# Elongatus Update April 07



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Well...All is good after almost 4 months. I have had one nip to the anal fin of the smaller fish...which has healed fine. Other then that...there has been no sign of aggression in the tank. They continue to eat well..and I continue to feed them sporadically....about two times a week. The territories are still clearly established..however...I have found them together much more often then when I first put them together. One thing that is pretty cool is they are starting to get red on them...and the humeral blotch is very prominent.

Here are a few pictures of them when they were together
















As you can see....no fin nips.







And a picture of the larger guy.


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## Dairy Whip (Mar 26, 2006)

wow gg glad to see it working out for you and the tank looks good also







imagine getting them to breed


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

their chests definately do have more red to them. congrats on 4 months!


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Thanks guys. And Joe..it looks like I jumped the gun on saying 4 months...I put them together the first week in January..so I have a few weeks to go


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## shoal king (Oct 27, 2006)

those guys are looking awesome







so how big are they know?


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## si 74 (Apr 10, 2006)

wow . i have been keeping up with this thred and the months dont come round quick enough for me .lol .nice going man and thanks for all the info ....fascinating really fascinating


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

so GG the humeral spot and the redness are coming from? just better mood and the diet or..


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## si 74 (Apr 10, 2006)

nice one iceman you just reminded me , GG or anybody, when i first got my elong he had a very noticeable humeral spot and red eyes but no redness on the chest . when i first had him i had to split my 130g to house him (trust me this was better than where he was in the lfs) and then moved him/her to another tank after about 2 weeks where he stayed until i picked up his/her 133g all in all this was over a 3 month period. now he /she has a really nice redness on the chest but the humeral spot is not as obvious anymore although over the last 3 days has started to show a bit more ?
sorry if this is classed as thred jacking its not meant that way and i hope you dont mind me asking in here? 
water params..
ammonia. 0
nitrate. 5.0ppm
nitrite. 0
ph. 7.2
water change once a week 30%
feeding...
this is a bit tricky, this guy would not eat for the first 6 to 8 weeks , nothing at all. this then made me try live feeders , plattys, guppys etc , those he would eat, about 8/9 in total over a week then i got him to eat some talaipa and some bite size bits of raw king prawns etc. now i have got him /her in a permanent tank lots of space and hiding places and has been in there about a week and wont touch anything dead or alive , but the humeral spot is starting to show again and still this really nice redness. is this good , bad , diet , stress?
sorry i have no cam anymore due to my daughter seeing if it could swim down the toilet


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## the REASON (Jun 18, 2006)

awesome work man. keep it up.


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## CorGravey (Feb 13, 2007)

I am seriously impressed by this cohab

it really goes to show that if an experienced enthusiest tries something out of the box it may work

if a noob had tried this everyone would have bashed him, and i would have recommended against it as well

I just think that breaking the rules (serra cohab) is something that has to be done once in a while and if it actually works than that is very good learning experience for all parties involved (even forum members)

So thanks GG for sharing this wonderful cohab with us

hope they dont slaughter each other lol


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

itstheiceman said:


> now he /she has a really nice redness on the chest but the humeral spot is not as obvious anymore although over the last 3 days has started to show a bit more ?


Humeral spots can generally be traced to stress...at least in my experience. All these fish have them to some degree...and they will usually come out more when you move the fish, during water changes...things like that.


> now i have got him /her in a permanent tank lots of space and hiding places and has been in there about a week and wont touch anything dead or alive , but the humeral spot is starting to show again and still this really nice redness. is this good , bad , diet , stress?


He just needs time to adjust to the new environment...when he does..his appetite should come back.


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

nice cohab GG, could they be able to mate?
whos to say its not a male and female?
its nice to them like that i hope it goes well, maybe a possible breed?
if os i want dibs


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## si 74 (Apr 10, 2006)

thanks gg and thanks for your time much appreciated


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## d851 (Oct 31, 2006)

Nice work, good to see a well thought out project working









daz


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Thanks everyone.....The one thing I really like is that they will band together when there is any kind of threat....that didnt used to happen very often at all. Those pictures were taken during a water change. They would never leave there territories during these changes for the first few months...now...when I do a water change...the larger one doesnt have an issue abandoning his territory...and grouping with the smaller one. I think the reason the larger one leaves his territory is because it is out in the open.....and that spot under the plant provides a lot of cover.....but the fact that he will go there so easily now....is encouraging.


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## donkeyfish (Apr 24, 2007)

updates??

I hope everything is well


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Still fine...update soon.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Yeah, I have also been following this thread. First of all, congrats on the success thus far. Second, I love the "thinking outside the box" and trying the Elong co-hab. Of course, it takes tons of experience before even imaging to try this, but you have the knowledge. Can't wait until the next update (which I know is coming, but still I am excited).


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

congrats on the elong shoal! hope everything continues to go well.


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## Linford (Oct 26, 2006)

Very nice GG, the colourations on both fish suggest they aren't stressed or under any pressure so good job. Hopefully you wont have any major problems (fin nips etc... is expected when mixing piranha for the first time). Best of luck for the future!


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Great job!

How are they doing now Jeff?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

They are still doing fine Taylor


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## LFSuperfly144 (Feb 7, 2005)

wow thats







unreal hope they keep it up


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## CaptMicha (Mar 29, 2006)

A shoal of elongs, even just two, must look so good. Congrats. I hope it stays cool.


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## serra_keeper (Jun 12, 2007)

GG, any tips you can share with us?
2 p's in the tank, everybody would say it's a disaster waiting to happen..
how did you do it? 
tank size? planted /with lots of hiding spots? feeding schedule?
id really appreciate it if you can share some tips to us!

man! what you did is awesome!


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## CorGravey (Feb 13, 2007)

I hate to answer for him but i think he has them in a highly planted tank, i thin k its a 125 or something close to that.
As for feeding schedule i think he only feeds them once or twice a week.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Yup...feeding is once or twice a week. They are in a 75 that has one huge plant and some driftwood. My personal opinion is that two fish in a tank isnt an issue. Fish fight over territories...it is what they do...so allowing them to establish territories is very important. So I divided them until they had established territories. If you look back on some of the past updates...or the first thread about this tank..it goes into some more detail


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

Grosse Gurke said:


> Yup...feeding is once or twice a week. They are in a 75 that has one huge plant and some driftwood. My personal opinion is that two fish in a tank isnt an issue. *Fish fight over territories...it is what they do...so allowing them to establish territories is very important. So I divided them until they had established territories*. If you look back on some of the past updates...or the first thread about this tank..it goes into some more detail


your correct about fish fighting for there territory. Thats why i mention when trying a serra cohab or any serra you have to atleast know the fish(s) personality, how they would interact with another fish and dividing them is a great start


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## CaptMicha (Mar 29, 2006)

I thought my redbellies were little kittens and they always acted like it until they killed another one in their shoal. You never know.


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

ime you also have to know pygos are more canabolistic than serras

but your correct you never know...


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## RAZOR_TOOTH (Jun 22, 2006)

Way to go man, they look awesome together...

R.T.


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