# Got my dream fish!



## Sheppard

Well some of you saw the video I posted afew days ago stating that I had just got rid of my 5 remaining pygos. Thanks to Kody for taking the other 6 off my hands!! I hope they are doing well.

For those of you who haven't seen the video of my old 5 Pygos and the other fish Iv'e had over the years, you can watch it 
in this thread Here

Last week I was in a toss up over what I should do. I had the opportunity to trade my 5 favourite Pygos for the fish that I have wanted ever since I entered the aquarium and piranha hobby. I figured I would never get a chance to own a fish like this again so I stopped thinking about it and disregarded the advice of my friends and I went for it anyways.

I picked him up Monday night and so far the bastard hasn't ate anything and it's mighty skinny. I'm not overly worried about it because i'm sure it will eat soon. But i'm definitley keeping an eye on it though.

Anyways.....heres the eye candy.
You can see him lurking in the top corner

















KINGofKINGS...I may have you beat on this one









EDIT: Sorry I was creeping the lounge right before this....My mistake. Mods feel free to move it


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## Piranha_man

That thing is nothing short of awesome!









Would love to see a feeding video.


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## ICEE

lounge? fail

17 inch rhomb nice.. any better shots of the fish? I wanna see the head


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## scent troll

dude, that is a MONSTER piranha!!!!!!!!!!!!








when i saw dream fish im thinking this better be good...and god damnit...you hit the nail on the head!

for the record, whats the issue with posting this in the lounge???

dont worry about him not eating. very typical for a new home. give him several days to start gaining an appetite back


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## Tensa

that fish is a beast i really must say he deserves more pics on here asap!!!


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## ICEE

AS fan said:


> that fish is a beast i really must say he deserves more pics on here asap!!!


ya 1 pic. isnt really showing him off bro. get 1 million pics


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## Sheppard

I know, I know..more pics!!!

I'm at the office right now *ahem* working..(should be anyways haha)
I WILL get more pics up mark my words!

Tonight I will take some when I get home. 
I apologize for posting in the lounge..I can be n00bish at times what can I say.

Thanks for the comments. Can anyone think of a name for this beast? lol


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## scent troll

ICEE said:


> that fish is a beast i really must say he deserves more pics on here asap!!!


ya 1 pic. isnt really showing him off bro. get 1 million pics








[/quote]
icee do the world a favor and stop living

why not comment on it rather than criticize and be a dick hole
GTFO


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## Demon Darko

hell yes


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## notaverage

ONLY 1 Picture?
That is such a C*Ck tease dude!

How about a few more.

Looks good though.


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## ICEE

Ocellatus2000 said:


> that fish is a beast i really must say he deserves more pics on here asap!!!


ya 1 pic. isnt really showing him off bro. get 1 million pics








[/quote]
icee do the world a favor and stop living

why not comment on it rather than criticize and be a dick hole
GTFO
[/quote]

it was constructive criticism asshole. stop ruining this thread


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## NegativeSpin

Looks more like a "nightmare fish." "It's the power of Christ that compels you!" You might be able to go into the city and score with some hot goth chicks with that fish.


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## ICEE

see everyone wants to see more dumbass mike


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## scent troll

ICEE said:


> see everyone wants to see more dumbass mike


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## Sheppard

Whoa...everyone wants more pics? geee I hadn't realized :rasp:



notaverage said:


> Looks more like a "nightmare fish." "It's the power of Christ that compels you!" You might be able to go into the city and score with some hot goth chicks with that fish.


Not a bad idea..Some of those goth chicks aren't all that bad. I mean it would still be a one time deal, and as long as there are no spikes, chains and leather involved im good to go.

All joking aside..I'll have pics up later tonight for you assholes lol


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## stackbrickz

Whoaaa I would have done the exact same thing trading those pygo's for that beast.......Just call him Beast


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## VRM

post up some more pics. thats a huuuge bitch


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer

Damn! Throw some Dz on that Bitch!


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## notaverage

Dz?


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## ICEE

he meant D's


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## notaverage

I figured that but what the hell does that mean?

I think I had to many beers.


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## irishfan 689

Sheppard said:


> You can see him lurking in the top corner


Haha good thing you added that little bit I almost missed him!


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## ICEE

its a rap term. D"s or dubs like put some 20 inch rims on. The saying is throw some D's on that bitch. I have no Idea why speakyourmind said it


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## Sheppard

irishfan 689 said:


> You can see him lurking in the top corner


Haha good thing you added that little bit I almost missed him!
[/quote]

I was just thinking that!!! I thought oh man I know someone will razz me about that and sure enough you did!
I don't even know why I said that because you can't miss the s.o.b!

Anyways, I really don't get why I was told "Throw some D'z on that bitch" either...but anywho heres the pics!

Here he is in his container right when I got it home








Here he is as of 20minutes ago




































There you go!!

My plans for the tank is to plant out the entire centre around the driftwood so all you can see is the brachnes poking through the plants. I have 3 pygmy chain swords on the way and I want some Vals to grow tall in the back behind the wood.


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## Lifer374

extremely impressive Sheppard.
Congrads.


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## WhiteLineRacer

Feed him up he looks starved

Great fish though


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## watermonst3rs

that's a BEAST. nice tank too.. any way to clear up the HITH scars? My rhom got HITH when I started replacing carbon cartriges once a week. I knew that caused it cause my Rhom was flawless then boom 5 weeks in he had bad scars. I've tried everything it's been over 3yrs but no sign of the scars getting better. Other than that he's perfect.


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## Dezboy

well i have to say, a beautiful fish and congrats on the pick up mate, im sure your gonna love him....

dez


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## Moondemon

Amazing Rhom !!!


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## C0Rey

thats a dream fish right there for shure. congrats, i hope hes fully up and running in a short time!


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## razorback182

nice pickup man, good luck on the HITH.


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## Sheppard

Thanks alot guys!

I was really hoping it wasn't HITH but I didn't even mention anything and some of you have noticed it. Iv'e never had to deal with it before so I have no idea what course of action to take. Maybe that is the reason he isn't eating?!

That's the only thing im worried about on this fish..it's super skinny! 
I'm sure it will come around and eat something for me


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## Tensa

clean water and good diet should be fine for now unless it gets worse dont worry about it yet. He is in a good home so just do what you always do and enjoy him. still looks amazing.


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## Nick G

amazing fish sir!


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## Doktordet

Nice!







Congratz!


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## CichlidAddict

Absolute beast. He'll fill out nicely once he starts eating.


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## notaverage

Very nice!

Get him to eat he is skinny brotha!

What have you been trying to feed him?
WHat was his diet before you purchased him?
DO you have contact with the previous owner to find out any history on this guy?

Good luck and keep us updated!
He is gonna be great


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## Retaks

I wish mine was even close to that big.


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## Nick G

Retaks said:


> I wish mine was even close to that big.


if i had a dollar for every time i heard that in my life.









what size tank is that monster in?


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## FishermanCanada

That Piranha is a beast sheppard.He looks a bit on the rough side though, skinny and beat up a bit. I'm glad to see it in your hands. When I got my beast he was in rough shape too, now he is amazing (colour, size and health). Did you get this fish from gamedogg?

Trust me you will not miss your shoal very much after having that big guy for a while, they seem to have different personalities than smaller rhoms.

By the way what ever happened to your huge tern you traded with me?


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## cobrafox46

Absolutely Awesome Rhom!!!! Can't wait to see him fattened up!!


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## Sheppard

AS fan said:


> That Piranha is a beast sheppard.He looks a bit on the rough side though, skinny and beat up a bit. I'm glad to see it in your hands. When I got my beast he was in rough shape too, now he is amazing (colour, size and health). Did you get this fish from gamedogg?
> 
> Trust me you will not miss your shoal very much after having that big guy for a while, they seem to have different personalities than smaller rhoms.
> 
> By the way what ever happened to your huge tern you traded with me?


Yes it came from gamedogg..although I never did meet him, we just spoke on the phone. The fish was being cared for by a friend of his.

And youv'e got the wrong guy lol I remember getting a PM from you awhile back about a Tern actually..but it was the wrong guy. 
We met at the airport afew years back now and I ordered 2 Terns. I was with my gf at the time and little italian friend (inflade)
Iv'e had those Terns the whole time up untill I traded them with my other pygos for this guy.

I'm not sure who you traded a huge Tern with! I would have liked to see it though I love Terns.

Thanks again for the comments!
I'm going to try and feed him again lol


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## AKSkirmish

Impressive Sheppard


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## Grosse Gurke

Nice Rhom. He will eat when he is ready....it isnt a big deal.

Moved to pics.


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## Quido

Damn! What a beast!


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## Sanjo Eel

Wow great Monster Rhom!!!


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## Sheppard

Thanks alot GG,

You have experience with big Rhoms don't you??
Got any recommendations for HITH?

Iv'e got some reading to do lol


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## ICEE

Def one of the biggest rhombs on here. congrats man. dream fish for sure


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## VEGA

What a rhom ... you are very lucky


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## Restricted-

i wish i had a rhom like that.


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## notaverage

HITH-Hole in the Head.
From what I have read there is the "Carbon Theory" and vitamin difficiency. 
Its also supposed to be very closely related to water quality as well..just as many other diseases.

Water changes, salt, and a high vitamin diet are some of the treatments used together to "Cure" or send into remission.


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## KINGofKINGS

WOW Shepp--- Awsome fish... Looks like the Bigger Brother of mine!!lol







How is his temperment so far?? Hopefully his diet and the HITH turns around...

Just a recommendation... I know the branchy driftwood looks top notch in there but Ive always been leary of having sharp pointy branches in with a fish like that... especially when/ if he decideds to spook and freak out or if you plan on keeping live community fish with him... your running the risk of possible major damage to the fish if he takes on that driftwood-- im sure youve thought of that but just felt the need to point it out-


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## Sheppard

notaverage said:


> WOW Shepp--- Awsome fish... Looks like the Bigger Brother of mine!!lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How is his temperment so far?? Hopefully his diet and the HITH turns around...
> 
> Just a recommendation... I know the branchy driftwood looks top notch in there but Ive always been leary of having sharp pointy branches in with a fish like that... especially when/ if he decideds to spook and freak out or if you plan on keeping live community fish with him... your running the risk of possible major damage to the fish if he takes on that driftwood-- im sure youve thought of that but just felt the need to point it out-


Sorry about that..but I may have you beat slightly in the size department lol

Thanks for pointing that out though...I did breifly consider that at first. But so far his temperment has been unbeleivably calm. He's just been cruising the tank back and forth swimming without a care in the world. I love just sitting there watching it.
If he starts to get a little more wild and spooking out often then I will change out that large piece of wood for my smaller one. 
The only bad part about it is that I have attatched so much moss to that piece!!! and I will have to remove it all too.
We'll see how it plays out.


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## KINGofKINGS

Right... mine is the same way and loves to chase, BUT every once in a while he will get spooked-- its just something rhoms do- always unpredictable... just find a nice piece that stays low to the ground and isnt so branchy--- but anyway, yea you may have me beat for now!! haha... but stay tuned-- My home is for sale and I beleive it is sold.... by this time next year I should have EVERYONE in envy as to what my future plans are with my future dream home!!!! AAHHHHAAAAHHHHHAAAAAHHHHHAAAA


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## Sheppard

KINGofKINGS said:


> Right... mine is the same way and loves to chase, BUT every once in a while he will get spooked-- its just something rhoms do- always unpredictable... just find a nice piece that stays low to the ground and isnt so branchy--- but anyway, yea you may have me beat for now!! haha... but stay tuned-- My home is for sale and I beleive it is sold....


Thanks for the heads up..I am certainly going to keep an eye on him and check for any scrapes during my daily hour long stare at my tank lol I can't beleive this thing...Don't get me wrong I LOVE pygo's and they are all ive ever had. My big Caribes, Tern and the Piraya I got rid of were the best I ever had (you can see the video I made on pg1







) But this Rhom just has me in awe everytime I look at it.

This is my very first Serra EVER! I was a little skeptical of getting one at first because I thought "ok i'll get a little Serra that grows uber slow and give it the entire 180g? nahhh I couldn't justify that. But then this fish crept up on me and I snatched the deal up right away. Now all of a sudden this single fish makes my tank look like a 50gal lol



> by this time next year I should have EVERYONE in envy as to what my future plans are with my future dream home!!!! *AAHHHHAAAAHHHHHAAAAAHHHHHAAAA*


I know I can't hear you...but man I can imagine that laugh sounds pretty damn evil! It's actually making me wonder what youv'e got up your sleeve!! And what these "plans" are!!

Do you have plans for just the house? Or you mean your tank setups and fish?
I'm not sure who has the biggest Rhom on the site..Pat I think has a bigger Rhom but who knows...I just know there are a handfull of monsters on the site! woohooo Monster Rhom Club!!

ahhhh...I'm way too hyped..the excitement hasn't wore off me yet since the night I got this guy lol

Oh ya congrats on the sale of your house!


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## KINGofKINGS

yeah... my home meaning my plans with future tankS and fish--- Im making good cash flow now... Its all being saved for next spring- my basement is gonna look like fricken seaworld... but only w/ p's!! haha- and there will be one large sw tank....... but enough about me that fish is awesome- and fyi- it will never get old staring at that guy!

and that laugh was nasty- good pickup!!


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## Sheppard

KINGofKINGS said:


> yeah... my home meaning my plans with future tankS and fish--- Im making good cash flow now... Its all being saved for next spring- my basement is gonna look like fricken seaworld... but only w/ p's!! haha- and there will be one large sw tank....... but enough about me that fish is awesome- and fyi- it will never get old staring at that guy!
> 
> and that laugh was nasty- good pickup!!


Well keep us posted on the house progress and especially keep us up to date with all the dirt on those new setups!!
And i'll keep you posted on the Rhom


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## PygoLover

speachless... amazing rhomb mate








Tommy


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer

Even though I've grown bored of keeping most piranhas and freshwater fish in general, I would sell my whole marine set-up for this rhom. Its a beauty for real.


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## lo4life

Loss of words man! Truely amazing. Glad you got your dream fish!!!!! GL with him and keep us posted on the progress with him


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## Yanfloist

Awesome, keep us updated!


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## Sheppard

Thanks gents!

Speaking of updates..I will have some new pics up later tonight. I changed the driftwood and as we speak I am building a very crude enclosure for my T5 retrofit! lol Hey I gotta use something...wait untill you guys see this thing it's actually giving me a laugh.

Also, another attempt at the Rhoms first feeding since it's been in my care.
Stay tuned


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## ICEE

Sheppard said:


> Thanks gents!
> 
> Speaking of updates..I will have some new pics up later tonight. I changed the driftwood and as we speak I am building a very crude enclosure for my T5 retrofit! lol Hey I gotta use something...wait untill you guys see this thing it's actually giving me a laugh.
> 
> Also, another attempt at the Rhoms first feeding since it's been in my care.
> Stay tuned


no pics


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## J-Lo

Why do all the large rhoms have HITH. Can some one explain this my old 17'' rhom had the same problem


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## lo4life

Come on Sheppard.... We want to see some more of this fish.... oh and that T5 enclosure....... lol


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## KINGofKINGS

J-Lo said:


> Why do all the large rhoms have HITH. Can some one explain this my old 17'' rhom had the same problem


old age?


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## NegativeSpin

Hopefully your Rhom will live for at least 10 years in addition to its current age. You should prepare yourself for when it finally dies and try to find out if there is a way of aging fish somehow by examining a cross section of their bones under a microscope. That could provide real useful information as to how long it took it to reach 17 inches long. I'll do some googling and try to find out.

A quick google showed that the Frontal Bone is the best for showing growth rings and determining the age of fish.


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## Sheppard

ICEE said:


> Come on Sheppard.... We want to see some more of this fish.... oh and that T5 enclosure....... lol


I know, I know guys.....I did snap a couple pics last night but not too many.
Here's a couple quick ones for now..
I will do a proper update tommorow sometime since I have zero time right now.

Heres the pics BLING BLING









Mind the string on the wood, it's only there until the moss takes to the driftwood. I'll give it 5 more days or so before I remove it.








Heres a quick pic of the most ghetto T5 enclosure you will ever see lol









More to come!
later gents


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## Trigga

you are one lucky man sir


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## Tensa

its "darkness!!!"


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## lo4life

Hey man sometimes ghetto works better in my experience. lol Rhom envy sucks LMAO!!!! Looks like his color is gettin better.


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## Young Gotti

Nice Rhom! Who did ya trade ur pygos 2? The 6 are doin great and eating well. Feeding them everyother day.


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## boiler149

super sweet fish

super sweet fish


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## KINGofKINGS

Long lost brothers.........?........?


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## lo4life

Picture of perfection. Nice Rhom KING. How much does that big boy eat?


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## KINGofKINGS

he gets two jumbo shrimp every third day or so... dont like the look of fat/bloated monster rhoms... want to keep mine flat--

hows ur monster takn to food shepp?...


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## Sheppard

I effing love your Rhom KING, Iv'e been a huge fan of that fish ever since you got it.

I know iv'e really been lagging on that update I promised everyone lol but things have been nuts lately..TGIF!
I'll have an update tonight though...(I mean it this time)

Anyways KING, the bad boy isn't taking food..Hasn't since iv'e had it. This HITH he's got is really making me mad.
I put in a nice piece of sole last night and he made attempts at it..and then it backed away and showed no interest. 
From what I have read about HITH the fish really suffers a loss in appetite. That explains why its so skinny.

At the moment its being treated for it. So i'm hoping for the best. I will have a better idea on its progress by next week.

And KING, I think you need an update thread on TANK! You know we all never get tired of seeing that badass!

oh yeah, stay tuned


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## KINGofKINGS

be patient with the food shepp... he'll be fine- if you are treating him with meds id personally not feed until that the treatment is over... what is the history with the fish?? was he recently pulled from the river?? does he need a prazi treatment after the hith meds?? There WAS only one rhom on here that made me jealous... now if yours heals theres gonna be 2!!







sucks to be me! lol- jk

Ill do an update on the TANK next week, after looking at that pic compared to older ones he looks pretty plump--?? but yeah, I know you loved him due to your positive responses- which is why its nice to see you finally get your "dream fish"--- awesome stuff man-


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## Jonny_dw

That is an awesome rhom!Congrats mate!


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## Sanjo Eel

AS fan said:


> its "darkness!!!"











Darkness is spreading!

Looking great Sheppard I wish I had one. I'm just waiting for the right one to come along [sic]


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## Eating Machine

Wow, what an impressive beast!

Thanks for posting.


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## EZmoney

Sheppard said:


> This is my very first Serra EVER!


LOL geez you don't mess around when joining the serra club... the creme de la creme of serras right there!!! Gratz on the pickup.

also, i agree with KoK... try some prazipro in addition to your other HITH treatments.


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## Sheppard

Update Time!!

I know I said I would do this update a long time ago but I just got too lazy to do it. I decided I will do the update when my new plants arrive and my T5 bulbs.

The light I ordered came with 6 bulbs but 3 of them were actinics. I emailed the guys back and told them to send me some 6500K's instead. So today my dwarf chain swords and my 3 new bulbs arrived within hours of eachother!

Here's some pics of the crude looking enclosure I built for my T5 retrofit lol :laugh: 






















Heres some updated shots of the Rhom and the setup of the tank.
As you can see I took KINGofKING's advice and removed the large peice of driftwood I had in there and replaced it with a smaller peice. 
I think it looks alot better. I have some java moss covering the wood and amazon swords on either side. The chain swords are in front and i'm liking them so far. Hopefully they start multiplying at a decent rate.

I don't what im going to do with all this lighting!! 6x 54watt T5 HO's are running on this! lol
I think I'm going to need pressurized C02 real soon unless I want a tank full of algae.

Anyone know some good places where I can pick up a pressurized C02 system?
On with the pics!






















FTS


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## Gigante Pirana

I would hold off on the heavy lighting for this tank because your fish is still recovering and for the most part, very large rhoms become quite jittery when it comes to lighting. Btw, your fish has been in Canada for around 2 years or so. Good Luck!


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## Sheppard

Gigante Pirana said:


> I would hold off on the heavy lighting for this tank because your fish is still recovering and for the most part, very large rhoms become quite jittery when it comes to lighting. Btw, your fish has been in Canada for around 2 years or so. Good Luck!


Thanks for the input..I think I will just run half the lights for now.
And hasn't this Rhom been in Canada for a little over 3yrs? I remember george saying he got it around 3yrs ago.


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## boiler149

that is a monster for sure!


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## khmerboiRED

He is freakin HUGE!! awesome fish dude. Wonder how long he's been alive... either way, he's a monster!


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## notaverage

Hey man, enjoy that HUGE Rhom...but please share it with us!!!!


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## KINGofKINGS

whats the story behind this guy Shepp.... as in his background?....


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## boiler149

ya is there a story behind this guy?


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## ICEE

makes the 180 g look small. cool pics.

I would like to hear his background story as well


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## locust

Nice rhom!


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## Nick G

awesome fish.
sweet tank too man.


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## notaverage

Man your Rhom is in a 180!
Looks like a 75..man he really is large.


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## boiler149

ya he deff. makes that tank look mini


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## lo4life

Crazy fish Sheppard. Will look great when you get some weight back on him. Like the tank set up also!! Good job keep it up got a great fish there!


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## sapir

hows this guy doin sheppard?


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## boiler149

that fish is a BEAST!


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## nataz

Nice A** fish. Have you seen him tear into anything yet?


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## caribad

awesome fish! Is he filling out any?


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## ICEE

ya any updates?


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## Malawi-

Aimen.


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## lo4life

Sheppard hows the Rhom?? Been a while since you have posted.


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## Lifer374

Time for an update Shep.


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## ICEE

Tango374 said:


> Time for an update Shep.


agreed.


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