# Eigenmanni



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Well i took the plunge i am acclimating my new baby yellow eigenmanni i am going to house them in a 75 for now until they get a little bigger then i will put them in something larger ultimately something in the 180 range. I decided on this because of the reading i have done based on other people from this website doing impossible cohabs and my decision was to start in a 75. The 75 is housed under my rbp tank and is in a location that i can keep a eye on them. I am watching to see if any aggression occures while acclimating if there is aggression then they will be separated and i wont even try to cohab them but as of right now they all seem comfortable closer together. They look a little rough now because they are so fresh from shipping but im sure they will spring back soon. I am going to be a little like GG and i wont be posting a lot of pictures for a few reasons. My main reason is i am horrible at it and the second reason is The lighting and location of my tank is very bad for taking pictures but is fine for viewing. As the fish get bigger whether they are cohabed or not i will be posting more pictures. Please remember we are here to learn and help otheres. Any suggestions are appreciated but please no flaming. Here is what they look like fresh out of the bags. I will be updating later when i have more to say. Thanks


----------



## rhomkeeper (Mar 31, 2008)

good luck to ya i hope it all works out


----------



## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Man this is risky BUT good luck, i hope it all works out fro you


----------



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Good luck man hope everything goes well.. Keep us updated on everything.


----------



## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

Great, can't wait to watch these little guys grow!! I hope it all works out for ya!


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement the fish are in the tank now but the inevitable occured of course. when i placed them in the tank one of them went nuts and banged his eye on the top of the tank. Its not anything bad just a lil cloudy on the spot he hit it on. I think it will recover just fine all of them are still hangingout together and i am hoping that when i try to feed them they eat because they look like they could use a meal. Other then that things are ok for right now and i am keeping a close eye on them but they stay in places that it is impossible for me to see them in. One of them acts like he has the eye of the tiger and wants me dead lol i like this one obviously.


----------



## Demon Darko (Jan 28, 2007)

AS fan said:


> Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement the fish are in the tank now but the inevitable occured of course. when i placed them in the tank one of them went nuts and banged his eye on the top of the tank. Its not anything bad just a lil cloudy on the spot he hit it on. I think it will recover just fine all of them are still hangingout together and i am hoping that when i try to feed them they eat because they look like they could use a meal. Other then that things are ok for right now and i am keeping a close eye on them but they stay in places that it is impossible for me to see them in. One of them acts like he has the eye of the tiger and wants me dead lol i like this one obviously.










This last one sounds like he would be my favorite too. GL


----------



## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Make sure your feeding them a little but offen to try and dampen the aggression.........


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

sure thing Dezboy i appreciate helpful advice. I have some baby cons in the tank for them to chase around right now because i have some extras that are small. They seem to be in good spirits because one of them likes to stare at me for 2 seconds and then run. The cons also are missing small pieces of their tail lol.


----------



## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Yeah its great thing to have dither fish in the tank when trying to co-hab as it can sometime really help the aggression factor......try and get a breeder tank sorted fast


----------



## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

do you know of any other cohabs with this species and whether or not they were "successful"?

good luck.


----------



## Uncle Jesse (Feb 18, 2007)

Man those things have a wicked shape. I really hope this works. I didn't notice if you said or not but how many did you get?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

All of them made it through the nite and the one who injured his eye still is a little cloudy but it looks better today then yesterday. the only observed aggression is minor chasing in very short intervals and occasional shaking. NO bites yet luckily. Two of them have eaten like pigs and the third one is more interested in live food then frozen food so im working on that more today.



philbert said:


> do you know of any other cohabs with this species and whether or not they were "successful"?
> 
> good luck.


No i dont know of any other cohabs that were successful yet but if i hear anything else i will be sure to post about it. thanks for the luck.



> Man those things have a wicked shape. I really hope this works. I didn't notice if you said or not but how many did you get?


I have a total of 3.


----------



## Sanjo Eel (Aug 21, 2008)

Good luck w/that, I'll be watching this cohab!


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

good luck with this. those are some nice looking ps. Got some pics now that they are in their tanks?


----------



## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

cool as hell, g/l with that!


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

They like to hide a lot and when they swim out they swim very quickly. Occassionally they will "hangout" with me lol but the second they see the camera they go behind a ornament, plant or hide in a tunnel or something. I'm working on it though i want my photography friend to come take some shots because thats what he is good at but im waiting for them to heal first and my friend rarely does what he says so ill just try and get better at photography lol. They still are recovering there fins need more time to grow back but they are doing well eating very good and shockingly very very little aggression. My reds had more signs of aggression at this size then my eigenmanni's do. They dont seemed stressed at all either. sometimes they shoal together after a meal but aside from that they all go sit in their little corners and one is usually swimming/patroling at all times. Thier territorries seem to constantly change they dont seem to like one specific spot but instead take turns where they want to be. It really seems like this will work but im realistic about things and am just very excited there have been zero fin nips. I am doing daily water changes and keeping the params good nitrates never over 20, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and ph about 6.4 consistently.


----------



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Everything seems to be going great for you. I hope that it continues!


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

congrats man keep us updated


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks everyone like i said before i am really suprised and excited about how things have gone so far.


----------



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

good luck man!
put up pics of the tank when you can, would like to see it. 
like everyone said, keep us posted.


----------



## predator88 (Jul 1, 2008)

Good luck and i hope it works out for you


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

good luck im sure its extremly exciting to try something new like this, how are they doing so far?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

ill be posting a update later this week hopefully, all are still alive though :nod:


----------



## Bones82 (Sep 15, 2008)

AS fan said:


> ill be posting a update later this week hopefully, all are still alive though :nod:


Good deal. I hope everything continues to work.


----------



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

AS fan said:


> ill be posting a update later this week hopefully, all are still alive though :nod:


did something go wrong????? i hope not those are two nice fish!


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

it was two seperate ideas lol sorry im not great at typing.


----------



## Bones82 (Sep 15, 2008)

Off subject but does AS stand for anabolic steroids?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

lol no it stands for aquascape it was my pathetic attempt at getting a discount/ free fish lol.


----------



## Bones82 (Sep 15, 2008)

AS fan said:


> lol no it stands for aquascape it was my pathetic attempt at getting a discount/ free fish lol.


Oh...haha. I was trying to think what all could AS stand for and that was just one I thought of. Aquascape makes much more sense.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Well it has officially been a month since i got them and there true nature has started to show. I have tried introducing pellets to them with more success then i anticipated. All 3 are still doing very well to ok. The smallest of them took to pellets very fast and the second largest took slightly slower to them. The biggest and dominant does not like the pellets but has eaten them a few times. They show aggression toward one another at times but it is not usually related to territory. they each have their own spots behind given objects in the tank and sometimes they huddle up together and then swim off together as a group. As i was trying to get them on pellets the largest one decided he wanted live food and decided to eat the smaller ones tail most of the way off but not biting into the flesh, so i think it will grow back but it is missing all of the fin its just the flesh does not seem to be affected. this occured when i was out of town so i couldnt take him out until i got home which is when i foundout about it. the smallest one is currently divided from the rest of them in hopes that his tail will grow back normally. He is very active and refuses to stay still just like the other 2. Growth rate appears to be about a half inch but i think with increased feeding their growth would be slightly higher. because they dont all like the pellets they refuse to eat for a day or two here and there sometimes longer. the smallest of the 3 eats more then the others but still remains the smallest which i attribute genetics and the fact that he is the runt to lack of growth. The largest seems to grow more then the others even though he doesnt eat as much as the other 2. I had several cons in with them and the P's would destroy the tails like a kid in a candy store but only killed off 3 or 4. eventually i was down to 2 cons which i thought were both female(i tried to remove all the males so they wouldnt pair up and become aggressive toward the P's but that didnt work) but when i checked today i had fry under one of the ornaments so i guess one of them was a male lol. all in all things seem to go as i hoped but there is only a trace of color on the largest of the three's gills. i was hoping that i could get the color to pop by now but i guess that will have to wait until next month.


----------



## momo18 (Sep 21, 2008)

Cool read man glad things havent taken a turn for the worse...I love reading about these cohab's that are supposed to not workout. Keep up the great work.


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

pics!!!


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

thanks for the comments sorry i still havent been able to get more pics yet like i said they hide a lot and move very quickly when they are out. i promise to have pics by the next update.


----------



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

cool man, thanks for the update


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

To be honest im surprised it even is still going on. My eigenmanni attacks his own reflection in the glass. But as GG mentioned the other day in one of my topics all it takes is the right combination of fish. You never know. Best of luck with the injured one and the rest.


----------



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Thats good to hear AS fan! Well the tail thing sucks but other then that everything sounds good..


----------



## Demon Darko (Jan 28, 2007)

Are you going to re-introduce the one you had seperated from the shoal?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks everyone and yes slytooth13 the seperated one will be re-introduced once he has had enough time to recover.


----------



## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

A few comments. From experience with serra tanks, id ween them off feeders asap. From my experience live feeding has only caused issues is these little experimental tanks. Also, dont think because you miss a meal they will cannibalize. In many of my serra groups I found the less often i feed, the less aggressive the tanks were. I may have missed it, but what size are these lil guys now?


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Ex0dus said:


> A few comments. From experience with serra tanks, id ween them off feeders asap. From my experience live feeding has only caused issues is these little experimental tanks. Also, dont think because you miss a meal they will cannibalize. In many of my serra groups I found the less often i feed, the less aggressive the tanks were. I may have missed it, but what size are these lil guys now?


I havent been feeding them live but they have just been available to them more so as dither fish. they eat normal P food like shrimp tilapia and pellets. They are about 2.5 inches roughly one is noticeable larger then the other 2 and definitely is the only tank banger in the bunch. Thanks for your advice.


----------



## Malawi- (Oct 21, 2008)

Good read, nice pictures of them and good luck. Hope it works out for you.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

well i am not too happy about this but one of them died for what i believe as no reason. i took it out of the tank just as i found it placed it in a bucket so i could snap a shot in the bathroom because thats the only place i could get the pic to turn out in. now i am left with my biggest one who i call Rocky because of his bad attitude and tendency to be the strongest of the group and my runt which i just call Runt. the runt is separated because he had his tail chewed off again before the other one died so i am waiting to see if it grows back or not either way im going to keep them seperated for awhile so this cohab is officially suspended until further notice. the one that died was missing a tail by the time i came back from thanksgiving vacation but it wasnt a life threating injury so i assume it was nawed on out of hunger instead of fighting after it died. part of the tail fin was missing before i left just not completely off like in the picture. also the fish was purple and yellow. the fish i have are not showing this strong yellow color yet they only have a humeral spot and the rest of their body looks almost like the day i bought them. i have no idea where the purple came from so if anyone knows please post about it. my best guess about the purple is that the fish being in contact with the air picked up some purple strain of fungus or something. hopefully my fish start to show this strong yellow color in the near future.


----------



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

AS, sorry about the loss. 
i finally got a good picture of mine, i hope you dont mind me putting it in here, if so, ill remove it and start another thread.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Nick its a honor to have you comment and post a beautiful pic like that in my thread. your fish looks amazing and it is showing more color then mine right now but we will see in a few months i might have a chance to catch you now that i have them solo.


----------



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

AS fan said:


> Nick its a honor to have you comment and post a beautiful pic like that in my thread. your fish looks amazing and it is showing more color then mine right now but we will see in a few months i might have a chance to catch you now that i have them solo.


hey man, not a problem. you were trying big things. i was just playing it safe. im surprised i was able to get a pic of him, he never seems to stop! i cant wait til th yellow starts to pop out.


----------



## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

Nice looking fish Nick, i assume your eigeis look the same AS, man that really makes me want to get some of those 2" eigies and grow em out they look awsome at that size real aggressive look to them. thanks for posting the topic guys


----------



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

JustJoshinYa said:


> Nice looking fish Nick, i assume your eigeis look the same AS, man that really makes me want to get some of those 2" eigies and grow em out * they look awsome at that size real aggressive* look to them . thanks for posting the topic guys


thanks man. 








do it.


----------



## Chapz (Jul 9, 2007)

AS fan, Sorry for the loss. Dont give up from that one.

Nick G, Nice pic. Im also surprised u got a good pic. You always complain fish doesnt stay still. Good job.


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

thanks for the kind words.


----------



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I knew you was having problems with them but from the sounds of it, it wasnt anything critical. GL with the other two AS.. You going to try to introduce another one??


----------



## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

no i cant afford to buy another one and these fish prob wont be available for a long time again either cuz they are sold out. these are the yellow variant so they are even harder to find then the red ones. the death wasnt a result of a attack so the fin nipping wasnt the issue. jury is still out on why he died.


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

In a strange way you may have better luck with the 2 of them than 3. Dont count that out.


----------

