# Does anyone actually have a full grown male dovii?



## convict2 (Mar 31, 2010)

I have read in a lot of places that the male dovii get to be 30" but I have never seen any that were that big. Does anyone have any pictures of a full grown male dovii?


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## Bkeen (Mar 13, 2009)

I'm interested as well.


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

I have said in the past that Guy Jordan's Pablo, one of the first _dovii _in the US, reached that size, because I was sure he had told me that himself (we tapesponded while I was in the Navy). However, I was perusing the early BB issues last night, and it turns out that Pablo probably maxed out around 25-26 inches. That's an estimate, as he was 24" in the early 70s, and died in 1978. HOWEVER! - Pablo was never kept in what we would consider today an adequately large tank. He was temporarily housed at another person's house to breed with their female - a successful effort, btw - but GDJ lived in a fairly modest home, and did not have room for a huge tank.

The problem is that most photos are of the fish, with no references to determine size. Once they're over 20", they all look pretty much the same, as they have a mature body shape. The photos of Pablo with Guy make the fish look massive, but Guy was not a large person physically, so the images were slightly deceptive.


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## Notrevo (May 2, 2005)

A Dovii that size must be a scary sight indeed. To attain that size the fish have to be about how old? Would be nice to see though...


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## roman_back (May 8, 2007)

here is mine at 18"

he decided he wanted to be a tough guy and eat my floating thermometer. im in the process of tryin to find him some help before he dies or has to suffer much more. 

edit** mine is 2yrs and 2 months old *** had him since he was a fry.


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## Blademan (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow, sorry about your dovii. Can you hold him down in a tub (with some help) and get a hold of the thermo. Bummer. Maybe you could get some of the meds the shippers use to sedate them.
Let us know how it goes. Good luck.


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## WakinAZ (Mar 16, 2006)

You could use oil of cloves at the proper concentration to sedate him. Then use needlenose pliers, tweezers, fingers or whatever works, careful..... If you can't get it out, increase the concentration of the oil of cloves to euthanize the poor critter. The longer you wait, the more tissue will grow around it, making it harder to get out. Many koi enthusiasts have lost fish to those floating thermometers.


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## Bkeen (Mar 13, 2009)

Poor guy!


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## roman_back (May 8, 2007)

WakinAZ said:


> You could use oil of cloves at the proper concentration to sedate him. Then use needlenose pliers, tweezers, fingers or whatever works, careful..... If you can't get it out, increase the concentration of the oil of cloves to euthanize the poor critter. The longer you wait, the more tissue will grow around it, making it harder to get out. Many koi enthusiasts have lost fish to those floating thermometers.


http://www.wchemical.com/TRICAINE-S-MS-222-P43C7.aspx

i found this chemical, the local hatchery recomended this to me to use to try and operate on him. im gonna try to save this big guy, not many folks can say they have an 18" dovi, let alone one that lives with 4 other large cichlids and doesnt murder them. this is almost like loosing a prize winning K9 to me.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

Wow beautiful Dovii! I hope you can save him and he gets better!


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