Cichlasoma Ornatum Journal

[mattlee]

your grammar is fine and probably better than mine sometimes......

my tank is on a purpose built cabinet that came with the tank when bought new. its an average height for a tank and cabinet. i understand what your saying though about a natural thing for a fish to hide if something comes from above representing a predator etc.

ive never had fish behave like this before except when first purchased and they are still settling in to their new home. the tank is in the lounge so there is plenty of movement in front of the tank especially when the kids are at home.....

they hide if i approach the tank to feed or view but if i sit down on the floor they will come out and act quite normal until i stand up or move as i mentioned before everyone i know with these fish say how they are at the front of the tank begging for food.

it would be nice if you and DRE can post a few pics and videos on this journal too compare progress. ill get some up soon as they have grown slightly since the last pics i posted. i use LED lighting so they dont come out as sparkly as DRE's did but they are identical when viewing in person.

 

[mattlee]

ive just been watching for the last hour or more one of the ornatum defending part of the tank where it has dug a nice pit in the substrate. the pit is very central and right at the front of the tank so quite a busy area...

its been digging using its mouth and then laying in the pit and using its fins fanning the bottom. could this be the start of something?

ive recorded it on a camcorder (are they still called this?) and just got to figure out how to get it on here now...........

might be a job for chris

im now thinking that the ornatum doing the digging might be a female. am i thinking right?

 

[minnnt]

Camcorder... LOL!!! You make me laugh Matt.

Good luck matey, i hope they spawn, but then comes the major aggression so you may need a back up plan... and with the amount of fish you have and their size, that may be a little difficult.

 

[mattlee]

Camcorder... LOL!!! You make me laugh Matt.

Good luck matey, i hope they spawn, but then comes the major aggression so you may need a back up plan... and with the amount of fish you have and their size, that may be a little difficult.

what are they called these days then.......? hd recorder? ive no idea! it records straight onto a hard drive within the thing

anyway

it will just be my luck that they spawn. ive no spare tanks or room in any tanks it may never happen but if it does i would love to take it further but something (rays) would have to go to leave an empty tank for them.

lets see what happens and cross that bridge when it arrives if it does.

ill get cgris to put the video from my handheld hd video recorder hard drive thingy asap

 

[minnnt]

You make me laugh because that's what i would have called it too... Just do it off your phone, probably alot easier. lol.

Walkers will sort you out.

So, you would get rid of the Rays to raise the fry? REALLY? After all you have been through?

 

[mattlee]

You make me laugh because that's what i would have called it too... Just do it off your phone, probably alot easier. lol.

Walkers will sort you out.

So, you would get rid of the Rays to raise the fry? REALLY? After all you have been through?

i dont know what i would do tbh. nothing has happened yet so it may be a false alarm or me getting carried away

as far as im aware there are no breeding ornatums as of yet so it would be a great venture and if it means more people can have these gorgeous fish then it would be good for the ornatum and make it available at a much cheaper price. or just available.........

i dont know what i would do as i do love the rays. lets cross that bridge when/if it happens

 

[mattlee]

ive just accepted an offer on the ornatums.........

i have been putting them up and off sale for a while now and just had an offer today. as we know there are plenty of timewasters and dreamers so it may never happen but the guy is a breeder on a well known forum and a very trusted guy so it may just happen

6th february has been confirmed as collection day

 

[mattlee]

well i guess this is another journal thats come to an end

the guy who is buying these stunning fish wants to collect them tonight. hes coming on the train from essex so they will be coming out of the tank within the next 2 hours...

i will really miss these fish not just because of their beauty but because ive raised them up from such tiny colourless fish into such stunning cichlids. i know i may never get another chance to own these fish unless someone gets a breeding pair together which as far as im aware they havn't, which has made the choice of selling them even harder.

ive been through quite a lot during my ownership of these ornatums from them not accepting food at the begining due to them being wild caught to trying to combat their skittishness which tbh i have never done but it made things better after adding the colombian tetras and rainbow cichlids.

i really hope the new owner has some luck with them and can raise a pair from the group. maybe then these stunning fish can be more openly available to more people and at a cheaper price. who knows...?

a truely stunning and gorgeous cichlid that were worth every penny i paid for them

 

[fishprotector]

The end of another journal. They were one of the most beautiful Cichlids I have seen and seemed to have tons of character. You are lucky that you were able to keep them

 

[mattlee]

they were truely stunning fish, the pics as always in my case did the fish no favour at all.

the new owner has had all the hard work done for them they just have to keep feeding them. at least i will still be in touch with the progress of them.

 

[Big_Sal]

it would be nice if you and DRE can post a few pics and videos on this journal too compare progress. ill get some up soon as they have grown slightly since the last pics i posted. i use LED lighting so they dont come out as sparkly as DRE's did but they are identical when viewing in person.

 
Hi mattlee, Sorry to see that you sold your fish, I kept mine and 4 days ago they spawned! Sorry for waking up a dead thread but can't help myself out of excitement!
 
Here's a video of them with the eggs http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKg1XJfWl-A