# Just about my entire fish collection (load warnin)



## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Hey guys, thought I'd put together a collection of just about all the fish I own, or at least a representative of each. Missing from this collection is my betta, a rubbernose pleco, and a siamese flying fox that has miraculously lived with my rhom for months. Also, you'll have to fogive this but the red belly shots are not new shots, it's alot of trouble to photograph them so I hope you can let it slide









First the rhombeus, Ahhhhnuld









This is likely the last thing my poor pleco ever saw







(The stomach bulge is because he has just eaten... see next pictures)









Anyone with a piranha can appreciate the savagery with which they feed. This rhom has never failed to disapoint in that category









Humorously enough, people sometimes make the mistake of assuming cichlids have no teeth. Not surprisingly, nobody has ever made that mistake about piranhas... wonder why









Speaking of cichlids, I keep several. They're great fish and would encourage you piranha only guys to try a tank one day. This is my kribensis, he is the smallest cichlid in the tank, and he is supposed to be the wimpiest. Instead he kicks ass on anyone who messes with him, but never causes any problems unless provoked.









I used to keep 9 tiger barbs in with my cichlids, now there are six. Compared to how these guys died, getting eaten by a piranha is a clean death. My Green Terror would bite one in the face, and then shake so vigorously the tiger barbs head would get torn off with the spine and internal organs still attached. The only thing left behind would be a perfectly filleted tiger barb, split down the middle with the organs removed... it was wierd as hell until I figured out what was happening.









Speaking of my green terror...









A green terror in the pet store is what got me into cichlid keeping, it was nice to finally own one of my own. He's about 5 or 6 inches SL









He chills with (and by chills, I mean fights) these convicts. You can see a little damage on all three fish, which is uncommon but the GT killed a catfish and they all started fighting over the cave once it was gone









*MORE PICTURES BELOW*


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## johnblaze (Jul 17, 2005)

damn nice rhom and great collektion!!


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## King Oscar (Apr 5, 2005)

wow real nice dude i like ur cons


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

These are my red bellies, I've got three and they were my first piranhas. Had four, and one took the leap of faith onto the floor chasing an exodon...









Here's one of my reds late at night in sleeping colors. Note the color difference. I think this was the picture I won POTM with, don't hoenstly remember though









Also in the tank are three exodons, been there over a year now. This was actually the most difficult photo I've ever captured, these guys are FAST









Lastly of my predators is my puffer. This guy is cool like you wouldn't believe, and he's about as close as any fish will come to being a ninja. When I walk into the room and look into his tank I see nothing, but without fail he materializes from a mass of plants to come to the front. He's literally invisible unless he wants you to see him, it's wild.









He is in a nutshell, one cute bastard as well









A little bit of trivia. Puffers have no ribs to help them inflate. This also means you can see pretty clearly how much they've eaten. First time mine ate I thought he was going to die









And here's some unlikely tankmates. These guys were supposed to be food, but I don't think my puffer realizes he can eat them









It's wild, I thought of them as stupid but they actually recognize me as the one who feeds them and swim and beg for food themselves... didn't expect that one bit.









Hope you guys enjoyed the photos. It's not the largest collection, or the rarest collection, but I love all the different fish I have and I'm glad as hell I didn't stick with just piranhas or just cichlids as some people have because I take something different from each of my tanks.


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## Elongatus cockus (May 28, 2005)

That's a sweet collection and some badass pictures


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## lightning2004 (Jun 25, 2005)

nice pics..i like how the ghost shrimp is hiding on the gravel..lol


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Very beautifull collection, Love the Green terror


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## NIKE (Jan 27, 2003)

great camera work and awesome fish. That Rhom rocks.


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

nice collection and nice pics, twitch


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## jaejae (Apr 16, 2005)

Thanks Rich,

Super super sweet man!!!! Great to see the entire collection (just about)!

How about some recent full tank shots of all the different tanks???

Thanks again

J


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

King Oscar said:


> wow real nice dude i like ur cons
> [snapback]1117091[/snapback]​


Thanks dude, they were my first cichlids and I got em as babies before I could even sex them. I was hoping for three females and lucked out, no serious fighting and no mating











lightning2004 said:


> nice pics..i like how the ghost shrimp is hiding on the gravel..lol
> [snapback]1117110[/snapback]​


Man ghost shrimp are nuts. You can look in the tank for 20 minutes and still have no idea where they all are. I think two of them live in a cave under one of the logs, I always gotta watch not to suck them out when I siphon. It's definately cool as hell seeing a transparent animal eat though, lol



bmpower007 said:


> Very beautifull collection, Love the Green terror
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Thanks man, only fish of mine I don't mind biting me too much, funny enough he's the one who does it constantly. Won't bite any of my friends, but comes up to me all casual and bites me constantly when my hand is in there. Bastard











jaejae said:


> Thanks Rich,
> 
> Super super sweet man!!!! Great to see the entire collection (just about)!
> 
> ...


Thanks man, I'll try some tank shots tommorow. My rhom tank hasn't been pruned in a month since he tried to bite me so it's fully gone wild in there but I should be able to post up a few shots. None of em really look as good as I've had in the past, but I been too busy to give a ton of thought to aquascaping lately.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Oh and thanks everyone else for the kind words, you guys are great


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## jaejae (Apr 16, 2005)

elTwitcho said:


> Oh and thanks everyone else for the kind words, you guys are great
> [snapback]1117261[/snapback]​


It's a pleasure. I can't wait for the full tank shots!!! I also kinda like that "unkept" look!









Jay


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## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Very good quality pictures. Your rhom keeps amaze me, he is absolutely fabulous. That first shot of the GT is worth entering in the NPOTM competition. It's a great shot


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Collection looks great man......


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Very nice man!


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

:laugh: excellent pictures and nice fish twicho.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

nice shots twitch, u never cease to amaze me with your pics. gotta love that GT, u rarely see any white saums like that


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## furious piranha (Mar 22, 2005)

ur greent terror is phat


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## STREGA (Mar 13, 2005)

nice pics, i'm not saying this because you're a mod.
but because the pics are superior.
S.


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

i think its cool to have a few different tanks but the maintaince

is gettin tough on me.

all your fish are lookin great, think i wanna turn my ten gallon into

some kinda puffer tank now


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

jan said:


> Very good quality pictures. Your rhom keeps amaze me, he is absolutely fabulous. That first shot of the GT is worth entering in the NPOTM competition. It's a great shot
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Thanks dude. I haven't done non-p POTM in a while, maybe I should get it entered











Tibs said:


> nice shots twitch, u never cease to amaze me with your pics. gotta love that GT, u rarely see any white saums like that
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Thanks man. Yeah he's a bit different than most of the green terror's I've seen, which is definately nice. For the longest time it took forever before he would show much color at all, and when it came in it was a bit different than you usually see, which I kind of like.



STREGA said:


> nice pics, i'm not saying this because you're a mod.
> but because the pics are superior.
> S.
> [snapback]1117717[/snapback]​


Thanks SRTEGA, and I would hope you're not saying it because I'm a mod, because I'm not a mod at the moment











MR.FREEZ said:


> i think its cool to have a few different tanks but the maintaince
> 
> is gettin tough on me.
> 
> ...


Yeah man, maintenance can be killer on a group of tanks but it's still maybe only an hour or so a week, so it aint too too bad. Hell I still use buckets believe it or not.

The pain in the ass is feeding, every night having to contend with a couple different fish with different dietary needs gets annoying. Oh well, price to pay I s'pose.

And for those interested, my none too nice looking tanks I keep these guys in. All of them have a perfectly valid excuse as to why they look like hell, lol.

This is my puffer tank. It's about the only one I'm really content with the looks on. Had to provide alot of things in there to keep the puffer interested, and he doesn't like open spaces so it's functional and looks alright to me. Background needs to be replaced with some other white backing, but sh*t I'm lazy. Really lazy.
View attachment 69749


The red belly tank was actually a kind of interesting aquascaping. I was lazy adding sand to the tank when we moved so I literally just dumped it right in. The tank was so fogged you couldn't see into it at all, and so I just literally tossed the decorations in at the top and let them sink into wherever they were going to end up so I could rearrange the next day. When the dust cleared, I actually liked the look, and the fish seemed to love it.
View attachment 69750


The rhom tank hasn't been trimmed in a month. Last time I was in there pruning, he darted at my hand and I haven't been in there since. No way am I getting chewed on by a rhombeus. So the plants on the left are overgrown, which isn't a huge deal because I've never seen him leave his territory on the right hand side of the tank once. He couldn't care less what was on the left side, he's never been there.
View attachment 69751


The green terror tank has some interesting aquascaping which if you don't like, you'll have to talk to him about. He's long since moved around the plants to where he likes them, and has moved the clay pot around as well. It looks very little like my original aquascape, but he seems to like it so I don't mess around with what he's done.
View attachment 69752


And thanks again to everyone who commented. Definately you guys are too nice


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Nice!!!!! lol and I'm envious of that camera you have!! That thing takes gorgeous pics.


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

Your tanks and fish look great! I wish I could use a camera half as well as you









LOL I have givin' up on aquascaping my GT's tank as well. I let him arrange it the way he likes as well!


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

CROSSHAIR223 said:


> Nice!!!!! lol and I'm envious of that camera you have!! That thing takes gorgeous pics.
> 
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Oh sure, no credit for the guy behind the camera, lol


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

Your tanks look awesome, Twitch


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## ~Silly~Spy (Mar 12, 2005)

looks great man! wish i had your photographing skills!


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Holy crap you take some nice pictures! Love that breaching GT.


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## spec-v (Feb 27, 2005)

love that puffer twitch, great pics and that rhom is the sh*t


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Thanks again everyone.

Spec the puffer is great. Watching him feed is something else, he bee lines for his food the moment he notices it there, not even a fraction of a moment's hesitation like any of my other fish. My rhom for instance will never let food hit the bottom, but there's always maybe a half second delay where he spots the food and thinks about it, then rushes at it. The puffer just goes instantly without thinking, it's wild. He's also the only fish I feed by hand since his teeth aren't big enough to do any real damage. The red bellies probably wouldn't take food from my hand, the rhom's teeth are just way too dangerous and my green terror I stopped feeding by hand because he would keep biting me on purpose









And give the tanks some time, when I can get everything sorted they'll be looking awesome again.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Awesome pictures man









I really like your set-ups: apart from the Rhom tank, they all seem to share the same kind of theme, at least in my perception (almost like a product line).
And your collection of fish is great too: nice variation.

I just got my first non-as-feeder-intended Cichlids for my now de-piranha'd 50g tank: two pairs of Ram Cichlids and Three Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids, and I have to say, they are pretty darn sweet...


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

After seeing your pics I am going to get either a Green Terror or a puffer for my next tank. Your pictures sell them well!


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Judazzz said:


> Awesome pictures man
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Thanks dude, I think I'm gonna be redoing the rhom tank sometime soon. I'm just gonna toss the bastard in a bucket for half an hour while I work in there, it's gonna cost me another net but I've got some big ideas for that tank.

And welcome to the world of cichlid keeping, piranha owners tend to get a little surprised that they're good for more than just being eaten. Give it time and when they're fully comfortable their behavior is complex enough that they can be really interesting to watch. Someone on CM actually got his flowerhorn to play tag with him, he'd hold his hand still and the FH would tag him, then he'd chase the fish and tag him back and keep going, it was pretty cool.



BigChuckP said:


> After seeing your pics I am going to get either a Green Terror or a puffer for my next tank. Your pictures sell them well!
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That's awesome man. Both are really cool fish although the puffer is definately more personable, but less fun to watch. Truth be told, I don't get to see much of his normal behavior because whenever I'm around he's at the front of the tank looking at me, begging for food or watching me as much as I'm watching him. The green terror isn't so friendly but he does more things to watch. Just my experience, but hopefully it makes your choice a bit easier, both are good, but they're different.

When I get my other camera back in a few weeks I'm gonna do a puffer feeding vid, it's something else to watch him eat.


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

elTwitcho said:


> CROSSHAIR223 said:
> 
> 
> > Nice!!!!! lol and I'm envious of that camera you have!! That thing takes gorgeous pics.
> ...


Never is :laugh:

Richard You slimey Bastard, The pics are grea, of some Great fish mna!


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## Red_belly (Jul 7, 2005)

Nice collection!!!


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## mr_b401 (Jul 6, 2005)

Great collection bro! I enjoyed em. Variety is always awesome.

Keep up the great pic-taking.


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## HyBrid (Feb 25, 2005)

WOW those pics are truley AWESOME!
all of your fish are cool and those tanks are also very cool!!!


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## mr.bearhasyourlady (Jun 1, 2004)

very cool


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## yeayea123 (Feb 12, 2005)

Excellent Pics,

Let's see your betta!


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## PuffPiff (May 23, 2005)

nice i need me some exo's


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## Ries (Mar 20, 2004)

your pics are great


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## jahnke31 (Dec 4, 2003)

everything you have is awesome!!! your tanks, your fish, and of course your picture taking abilities!!! thanks for sharing!!


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Gordeez said:


> elTwitcho said:
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> > CROSSHAIR223 said:
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Red_belly said:


> Nice collection!!!
> [snapback]1126009[/snapback]​





mr_b401 said:


> Great collection bro! I enjoyed em. Variety is always awesome.
> 
> Keep up the great pic-taking.
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> ...





HyBrid said:


> WOW those pics are truley AWESOME!
> all of your fish are cool and those tanks are also very cool!!!
> 
> 
> ...





mr.bearhasyourlady said:


> very cool
> [snapback]1131621[/snapback]​





yeayea123 said:


> Excellent Pics,
> 
> Let's see your betta!
> [snapback]1131782[/snapback]​





PuffPiff said:


> nice i need me some exo's
> [snapback]1133655[/snapback]​





Ries said:


> your pics are great
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jahnke31 said:


> everything you have is awesome!!! your tanks, your fish, and of course your picture taking abilities!!! thanks for sharing!!
> [snapback]1134382[/snapback]​


Mind the huge quote, I feel bad specifically thanking some people and not others. So thanks a whole ton guys









No pictures of the betta though, the tank is in a positition that really is just about impossible to photograph, I'm just not bothering with that lol


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## red&black (Feb 25, 2005)

havn't seen that rhom in a while. very badass collestion you have got there. you mind me asking what kinda cam you use


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Don't mind at all, it's a Canon EOS 10D with a 50mm F1.8 lense on it.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos10d.asp


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## malicious1 (Jul 4, 2005)

great pics, awesome clarity.


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