advice on my new suvattii

[jonboy8465]

Hi everyone I got myself a pair of suvattii yesterday I had to do a 300 mile round trip but i got them. They will be living in a 4 ft tank with a sump, sand substrate and some rock caves with a few hardy plants. my question is what can i use in the water to help them settle in as they will be in shock and susceptible to disease? I have eSHa 2000 fungus finrot and bacteria treatment, eSHa EXIT anti whitespot treatment and some melafix antibacterial fish remedy. what would you recommend, how much and for how long? any other advice on helping them to settle would be much appreciated. many thanks.

[flash.dan]

steer clear of treatments unless there is something wrong best bet is to leave them be maybe even cover the tank for a dy or two in a towell / dim the lighting.

are the suvattis a actual pair?? as if they are both males they will fight

[jonboy8465]

thanks for your reply. not sure if they are a male or female as its impossible to sex them. i`ll keep a close eye on them if i see any agro i have a piece of perspex i can use to divide the tank with and then think about what to do. so how do you get a breeding pair if they cant be sexed and males fight?

[pufferpuggirl]

Hi,
I have 3 suvattii all in the same tank, and I was told that the males have a much larger head. Also, if they are a breeding pair, one of them (sorry forget which one) will go a lighter colour. Mine have never fought each other, they just stay on opposite ends of the tank. I would suggest giving them something to hide in and plenty of plants.
I would not do any treatments unless you absolutely needed to. I also would not offer them any food immediately, but would wait a couple of days. Mine don't eat each and every time, and you don't want the food sitting in the tank uneaten because it fouls the tank.
Also beware of them, I got bitten yesterday by my newest suvattii, didn't even see it coming!
regards,
Suz

[jonboy8465]

thanks for your reply suz. sounds like i just need to watch and see what happens then. its a 4 ft tank and they are only 3-4 inches long. can you recommend what type of medication i could use if anything should happen as i would like to get something in ready?

[LilGreenPuffer]

Have Pimafix, Melafix, and internal and external parasite meds on hand at all times, plus either Garlic Extreme or some heads of garlic.

[flash.dan]

the female goes white during courtship my female has bite marks all over her courting today turned bad.... ive put 7 peices of slate in to try and break up site some more

[Pufferpunk]

I personally don't advise keeping even a pair together, due to exactly what flash.dan is experiencing in his tank. They should be kept seperated except to spawn & then seperated again. Immagine having some guy harassing you with his teeth 24/7!

[jonboy8465]

thanks pufferpunk. main job for the weekend is a sturdy perspex partition with holes to allow flow. I think its better to be safe than sorry! lfs said it would be ok as they are from the same brood but i would rather trust experience.

[flash.dan]

my suvattis are fine usually every once in a while the male goes agressive for no reason then i divide the tank she has a few scratchs on her when i got home from work. next step is watch them the tank is full of hidey holes but if he carries on ill divide the tank this weekend. they are due to try again soon so he will be friendly then.

i would say these two have lived together long enough to resolve there differences but 99% of the time i think they should just be kept in a single specimin tank only.


note: if they are from the same brood (which is unlikely as not many people have bred these in aquaria) they should not be breed due to in breeding