# Tau's first spawns (Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula)



## Razzo

Tau had battled Nyatzi, back in April, and he dethroned Nyatzi as Alpha. Nyatzi had produced a lot of fry during his reign; so, I was hopeful that the Tau continue that tradition. Tau had recently spawned with two of the females and both girls held great (9 & 12 days respectively). I am very excited to report, that today, I stripped *40 wigglers* from the larger female and *10 wigglers* from the small young female (it was her first time so please that she held for 12 days).

Here is Tau, my wild caught Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula Alpha male









Here's the bigger girl that gave me 40 F1 wigglers today.









Here's the little girl that gave me 10 F1 Mikula wigglers today. From this angle, it is hard to tell that she is even carrying.









My auto focus is broke on my lens - I'll try to load some wiggler images in the tumbler as I fix my lens.

Thanks,
Russ


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## Razzo

I have been wanting to photograph Tau but with my lens acting up, I may have trouble getting some good images that are sharp in the near future. Went back in my recent images (the past couple months) and found this one of Tau. I think, I passed on the image before because I chopped his trailers off on the right side. I would love to catch him with his fins erect but he has not been flexing lately as his role as Alpha is unquestioned at this time. Pre-feeding time may be my best chance once I get my lens working again.

Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula


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## Deeda

Congrats on the wigglers from both females!

I still enjoy your pics despite the lens issues.


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## SmellinFishy

He's an absolute beauty Razzo! Did he end up out growing the previous Alfa? Love your frontosa biotope.


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## Razzo

SmellinFishy said:


> He's an absolute beauty Razzo! Did he end up out growing the previous Alfa? Love your frontosa biotope.


Thanks guys 

Tau and Nyatzi are about the same length (and have been) but Tau has more mass and a bigger mouth and he took less damage in battle and recovered quicker than Nyatzi. Here's a shot of them about to "go to blows" back at the end of April. This was the 2nd day of the war (Tau's wounds, less extensive, healed quickly and Nyatzi's wounds, more extensive, did not heal as fast). After this battle, Nyatzi knew he was beat and started submitting soon after this skirmish. Once Nyatzi started submitting to Tau, there was peace in the tank again.

Tau is about 8.5" and his trailers have just started growing back nicely (when he was the Beta, his fins were tattered by Nyatzi - the roles have reversed now). Would love to see Tau as he approaches 15" (almost double his size now). I look forward to that.

Tau (left) and Nyatzi (right)


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## Shaky

So cool! I didn't realize that Fronts went at each other so hard. They seem so laid back.


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## nudge

wow!! beautiful photos as always razzo the colours on your fronts blow me away


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## NJmomie

Oh wow, Razzo, your fish and pictures are so amazing! +1 with what Shaky said...always thought fronts are the elephants of the animal kingdom; regal, peaceful and smart. I guess only two of those things are true, especially when it comes time to woo the girls.


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## Razzo

NJmomie said:


> Oh wow, Razzo, your fish and pictures are so amazing! +1 with what Shaky said...always thought fronts are the elephants of the animal kingdom; regal, peaceful and smart. I guess only two of those things are true, especially when it comes time to woo the girls.


Thanks guys 

Fronts can get nasty: Alpha & Beta battles and the females can be equally as nasty. I also have a 9" female that is bigger than both Alpha and Beta and she does not think that she needs to submit (she's feisty - I like her). She will "go to blows" with both Alpha and Beta. She does not like it when they come into her spot and she will duke it out (mouth to mouth combat).


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## Razzo

Here's a couple pics of each group. With my lens not working it is a little more difficult than normal (the good news, my bday is in Sept and rumor has it that I might be getting a new wide angle lens - a nice one  ).

Here's the larger brood (not easy to count - my best guess is 40 or 41).
Cute little buggers - can already see a couple alpha males :lol:









Here's the brood from the smaller female (count 10 - this one was easy)









Maybe I'll use this thread as a photo journal on their development.

I hope you enjoy.

Russ


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## chrisd123

Absolutely Fantastic!!


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## FJB2

That is awesome !!!


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## Ron R.

Razzo, congrats! 40 is a great spawn. I know you are stoked.

Pics are looking incredible.


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## Razzo

Ron R. said:


> Razzo, congrats! 40 is a great spawn. I know you are stoked.
> 
> Pics are looking incredible.


Thanks guys! 

Yup Ron, I am stoked  I was surprised at 40+ too. Those came from a new female. She's a pretty female. She held great too and really didn't feed.


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## Razzo

*VIDEO* from yesterday (slightly out of focus as my lens is broke).

View it in 1080p HD if you like....

Please forgive the multiple links everyone. I am trying to figure out this video thing. I'd like the video to appear in the thread and not just a link. Not sure how to do that.











(edit: I fixed the links.... triscuit)


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## NJmomie

So cool...almost look like they are marching.


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## Razzo

Thanks 

Picked up my new lens today and tested it 

All are doing well.


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## LouIE82

=D> Awesome as always Razzo! I'm finding myself aiming the lap top at my tank and telling my frontosa "Look like them!" lol, just like I did with my calvus.

Would the plural of calvus be calvi??? :-?


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## triscuit

Amazing, as usual. So, for embedding youtube videos, use the tags, and then insert just the " igQpFjtxxak " portion of the video address. It will look like:

[..youtube]igQpFjtxxak[/youtube]


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## Razzo

LouIE82 said:


> =D> Awesome as always Razzo! I'm finding myself aiming the lap top at my tank and telling my frontosa "Look like them!" lol, just like I did with my calvus.
> 
> Would the plural of calvus be calvi??? :-?


I think it is calvus-esezz :lol:


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## Razzo

triscuit said:


> Amazing, as usual. So, for embedding youtube videos, use the tags, and then insert just the " igQpFjtxxak " portion of the video address. It will look like:
> 
> [..youtube]igQpFjtxxak[/youtube]


Many thanks triscuit!!


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## Razzo

Please forgive the double post, I want to keep this image with this thread as this will be the thread I will keep updating as the frontosa fry mature


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## bwestgsx06

these are amazing. What's your setup for these Moba's? I noticed quite a few sponge filters and such in there...


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## Razzo

bwestgsx06 said:


> these are amazing. What's your setup for these Moba's? I noticed quite a few sponge filters and such in there...


Moba? Hmm,... Michael, Michael, Michael! I thought we were fish friends? Moba, I am hurt. These are *Mikula* my friend 

Setup is: 240 gallon (8x2x2) with two AC110 and 3 HydroSponges.

Russ


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## NJmomie

Forgive my ignorance but are there major differences between Moba and Mikola. I vaguely remember difference in number of bands/stripes. Is that all?


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## Razzo

NJmomie said:


> Forgive my ignorance but are there major differences between Moba and Mikola. I vaguely remember difference in number of bands/stripes. Is that all?


The number of bands is a distinction among C. frontosa: i.e. Kigoma have 7 stripes while Burundi have 6. All other Cyphos have 6 stripes. Both Moba and Mikula are C. gibberosa variants from the DRC (generally referred to as Zaire or Zaire Blues). There are more C. gibberosa in Zambia and Tanzania but it is the Zaire Blue variants that are my favorite.

There are many that will say no; however, folks who have imported hundreds and even thousands of Zaire Blue gibberosa will say yes. Although, I have never been an importer, I have been into frontosa 15+ years and I agree that there are differences. The Mikula seem to combine what I like best about my two favorite Zaire Blue variants: Kapampa & Kitumba. Kaps are known for having the darkest black pigment in their black stripes and that gave them the brilliant contrast that they are known for. Kits seem a little slenderer and have darker blues and almost purple hues at times. The Mikula have that super dark black pigment with more blues in their light stripes than Kaps and they have that dark blue purplish hues that Kits are know for. They seems to be a wonderful combination of my two favorite variants so that is a big reason why I wanted to go with Mikula with my latest group of Cyphos.

Just for the record, Moba are beautiful too. I just like to tease other Zaire Blue variant owners once in a while.

Hope that helps.

Russ


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## Razzo

*Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula*


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## NJmomie

Thanks Razzo. That was very helpful. I'm sure to the average person like me, it's very difficult to tell the different variants. I love them all.


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## bwestgsx06

Razzo said:


> bwestgsx06 said:
> 
> 
> 
> these are amazing. What's your setup for these Moba's? I noticed quite a few sponge filters and such in there...
> 
> 
> 
> Moba? Hmm,... Michael, Michael, Michael! I thought we were fish friends? Moba, I am hurt. These are *Mikula* my friend
> 
> Setup is: 240 gallon (8x2x2) with two AC110 and 3 HydroSponges.
> 
> Russ
Click to expand...

haha apologies Russ, I was a few drinks back and my mind was a bit foggy. Your pics are amazing. I actually might be getting some Mikula's locally from a good friend (they are just little guys to grow out), so I should know better.


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## Razzo

Wasn't planning to update this thread daily but I was excited about the images today. Getting more comfortable with the new lens and playing around with lighting so I could increase the f-stop and shutter. Here's what I got...

Starting to see some blue on them 

Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula


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## Razzo

There were other images with better clarity; however, I chose this image for one reason: that little dude in the center with the crazy veins


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## Razzo

At this point, they are changing quite a bit on a daily basis. Their motive skills are dramatically increasing and I even noticed a couple getting "biffy" with their tank mates. Their "Zaire Blues" (and purples) are starting to be more pronounced. Also, their stripes seem to be developing too.

Always enjoy new life


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## Razzo




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## Razzo

These images were captured, yesterday, on Day 20 (left group) and Day 23 (right group). I like how the group on the left all stack up on the right edge of their tumbler peering over at their mates in the other tumbler (if they could speak,... what would they be saying?).

*Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula*


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## NJmomie

They would be saying: "hey... how come you guys swim around so well?"...
I love how the blue in their bodies are so "electric"! Beautiful pictures Razzo.


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## Darkskies

NJmomie said:


> They would be saying: "hey... how come you guys swim around so well?"...
> I love how the blue in their bodies are so "electric"! Beautiful pictures Razzo.


I agree. This is especially true for the picture for Day 23.


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## Razzo

Group B (the group of ten) egg sacs are almost gone (Day 25 for them). I removed them tonight to the 40 gallon nursery tank. They are in a floating nursery in that tank. I plan to start feeding them tomorrow.

Here's Group A (pictured below). I had just turned the lights on in the fish room and they were all bunched up together


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## Razzo

Hello everyone,

I think today may be the last day in the tumbler for group A (Day 24). Group B is already in the floating nursery, in the 40-gallon nursery tank. It was fun watching Group B eat today. As many of you already know, you really shouldn't feed frontosa fry while they still have their egg sac (don't know why, that is just what I have been taught). My plan is to have each group feeding well in the floating nurseries before releasing them to free swim in the 40. I look forward to seeing a swarm of fry (best guess is 51 of them) free swimming in the 40-gallon tank.

In any event, here is Group A (Day 24) still in the tumbler. I wanted to remove all evidence of the tumbler in Photoshop but I gave up on the screen below (too much work  ). Hope you enjoy&#8230;

*Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula&#8230;*


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## SmellinFishy

That second to last photo is a serious money shot Razzo! I look forward to watching them develope.


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## Razzo

SmellinFishy said:


> That second to last photo is a serious money shot Razzo! I look forward to watching them develope.


Thanks SF, I really like that one too.

**********************************

Hey guys,

They are still doing great. Both groups A & B have been pulled from their respective tumblers and are in the 40 gallon long. At this time, both groups are in two floating nurseries in the 40. I just wanted to give them a week or so in the nursery to make sure they are eating good. Both groups are eating well so far 

I will have to get around to shooting in the 40 (just been busy).

While the following photo is not terribly exciting, this is my method of counting fry in larger groups (from my altolamp breeding days). I will shoot down at the group and in PhotoShop, I will put a colored dot on each fish that I counted - the first ten will get a blue dot and the next ten will get a yellow dot and so forth. I was able to confirm that the larger brood did have 41 (still does). I do look forward to seeing all of them swimming around in the 40.

I do have another female holding today.










CYL,
Russ


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## upperwest

Russ,

Not to hijack your thread about your beautiful babies, but what is the proper size aquarium to house Fronts, if someone wanted to start a colony? Does that calculus change if one wanted to also include some Calvus/Comps?

Thanks and to state the obvious, your fish are beautiful.

AC


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## Razzo

upperwest said:


> Russ,
> 
> Not to hijack your thread about your beautiful babies, but what is the proper size aquarium to house Fronts, if someone wanted to start a colony? Does that calculus change if one wanted to also include some Calvus/Comps?
> 
> Thanks and to state the obvious, your fish are beautiful.
> 
> AC


Thank you 

Rule of thumb is 1.25" fry can be in a 48" tank for up to a year and after that a 6-foot minimum.

Hope that helps,
Russ


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## Razzo

Hey guys, I have not updated my FTS in quite some time. Here it is from tonight.


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## Razzo

Last night, I released all 51 fry from their floating nurseries into the 40 gallon tank. They were in the floating nurseries for approx. 10 days. They were all eating well; so, it was time to release them. It will take some time getting used to photographing them in the 40.

FTS of the 40 gallon tank


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## Razzo

Damo said:


> I'm loving this thread Russ! It's great to see these fish grow from eggs to fry and hopefully into juvies etc!
> What a ride!


Thanks again guys 

At the moment, the plan is to keep 15 of these for myself as a growout group. If all goes according to plan, I hope to photograph their (15 of them) development at least into the juvie stage and possibly beyond 

I am considering starting up a new 240 gallon tank and purchasing a second group of wild Mikula (possibly 2 or 3 quads).

CYL,
Russ


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## Razzo

I am not too good at videos. Here's a couple. Not the greatest...

Available in 1080p HD if you want.

Feeding time - little pigs 










Russ


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## bwestgsx06

This is one of my favorite threads on here. So awesome to see their development.


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## Saleen281

as always.....amazing razzo!!


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## Razzo

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am having fun with this thread and hope to keep it up for quite some time. I have slowed down on the updates waiting for larger size gains. I will post updated pics in a few weeks.


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## Razzo

congoblue said:


> Those are some top notch Zaire' s bud!!!! Beautiful!!!


Thanks Congoblue.

My group was the personal All-Star group of a friend who has been a long time importer since the early days when Thorsten Reuters first discovered the Zaire Blue gibberosa (and set the hobby on fire with that discovery). My buddy hand picked his own All-Star group from hundreds of imports from the lake. In recent years he has had some health issues which make maintaining big tanks very difficult for him. I was on his short list for this group.

They are a very special group. I am very excited to have them.

Thanks again.

Russ


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## Razzo

Hey guys, I measured a sampling of the Mikula fry and the bigger ones were about 1.25" and the rest seemed to be half way between 1.00" and 1.25". Those measurements are 52 days from the spawn date; so, they are about 8 to 9 days shy of two months.

1.25" is the point I consider them to be "marketable." Just a line in the sand that I decided that I would not ship them until they reached that size. So, they are basically there. In two weeks I will consider them ship-able.

If all goes according to plan, I'd like to keep 15 of them to grow out and document size & date miles stones in this thread.


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## Razzo

Tau let me snap some images of him before dinner time. He is really blossoming as the tank alpha:



















Captured a few images of the fry in the 40 gallon tank. It is a little harder getting images of such small fish that are not forced near the glass like they were in the tumbler. Had to bump the ISO up to 3200. Here they are at Day 53 from their spawning date.


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## bwestgsx06

Need. More. Updates.


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## Razzo

bwestgsx06 said:


> Need. More. Updates.


Hey guys, here is the requested update on my Mikula fry: they are doing very well and are eating & growing like little pigs. I have been power feeding them 3x daily and have been giving two 50% water changes each week. I have really enjoyed seeing a school of 51 swimming in the 40 gallon nursery tank. In a couple weeks, I will start shipping most of them to their new homes:




























Here is a FTS of the 40. I have been very impressed with their growth and color. White sand may not have been the best choice to show off their color; however, even though they are over white sand I have been very pleased with their blues.









Note to self: don't wear a white t-shirt when shooting images :lol: 









Now don't judge me on the dirty pre-filter :roll: Keep in mind that I do two 50% water changes weekly and vacuum and clean these filters with each water change.









Thanks for coming along for the ride 

Russ


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## Razzo

I have not been happy with my photos of the 40-gallon tank. As with any tank and shooting in manual without a flash, it takes me a little time to dial in on any given tank. I am a little excited as I feel I made some progress on the 40 today ☺

I confess white sand is probably not the best choice when wanting to show off the color of any fish. It was, however, what I had and it was seeded with plenty of good bacteria from another established tank (actually the parents tank where they were spawned) and helped me to cycle this 40-gallon nursery tank without skipping a beat. So, white sand it is.

This first image was taken right after I turned the lights on. This will give you an idea of all the wonderful Zaire blues these baby Mikula inherited from their wild parents.


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## triscuit

Holey moley... marketable in two months. They grow so much faster than most Tangs! So, how long do your Altos take to become marketable size?


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## Razzo

triscuit said:


> Holey moley... marketable in two months. They grow so much faster than most Tangs! So, how long do your Altos take to become marketable size?


Altolamps take eight months, at best, to reach a marketable size (1.25"). opcorn:

At eight months a cypho with a good feeding schedule and consistent weekly water changes will be 3.75" and will most likely be 4" by 9 months.


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## Razzo

Here's another shot of one of the Mikula fry that likes to sleep in this same spot every night (they are creatures of habit too). This shot was right after I turned the lights on. At night when they sleep, the turn on all of their blue pigment in their "dark mode." Not long after I captured this image, he scooted away.









Normally I don't like to post images with reflections. I don't mind these two as it gives you an idea of how I get these images.


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## triscuit

Two months to marketable size?? Holey moley. How fast do your altos grow?


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## Razzo

triscuit said:


> Two months to marketable size?? Holey moley. How fast do your altos grow?


It takes altos about 8 months to reach marketable size (1.25") - a front will be 3.75" at 8 months.


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## NJmomie

This has nothing to do with fronts but just wondering if you also take pictures of other things (nature scenes, insects, birds, etc... you get the idea). You take such great pictures so I thought maybe photography is another obsession.


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## Razzo

NJmomie said:


> This has nothing to do with fronts but just wondering if you also take pictures of other things (nature scenes, insects, birds, etc... you get the idea). You take such great pictures so I thought maybe photography is another obsession.


Guilty as charged 

Thank you for the kind words. I like to photograph all things nature and if I was forced to classify my area interest it would have to be: "Natural Light Photography: Nature". I consider myself a student and just have fun enjoying the great outdoors with my family and they tolerate the camera. My latest project (in October) is our Dunes on the shore of the beautiful Lake Michigan. A few samples below&#8230;.





































Not my best image but if gives you an idea of how much we enjoy hiking these Dunes and taking in a sunset over Lake Michigan. BTW: this is my son  There does come a point when I put the camera down and capture the images in my mind instead of on a digital memory card.


















My son again, boating on Lake Michigan. We boated from St. Joseph, MI to New Buffalo, MI for dinner and enjoyed a sunset cruise on the way back to St. Joe.









Campfire fun leaving the shutter open 


















I better stop :lol:

Cheers,
Russ


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## NJmomie

I KNEW IT!!! I can read your obsession in those front pics... You really do have an eye for the camera. Beautiful work.


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## Razzo

NJmomie said:


> I KNEW IT!!! I can read your obsession in those front pics... You really do have an eye for the camera. Beautiful work.


Thanks


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## Razzo

Fish are OK after the storm and power outages. Motsumi and Tau spawned before the storms and Motsumi is still holding a large mouthful (every bit as big as the last batch that she gave me 41 wigglers from). Looks like a good spawn. I'll try to get a new pic of her.

Here's an updated pic of dad (Tau)


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## Razzo

Motsumi & Tau have spawned again. Motsumi is the same female that gave me 41 fry last time. She has another big mouthful! She is going on Day 9 holding. Here's a few images of her from last night. BTW: she OWNS this side of the tank!


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## NJmomie

How is it that your sand is sooooo clean???? and your rocks have no algae on them. How often do they breed?


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## Razzo

NJmomie said:


> How is it that your sand is sooooo clean???? and your rocks have no algae on them. How often do they breed?


I don't have tank lights on very much - normally lit by a shop light about 10' away so algae growth is minimal. If I have any algae, it is brown diatoms which I clean during water changes. I turn tank lights on for photography.

As far as waste, they don't have as much waste with the food I feed them and I remove some waste with the "Clone Stamp Tool" in PS; however, it is usually pretty clean.

Russ


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## Saleen281

russ what other lighting do you have on your tank? other than the shop light?


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## Saleen281

also how long do you let your females hold before you strip them?


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## Razzo

Saleen281 said:


> russ what other lighting do you have on your tank? other than the shop light?


Current Lighting: I have played around with various light bulbs and combinations of different light bulbs to find a light that is most pleasing to my eye. What I seem to like the best, ended up being a hodgepodge mixture of different bulbs. My fixtures are nothing fancy, just two 48" T8 shop lights from a local hardware store (each fixture can utilize up to four T8 bulbs; however, I only use two bulbs in each fixture). Each 48" fixture has the following two bulbs in them:

1) Hagen T8 Power-Glo 48" Fluorescent Bulb 40W

2) Coralife T8 10,000K Daylight Aquarium Lamp 48 inch 32 Watt 10K Day light bulb

Both shop lights are hung from the ceiling. One is about 4-foot in front of the 240 gallon Mikula tank and is about 8-foot high (I rarely turn this on). The 2nd shop light is, as mentioned above, is currently hung on the other side of the fish room by the Mikula fry tanks.

The only light on the 240 right now is a strip light for a 10 gallon tank which has one Hagen T8 Power-Glo Bulb in it. I just put this light over the section of the tank that I wish to photograph plus I will turn on the shop light closest to the 240 gallon tank.

Cheers, Russ


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## Razzo

Saleen281 said:


> also how long do you let your females hold before you strip them?


That depends: usually 10 to 13 days - depends on if other females are close to spawning and how thin I think the holding female is getting.

Russ


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## Razzo

*Motsumi Spawn - Day 11: I removed 43 wigglers*  :dancing: 









Another female spawned last night - same female that gave me 10 last time. She has a decent moutful (better than last time).


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## Razzo

Just some updated pics from the group that I have been chronicling their development. They are 86 days old from when spawned in these images. This weekend, I will measure a few to see how big they are at 3 months.










A healthy eater


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## triscuit

Omigosh they're fat and happy! At what size can you / do you sex them?


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## LouIE82

Those babies have easily the most blue color I've ever seen in a frontosa, bravo Russ! Looking forward to seeing progression on the little ones.
My brother has a small clan of frontosa in his tank, we were making fun of one calling it Jar-jar Binks because it had it's lips stuck out. Now that I see yours holding I'll warn him to take a close look, maybe he's lucky. :wink:


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## Razzo

One of my goals, with this thread, is to document the growth of this group of F1 Cyphotilapia gibberosa (Mikula) fry. My plan, from this batch of 51 fry, was to keep the last 15 fry to grow out for myself and take photographs and measurements (photo journal) along the way. Today is "Day 92" from the spawning day and, I guess, we can consider them three months old. I delivered the first 15 fry to their new owner (a fellow Hoosier). I randomly scooped up about 20 fry in two netting attempts. 15 were bagged for my fellow Hoosier and the remaining five or six extra were measured as they were put back in the tank. All were approximately 1.75-inches in length.

In the next couple weeks (Lord willing), another 21 will go to their new homes and I will be left with the last 15 to continue to document their development. At some point in the next year these 15 will joining Nyatzi in another big tank in my fish room.

Thanks for coming along for the journey. Here are a few images from the past couple days&#8230;









Any guesses why I liked this image? :roll:


















Cheers,
Russ


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## Razzo

Here are a few more images from Day 92&#8230;


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## bwestgsx06

Wow. So awesome. This makes me really want some Frontosa but I need to wait until I get back from deployment.


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## Razzo

I have not updated their growth in a while. I shipped some fish out last night and decided to measure a few and snap a couple pics. Here's the group that shipped out - a little stressed from getting netted out of the main tank and put in a bucket and then this little 2.5 gallon observation tank. I faste them for 48 hours prior to shipping but I still like to let them sit a little bit to encourage them to purge any waste before bagging them. The stress of being netted and being put in a bucket sufficiently stresses them to clean out their system :lol:


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## enshacra

omg they are gorgeous. Can u ship me some to canada paleaseeeeee


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## Razzo

enshacra said:


> omg they are gorgeous. Can u ship me some to canada paleaseeeeee


Merci 

I can't ship to Canada, sorry


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## Razzo

Thanks guys 

Decided to take a few pics of the growout group in the 72 gallon bow front tank. I don't really have it aquascaped the way I would like yet. I'd like to purchase some more AFS but I need a significant snow melt to get at the bin and sift through it for just the right pieces.

The fry, tonight, were up high in the water column expecting to be fed. That really helped give me a dark black background and the fish to glow in the foreground. I did spot remove air bubbles and algae with the clone stamp on a couple images. They are getting bigger now and I am able to get in closer capture a lot more detail with their increased size. They should be easier to photograph from now on (I'll work on getting some more Arkansas Field Stone for this tank).

Here's a couple images I liked. They are 4.5 months old (from spawn date) and they range from 2" to 2.25"





Thanks,
Russ


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## enshacra

beautiful fish n u r fotography king!


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## Razzo

This is a little redundant as I have posted these next images in another thread; however, I want to keep this thread updated with my favorite pics of the F1 grow out group. Please forgive my redundancy as I want to keep these images in one place. Thank you for all the kind words as this thread has matured along with these Mikula fry...


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## enshacra

You have a good camera, or lights, or both


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## Razzo

enshacra said:


> You have a good camera, or lights, or both


Thank you for the kind words


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## steve617

Russ, *** not been on here in a couple days. Wow they look awesome. Wish my new Mpimbwe had those colors. Yes I'm Jealous.


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## Razzo

I took a few pictures of my grow-out group of Mikula fry (there are 20 of them). They are in a 72-gallon bow front tank. I have been wanting to aquascape this tank and throw in a few pieces of Arkansas Field Stone; however, our 8+ feet of snow this year in South Bend has not had many melt offs and my stash of AFS is buried under snow and I have no desire to unbury it (with my slip disc in my back and all). I also want to put in some black sand to see how these little dudes will look with a dark substrate. They look good with this white sand; however, I want to see the difference with a darker substrate. I am actually pretty excited to see how much darker they will get and how much more blue they will show off. One of my fry customers, in California, sent me some pics of a group of Mikula fry I shipped him a few months ago (from the same batch as my grow-out group) and his tank has a dark substrate and I am totally envious and want to "give it a go."

At some point in the next two months, I plan to reseal the 125-gallon tank and rehome these Mikula to the 125. Once they reach four inches, I will introduce my wild male Nyatzi to the grow-out group as their alpha.

So, here are a couple FTS and some tank mates that I have in the 72. As usual, thanks for coming along for the ride on this photo journal&#8230;.

Full Tank Shot (72-gallon Bow Front. They are 5.5.months old in these images. I will try to take a measurement soon.




Altolamprologus compressiceps Muzi gold head (excited about this guy as his colour pattern is very similar to his F0 dad at this size - he dad was amazing). I saved about eight of these F1 gold heads as grow-outs for myself.


Altolamprologus calvus (Black Congo White Pearl). I saved three of these calvus for myself (wish I would have saved more). Had someone make me an offer on my grow-out group of 10+ that I could not refuse.




I'll shoot a couple pics of the 40-gallon fry tank with the next batch of fry (there are about 50 in that next batch).

Thanks,
Russ


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## Razzo

Just an update: I re-aquascaped the 72 gallon bow front tank yesterday. When I setup the new 125, I ordered some extra sand for the 72 (I have been wanting to try some Tahitian Moon Sand). I also picked out some extra Arkansas Field Stone for the 72 also. The pics are from yesterday.

Also, on 3/20/14 I measured each of these 21 juvies and here is what I came up with:
1) Age fish: 6.73 months from the date they were spawned.
2) Average size: *2.70"* / 6.8 cm
3) Largest fish: *3.25"* / 8.25 cm
4) Smallest fish: *2.36"* / 6.0 cm

FTS of the 72 gallon bow front tank


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