got 4 irrubesco's: 2 male/2 female

[abc]

Like the header said, I got 4 irrubescos. I have 1 male by himself in a 10g, and 1 male and 2 females in a 29g (both well planted tanks).

I threw in some bloodworms and they started eating right away. Right now, they are exploring the tank and so far, no aggression between the 1 male and the 2 females. They even went after the same food and shared... of course, having read all the threads, the 3 irrubesco's in one tank is risky but I want to see if the male will pair off with one of the females. And so far, everything's peaceful.

I will try brine shrimp next, and then to chopped up krill.

Weeeeee! I've been waiting to get the irrubescos for quite a while.

abc

[abc]

Here are some pics of the irrubescos:

male irrubesco



female irrubesco

[crazyforpuffs]

If they don't fatten up within a week - and are all eating great...I would treat for parasites. They are awfully skinny - you don't want to wait too long...as they are hard to get and very beautiful fish.

[x86Daddy]

Where did you find them? Although I'm not in Chicago, I'm hopeful one of my local chains might end up with some.

[demented_lullaby]

I agree they might need some parasite treatment.

I AM SOOO JEALOUS! I just went to see if my LFS could order some of these little guys. Hopefully I'll be able to get some ^^

Congrats!

[abc]

Thanks for the comments everyone! And the heads up on the parasites. Arghhh! I hope they don't have them. But I'll keep my eye on them and see if they fatten up. So far, they have taken to both the frozen bloodworms and the frozen chopped up krill. I'll stick with these two food items and add more new foods with time. May be I'll get some red-wrigglers over the weekend and chop them up to bite-size pieces.

If they don't fatten up, I'll use the Jungle parasite clear tablets.

As for where to get them, I had to wait a year because they are seasonal, but they are not hard to purchase online.

Just go to:

http://www.aquariumfish.net

They are $9.50 a piece plus $24.95 overnight shipping. But just know that it's a very electronic driven website. No customer service. Automated emails letting you know the package was sent. And it's Russian-roulette on whether you get males/females. I lucked out. But once I order 6 of them and got 6 females.

Anyways, if you are in the USA, get the irrubesco's while they're hot and available. cheers!

abc

[abc]

FYI, the puffers are fattening up nicely and clearing all the snails that were in my tanks (it'll be good eating for at least 2 weeks)

Whew!.... nice not to have to worry about medicating for parasites

[abc]

the photos are a bit blurry but here's some pics of the irrubescos but now much fatter!

[abc]

if a want a good link with comparative pics, see the following on irrubescos:

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-irrub.htm

[Fella]

Hey, its great to see your irrubesco fattening up. I have a trio, 2f 1m (originally 2m 2f, but one of the males sadly never took to food) and 1 of the females is really off her food and looking skinny, so its great to see a turnaround in your fish!

Keep the photos coming!

[abc]

one pot-bellied male irrubesco:

[abc]

rare shot of all 3 irrubescos (1M/2F) in the 29g together:

[abc]

just wanted to announce: I've order 3 more of these guys (actually, 3 more females)

[Pufferpunk]

Where are the other 3 going?

[abc]

I got another 29g tank set up. Not as many plants. More of the anacharis and the frogbit stuff but cozy. So far, the 10g per irrubesco ratio seems to be working just fine. I would not go beyond that though