# 5 week update on brandti/pygo mix



## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

Things have been pretty mellow in the tank that last few weeks. I set up a nice little cove for him about 3 weeks back where he could be by himself- away from the pygos. I moved his favorite cinder block-cave into the corner and set up some driftwood around him creating a nice secluded area for him that consisted of about 150 gallons or so. I hoped he would love it back there especially when the pygos really didn't use that area. He went back there every once in a while but now he's back on his perch above the other cinderblock. He sits up there so he can attack the pygos from above and blindside them when they swim below. When they first started getting the nips on their dorsals I knew exactly where they were comming from. I only witnessed it happen a couple of times. In the last 3 weeks he has really mellowed out. At first he picked on only the larger pygo's, maybe to set an example and make his presence known, I dont know. His favorite target was my big fat one eyed red. The red is a good 11 1/2" and FAT, but extremely stupid and it made a easy target and sets a good impression for the far smaller brandti. He slammed all the big boys in the dorsal fin at one time a few weeks ago. None of the hits were hard, they were all just fin nips and nothing serious that would put my big boys in danger. If I thought or think, at any time my bigger fish are in danger the brandti's comming out. If I think they are in imediate danger I can take my other 6 pygos out from my 75g and throw them in the big tank and put the brandti in the 75g or I can always set up my 165g if I realize that it's just not gonna work. Either way, he has 2 options that will suit him just fine. This experiment isn't a "make or brake" experiment. I'm might take him out this summer when I add my driftwood so I can throw my little pygos in there during the disturbance. It all depends on how big my little guys are and how the brandti is treating fish of similar size at the time. I may have to hold off for a while to put the little guys in. We'll see when we get there.

Ayways, to get to where we are at today with the brandti, he has calmed down a lot. Most of the fin nips on the bigger fish are completely healed with no new really fresh ones. When he was nipping the big boys he was leaving the small ones alone. He was pretty much focusing on the fish 11" or better when he's probably right around 8" ( I figured that out when I threw new cariba in the tank that measured about 7 1/4 and the brandti was quite a bit bigger, I was told he was 7" when I got him, apparently he is bigger). Now he has redirected his attention to the fish a little more his size. Still, there's not too much nipping going on. There's only a couple of the smaller pygos with fresh nips. Even when he does nip the fins he's not tearing them apart. It's usually just one semi-circle and thats it. Even though the agression level of the brandti is at a low, this is the stage that makes me a little more nervous. Now he is picking on fish of similar size which means one good bite from the brandti could spell death for the pygo. I'm not overly concerned right now though because the majority of my fish closer to his size are reds. Most likely I'll be weeding out most of these little reds anyway when the tank starts to get a little more crowded. At least it won't be a big punch in the wallet if it works out that way. The way it looks right now the agression level of the brandti seems to be on a steady decline now that he's made his presence known and has staked out his territory on top of the cinder block. In the last few weeks he has also become a very active participant in the feedings. It took a few weeks before I actually saw him eat, but now he jumps right in there for every feeding and runs away with a good chunk of meat, forcing it down befor the trailing pygos rip it out of his mouth. If it does work out this brandti could get big do to the competion for food created by the pygos. There are nights where he is just bulging because he forced down more than he could handle because the pygos were trying to rip it out of his mouth. Dam is that fish fast. Thats about all I can write right now and I'm sure thats about all you care to read. If theres any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them. I must appoligize for the poor pics. Next chrismas present for my wife is a kick ass camera :laugh: Here's a couple of pics of him on his perch


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## jahnke31 (Dec 4, 2003)

that brandti is a stud!!! 150 gallons for just him! that is awesome !!!! i can't wait till you get it all set up like a river!!!! kudos!!


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

damn u kno ur tank is big when u can put cinder blocks in them ahha .. wish u the best of luck man


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

danm he looks good


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## waspride (Jun 13, 2004)

Thats a really nice looking brandtii









I don't think i have seen one that big before.


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## Mughal (Mar 3, 2005)

Nice Fish, i wish I had one!


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

Awesome tank, hope everything works out.


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## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Your Brandti is looking good and healthy. And 150 G for him alone, you shouldn't spoil him so much


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## Esoteric (Jul 7, 2004)

Thats a BIG 7".... Thanks for the update and goodluck in the months ahead.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

I see more or less the same thing with the S. sanchezi in my 150g stock tank. He stays by the rocks using them as shelter, comes out bites the more nosier P. cariba fins then darts back behind the rocks. Smart little devil.


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

That is one thing I've noticed most since starting this experiment Frank. The Brandti seems to be on a totally different intelegence level than the pygos. Where the pygos seem to attack and sit there and wait for retalliation, the brandti strikes and retreats out of site before the pygos know what hit them. Between the brandtis speed and intelegence, I don't think he's in any danger. I may be proved wrong, I guess we'll see.


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## Rikimaru (May 3, 2004)

Thats are gr8 gr8 fish omg.
150G only for him terrific!!!


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> Stick Posted Today, 12:08 PM
> That is one thing I've noticed most since starting this experiment Frank. The Brandti seems to be on a totally different intelegence level than the pygos. Where the pygos seem to attack and sit there and wait for retalliation, the brandti strikes and retreats out of site before the pygos know what hit them. Between the brandtis speed and intelegence, I don't think he's in any danger. I may be proved wrong, I guess we'll see.


Certainly puts the term "stealth" to good use eh?


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

hastatus said:


> > Stick Posted Today, 12:08 PM
> > That is one thing I've noticed most since starting this experiment Frank. The Brandti seems to be on a totally different intelegence level than the pygos. Where the pygos seem to attack and sit there and wait for retalliation, the brandti strikes and retreats out of site before the pygos know what hit them. Between the brandtis speed and intelegence, I don't think he's in any danger. I may be proved wrong, I guess we'll see.
> 
> 
> ...


You got that right :nod:


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

THAT FISH IS READY FOR WAR! i heard brandtii that size are so aggressive it's scary! i bet he could bring the pain to some feeders. do you ever do feeders in there? the pack chasing and mauling something must be unreal!


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

That sounds really cool to see. A video of a feeding would be really badass.


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

dutchfrompredator said:


> THAT FISH IS READY FOR WAR! i heard brandtii that size are so aggressive it's scary! i bet he could bring the pain to some feeders. do you ever do feeders in there? the pack chasing and mauling something must be unreal!
> [snapback]928274[/snapback]​


I don't know if he is intimidated by the much larger pygos in there that he's tameing it down or what but he's pretty chilled out right now. He's not causing near as much chaos as I expected. This brandti actually came from 
Nick, "Serrapygo", and he said he was a little bad ass. He is a little bad ass but he's getting along better than I expected. He thinks he's bigger than sh*t and won't back down to anyone but he's really not trying to own anyone like I had expected. It almost seems like he is adjusting to the pygo lifestyle fairly well. He jumps right in there during a feeding frenzy and grabs a big chunk and trys to run away with it. I really think that if they can tolerate eachother this brandti could grow to be a pretty nice size fish. I've been a pygo guy for the last 18 yrs so I know my pygo's behaveral patterns but I only have 2 yrs experience with a serra and that was with a rhom about 7 or 8 yrs ago and he was kept alone. That fish had a cool attitude but he never really ate a lot. He would kill anything you put in the tank but that was about it. He would pretty much just kill it and take a bite and then let the rest rot. This brandti eats a ton. He eats like my pygo's do. The competition for food is such a factor that they all feel like they have to wolf down as much as they can before it's taken away. The brandti is falling into that mindset as opposed to living a solitary life with no competition for food and just picking when he's hungry knowing it will always be there when he wants it. I'm sure the tank size will help his growth rate but I think the key ingredience to how big he will get in this tank if left in there long enough is how much he eats do to competition for food. It's an experiment with a lot of variables. I don't know how big anyone has ever grown a brandti to in captivity but this one might have a shot at the title if he can "cohabitate" long enough. Right now he's ripping chucks off of whole fish just like he would do in the wild. He can have the fins with a nice chunk of meat if he wants or he can rip out some guts. If hes not that hungry he can feed off all of the scales that are floating towards the bottom. I have always fed my fish whole fish like bluegills, perch , bullheads, catfish, whatever, guts and all. Thats what they eat in the wild, why not?
To get back to the original question..............................
do I feed him feeders?............No
With all of those fish in the tank ther is no way that I can feed one fish a certain food. Either they eat what I feed them or they get eaten themselves. I would have to throw about 50 feeders in ther to assure that the brandti would get one. I have better things to spend my $ on. I'm sure if he was in a tank on his own he would rip sh*t up but he's gonna have to compete in there. He does a nice job on the gills. 
For everyone that sticks around long enough, I will eventually get a video clip of some nice feedings, I'm thinking like a 20" catfish or a dead skinned opposum. Something like that. I've owned p's for 18 yrs now and I have never seen a feeding frenzy before like what goes on in this 750. There are so many big fish that feel so comfortable in the space provided yet they feel the urgency to eat a lot fast. It's quite a site. I had my buddy over for a feeding a couple of weeks before and he owned p's almost as long as I had and he was amazed. He said " I've never seen nothing like that before". Redbelly93 and x-drugy have both seen a pretty good feeding. It's only gonna get better when the tank stabalizes.


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## fliptasciouz (Jul 4, 2004)

Stick said:


> dutchfrompredator said:
> 
> 
> > THAT FISH IS READY FOR WAR! i heard brandtii that size are so aggressive it's scary! i bet he could bring the pain to some feeders. do you ever do feeders in there? the pack chasing and mauling something must be unreal!
> ...


I'd say post a video feeding a live 20" catfish







. You'll receive 5 or more pages of replies containing compliments, drooling or even jaw touching floor


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

I'd set up a paypal account, everyone paypal you like .50 to pick up the biggest catfish you can find.


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

b_ack51 said:


> I'd set up a paypal account, everyone paypal you like .50 to pick up the biggest catfish you can find.
> [snapback]929095[/snapback]​


Finding a large catfish won't be a problem. I catch tons of them in the summer where my wifes g-ma lives. Video taping the feeding is going to be the problem without a digital camcorder. My camera right now only takes 15 sec clips which will not be long enough to capture the total destruction. Maybe I could give you guys a teaser but probably not til june or july.


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

what I think is the coolest thing about this is being able to see the brandti in it's natural state of behavior as a finnipper and the "ambush" technique it exhibits. How long did it take for the brandti to find it's spot in the cinder block?


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

traumatic said:


> what I think is the coolest thing about this is being able to see the brandti in it's natural state of behavior as a finnipper and the "ambush" technique it exhibits. How long did it take for the brandti to find it's spot in the cinder block?
> [snapback]929744[/snapback]​


I probably only took him about a week before he really set up shop there and claimed it as his own.


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