# Dilemma



## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

I was not planning for this to be hard&#8230; I didn't think it would even be a tough decision??? That is, until I spent some time with this group, last night, and captured these stills.

These F1 Mikula juvies are from Tau's first spawn: a grow-out group that I held back, for myself, in a 72-gallon bow front tank. A few months ago, the largest ones were pushing four inches; so, I sold off ten of them to make room for rest. Here's my dilemma: the remaining 11 are getting big (average is probably over 3-inches and largest are in the 4-inch class). A 4' grow-out tank is only good for so long. I don't want to start another 6-foot tank; therefore, I assumed that I would just sell them, right???

After sitting in front of this tank and taking a bunch of pics, I am having a hard time with the thought of selling them. Here's the reasons why&#8230;


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## LouIE82 (Nov 6, 2012)

I know of an easy solution for you. Send them my way along with one of your cameras and I'll post pics weekly. 

If I had fish that beautiful, especially if they were born in my tank, I'd most likely break down and put another tank up for them. Move the bowfront out and pick up a 125 Razzo, you know you want to! Maybe go bold with some white sand to get the blue colors poppin.


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## Thanusan (Dec 29, 2011)

Amazing potos Razzo


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

They look great!! I'm in a similar situation and wondering if the adults might allow them, providing some hiding spots for the smaller guys, in the big tank. The longer you keep babies, the harder it is to let them go!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

LouIE82 said:


> I know of an easy solution for you. Send them my way along with one of your cameras and I'll post pics weekly.
> 
> If I had fish that beautiful, especially if they were born in my tank, I'd most likely break down and put another tank up for them. Move the bowfront out and pick up a 125 Razzo, you know you want to! Maybe go bold with some white sand to get the blue colors poppin.


What the shipping address :lol:

I've got a degenerative disk at L4 or L5 that likes to slip every now and again. I really need to cut down on maintenance and that means reducing the number of tanks. I plan to keep the two big tanks (240 & 125) and try to get rid of the rest. Maybe I'll keep a spare 55 for fry when I have them. BTW: the 240 has the white sand you suggested. Couple pics of the wild parents below...


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Here's a few more images from that same photo shoot. I had so many I liked that night, I didn't want to dump them all on you at once ☺


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Automate. That's the only solution- make your next tank as hands-off as possible, Auto water changes, sand jets to keep debris moving, lightweight synthetic decor instead of real rocks. :fish:


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## des (Mar 30, 2011)

Keep them! I would love to see another Razzo tank. We all go through the same dilemma, so you're not alone.


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## Bikeman48088 (Nov 13, 2013)

triscuit said:


> Automate. That's the only solution- make your next tank as hands-off as possible, Auto water changes, sand jets to keep debris moving, lightweight synthetic decor instead of real rocks. :fish:


That's the way to go. I'm getting mine ready for a 2 month absence in the winter. I have a dual feeder and am making gigantic hoppers to put 2 months worth of food in it. I have the hardware for a drip system, back up heating supplies, lights on timers, lots of circulation and filtration, remote camera so I can check in on them and send my son over to my house if necessary, etc.,


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

I have to agree and try to automate your systems more. Maybe hire a younger family member to do the maintenance under your careful supervision?

I've always felt that F1 fish raised properly always surpass their wild caught parents in appearance due to ideal growing conditions. You might want to test this theory out. :wink:


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Good advise - thanks! For the most part, I move water from my fish tanks, to the uitility sink, and from the reservoir tanks to the fish tanks with a submersible pump and a 75' python (no stress on the lower back). I think, I was doing too much with five gallon buckets of water. I have dratsically cut down the number of buckets and when I do have a full bucket, my son dumps it for me. This has helped. Biggest help recovering from my slip disc was to stop trying to run on the treadmill and switch to using the Elliptical. Wish I would have done that sooner. My back is responding so much better since I made that change and I can get my heart rate up as high as I want now too  Curious note: when I lift weights, on my chest & tricep day, when I flat bench, that does wonders for my back! My be something about that position and the activity the adjusts my lower back.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Chester B said:
 

> I have to agree and try to automate your systems more. Maybe hire a younger family member to do the maintenance under your careful supervision?
> 
> I've always felt that F1 fish raised properly always surpass their wild caught parents in appearance due to ideal growing conditions. You might want to test this theory out. :wink:


There is a quote from Ad Koenigs somewhere that agrees with you. The context was with frontosa that their F1 offspring, more than any other species in the lake, look as good or better than their wild parents.

I had someone come over to buy some fry and they ended up leaving with these juvies - dilemma solved :lol:

I have a friend in California and another friend in Illinois that are both raising groups offspring from my wild Mikula (both groups are large juvies/young adults now) with the biggest fish in the six inch class. At least I can see those fish develop.

Thanks,
Russ


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## bwestgsx06 (Sep 21, 2011)

do you have any other mikula fry/grow outs right now?


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