dont even bother..
Save up a bit more and go minimum 3m...
Cesar's one is in the 3.4m and that is ok and looks comfortable.. if she doesnt keep growing!!

 

@MariaS You are right I should just bite the bullet and get it over with and go BIG. Will get a custom made tank so I can fit it trough the door, so 3mx1mx60/70cm. Will have to measure very carefully haha. I must be able to take it with me when I move so it must fit through a door and aros don't really care about tank height that much. In the pool the water level was only 40cm and the aro was 50cm and didn't care, seems they want swimming space more than anything else. I thought mine was stunted hahahaha nope, you can see him grow. Weird how they know the seasons, in winter he stayed the same but when summer came he started growing like crazy again. It's a pity we don't have the aro vets like they have in china, would have had his eye fixed a long time ago. I don't care but it does seem to bother him a little sometimes, when he has to pick up food from the bottom he has to change position to his good eye to pick it up other than that he's fine. Would not be able to keep fish without having an aro, they are a must have for me now.

 

is that not drop eye @BoelderBeestie . looks very similar.

 

@T Jack yes it's drop eye. It can be fixed though.

 

heres my entry
will insert verification when I get home

 

Dear BoelderBeestie
Crikey I wast insulting your Arowana, Just made an (I think rather obvious observation) No I am not fully schooled in the in and outs of keeping such a magnificent fish.Thats one of the reasons I love coming here is to educated.isn't that one of the main reasons of joining a forum?

In all sincerity why does it look like that i thought it was just the angle?

 

@stephen, it is a very common problem with silver arowanas, asians apparently dont get it often

The list of reasons given is endless (looking down too much, picking food from the floor, bright lights and so the list goes on
Bottom line is they grow too much fat behind the eye making it bulge out
It doesnt affect them at all except at times when feeding and they dont see the food so well if the angle is wrong.Overseas they are quite advanced and operate on them to remove the fatty tissue but i dont think we have that expertise freely available in SA at this stage

 

@stephen No worries man, It's hard to tell a persons intent text like on whatsapp too sometimes. If you had not replied back I would have know you where being a ahole haha. He has quite a severe case in the one eye and like @MariaS said its an ongoing debate on what causes it and nobody really knows. My personal opinion after some very long reads and lurking on the Chinese forums I put the most likely cause of most cases but not all to head injury when still young as people have seen it happen before their eyes. If it was only the diet or looking down that caused it I think (and this is my opinion and not based on fact) both eyes would develop it not just one. But nobody is 100% sure.

The sad part is almost all large silvers in captivity has it, if your fish is over 50cm and has no drop eye you are very lucky and should probably play the lotto. In the asian fish I think its the diet(my opinion again) as the Chinese really pump them to get them fat and big for competition, Arowana is a really big deal over there especially in Malaysia as it's believed they bring wealth, happiness and fend of evil spirits and will take its own life to save yours. There's some weird stories out there.

Sorry for being a bit direct in my response but was just making sure as I don't take kindly to rude people, I despise them and I'm like this in person too. It pisses me off so much that I get enraged sometimes and go off, now you know how to press my buttons haha. I'm working on it though. I'm going to wright up a detailed article on arowana for the new oddball section over the weekend. Oh yes, @MariaS may I use one of your pics for it please?

I do take my hobby a bit too seriously hey hahaha but I can't help it, It keeps me busy and fish are my favorite animals. I see aros differently than other fish, they bond with their keepers in a way that no other fish that I've seen does, for a fish they are pretty special.