Mystery grow out contest

[Jody]

Hiya folks.
     At the event on the 29th, I will be bringing in some fish for us to do a grow out contest.
   They were generously donated by Spencer Jack for the contest.
    The contest rules are.
  Each interested member can purchase 1 of the fish ( or more if there are extras).
  Bring them back at the May meeting (unless something happens in Apr), and judge them. Based on size, colour, general condition.
   The winner or winners will win a prize, which will be purchased by the entry fees.
   
   They are a mystery fish, the name of which has not been told to me. All have been told is that they are awesome, f1, a South American cichlid and rare.
   The fish are currently about 1 cm in length, so need to be housed with care.
   It is a great opportunity to get a neat fish and show off your skills.
Jody

[Dxpert]

This sounds fantastic. I'm interested in participating.

From your experience, can you share a little more about what type of parameters a fish like this would need? Would we need a separate tank setup just for them?

[Box Jockey]

Awesome Time to setup a tank!

[tanksalot360]

I'm in!

[charlie]

I'm in

[CC-Slider]

I'm in if a 5 gal is okay and can they be alone except for snails.

[Jody]

I believe it is a fish in the Heros family, related to a severum.
Soft acidic water to neutral is good, though most are pretty hardy.
They get to a good size, but obviously will take time to grow out.

Jody

[tanksalot360]

They're eating well
Here are some reference "Before" shots

[Jody]

Thanks for the pictures Liam.

So we have 7 entries into the grow out contest, each with 3 fish.

Christian M.
Gregg A.
Clayton C.
Errol C.
Keith S.
Liam E.
Jody M.

May the best fish win!
Jody

[Dxpert]

I had to leave the meeting early but I did grab one fish. Me and my single fish would like to take part in the contest also. He has a ton of live food in his tank. I needed some population control so I'm hoping he will grow into the task quickly.

[ksj]

What is the name of the fish? I'd like to look it up.

[fischkopp]

That's the other contest: finding out what they are.

I'm with Jody, some sort of Hero. I had some Cryptoheros that started out looking like these.

[Jody]

Hi folks,
  Here is a picture of one of my grow out fish. Putting on a bit of size now, the picture make it look smaller than it is, as it is about halfway back into the tank.
  How are everyone else's fish doing?

Jody

[Dxpert]

Here is my guy. Still a ton of live food for him.

[Dxpert]

A few more progress pictures. My guy is not in ideal tank parameters so he is a little sick. But seems no worse for the wear. Still growing, eating lots of live food.

[Calico3]

Nice looking mystery  " surprise " . What a fun thing to participate in.  Thanks for posting the picture .

[Dxpert]

So what is this guy? I have no idea. But he is happy, and getting too big for the tank!