My Lap And Endi

[ChilliPepper]

Colours coming out now on the Lap, and both fish are very chilled and relaxed. The Lap hid a bit at first, but he realised that he was in a decent size tank and he had room to move about. So he is often out 'sunbathing' or just strolling about. My Endli has got really friendly as well, and always comes up begging for food. I'll get some better ones of him soon, but he is definitely putting on some weight.

 

[XeroTolerance]

That is a very nice Endli you have.

 

[gasmask]

Looking good mate!

As for coloring up, that's about as much as they will on white.
To get the best mix of color and contrast (where the markings "pop") it is recommended to use a tan or red substrate.

Here inn Japan, Bichir enthusiasts swear by using Crushed Garnet stone, or red quartz sand as substrate.

I use 90% crushed garnet sand, mixed with 10% black quartz sand.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Thanks

It's a shame about the substrate, but we can't get crushed garnet/red quartz here in UK. Don't think we can anyway

I have black quartz gravel in my 4x2x2, but that won't be big enuf for the polys long term.

 

[gasmask]

It's not the end of the world, just depends how much color and contrast you like.
I'm sure you could find red or tan sand in UK.
Otherwise Black sand is great for coloring up greens (Like Laps) but it tends to wash the patterns off Gold base Bichirs such as Endlis.

All my Bichir tanks have a mix of Gold base and Green base Bichirs, which is why I use 9:1 Red Garnet/Black sand.

Here is a photo of one of my Bichir Bichirs on black sand only: (note how green is very strong, but has no contrast patterns)

Same fish on 9:1 Red/Black sand: (still retains much green, but the contrasting patterns whites are "popping")

Your Lapradei is a Nigerian, so should have green coloration to it, similar to a Bichir Bichir.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Would love to get some red sand, but we've just had a major upheaval involving swapping planted substrate and sand from my 3ft into my 4ft, then back again, recently. So not changing any substrate again for a loooooong time

They do look awesome on the red/black mix, I totally agree. But as a new fish in the tank, and just settled, I don't think they'd appreciate the upheaval of a new substrate so soon. Something to bare in mind in the future for sure

Oh, while I have your interest gasmask, I wonder if you could help me with a little problem with my Ornate. She always had a v. healthy appetite, but - as this was still when I had my cube tank, so a fair few months back - she got a cloudy/blue eye one day and has had a bloated belly for months. Her appetite is not as voracious as it used to be, sometimes she only eats one pellet. The eye has healed up but she still has a belly. She is still fairly active. But she doesn't seem to be growing any more.

I had a look on the internet and it said it could be a bacterial thing, caused by poor water, but I think that unlikely when the tank is filtered by two FX5's and has 50% weekly waterchanges. I think it more likely that she scratched her eye, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

Any ideas what it could be and how to treat? She is definitely a favourite fish, so want her to get better. If indeed she is ill. Maybe she's just a fatty.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Here's a couple more of my Endli, just because he's gawjus

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I'll take some with my 'proper' camera once we've cleaned the glass!