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Mr Homer, The story of a Giant Kokopu


blueether

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Mr Homer - the giant kokopu (the story so far):

When I caught this guy (see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=55536) he had over 1/2 his tail bitten off. The tail is still growing well and is now almost complete.

When caught he was about 100 - 110mm, only about the length of the 1 year old inanga in the tank with him although he was much deeper and had more girth. In the last 8 months he has really packed on the weight and length/girth. I would now estimate his length to be about 180-190mm.

As of Tue Oct 25, 2011:

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As of Sun Dec 4, 2011:

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As of Sat March 24, 2012:

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As of Sat July 27, 2012 (sorry about the flash):

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Comparison to a near 2 y/o inanga at about 110mm

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Thanks, they all are pigs at times, other days (not that often) they seem not to be interested too much in food

looking fantastic!! Neat seeing the growth, regrowth of the tail and changing markings as he gets bigger!

I am coming down your way in a little while, will have to call in and see your tanks again :)

Give me a bit of warning so I can clean the cyano out :digH:
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Thanks, they all are pigs at times, other days (not that often) they seem not to be interested too much in food

Funny how that works. There definitely seems to be a correlation between how hungry they are and how much they ate last time, but possible also the regularity of the preceeding feeds. Also the temperature slows them down.

Though also I guess like us, we have hungry days and i-actually-forgot-to-eat days.

Give me a bit of warning so I can clean the cyano out :digH:

Well I don't even HAVE tanks at the moment, so you are doing better than me already!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Neat pictures. :love:

Love the last few pics where he's starting to fill out and get a bit of pudge going on, he looks a bit like my 3 now, lol!

What do/have you fed him on? Doesn't look like he's chowing down on the inanga, lucky for them...

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They get a mix of:

VitaPet Floating Granules

Nutrafin Max Discus Sinking Granules

Nutrafin Max Cichlid Sinking Granules

New Life Spectrum Med. Fish Formula

Beef Heart

Frozen Blood Worms*

Any live food**

Small ~60mm banded kokopu***

Have had in the past:

Freeze-dried bloodworms

Freeze-dried krill

Wardley's Advanced Cichlid, wouldn't eat

A few others that they didn't like as well

* Homer and one of the other giant kokopu each tried to eat a whole, still frozen, cube the other day

** From around the house or work, including about a dozen earthworms from work the other day that they demolished

*** Was given an 'Inanga' a few weeks ago that was a banded when I got home and in the light, it lasted for a good two weeks then vanished one night :(

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have had to tear down the 430L tank this weekend, getting new carpet in just over a weeks time. Anyway this gave me a chance to catch and measure him/her and the other kokopu.

Homer (about 110mm when caught early last spring): 185mm, 101g

Smallest one (about 85-90mm when caught late spring last year): 178mm, 82g

Med one* (about 90mm when caught at the same time as Homer): 182mm, 90g

Large one (about 120-125mm** when caught late spring last year): 203mm, 122g

* This one will be moved on to a new home sometime in a 5ft tank

** Bigger than I first thought :( but adapted well none the less

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  • 2 months later...

Just moved all the fish back inside after 3 months living in a 180 l tank outside on the side veranda:

Homer:

about 110mm when caught early last spring

185mm, 101g, condition = 1.60 as of 18 Aug 2012

197mm and 109g, condition = 1.42 on 10 nov 2012

Smallest one:

about 85-90mm when caught late spring last year

178mm, 82g, condition = 1.45 as of 18 Aug 2012

187mm and 98g, condition = 1.50 on 10 nov 2012

Med one:

about 90mm when caught at the same time as Homer

182mm, 90g, condition = 1.49 as of 18 Aug 2012

195mm and 104g, condition = 1.40 on 10 nov 2012

Large one:

about 120-125mm when caught late spring last year

203mm, 122g, condition = 1.46 as of 18 Aug 2012

218mm and 125g, condition = 1.21 on 10 nov 2012

(I think I weighed/measured this wrong as I cant see it loosing that much condition)

208mm and 125g would give a CF of 1.40

CF = W/L^3*100000

where W is in g

L is in mm

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