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I recently bought a TSN, right now he's about 5-6 inches, and I do realize he or she will soon be eating me out of house and home, I did plenty of research on this guy before I bought. Luckily it is happily feasting on carnivore pellets and seems to do very well with them. Now on to my question. He has become more adjusted to his environment (right now a 55 gallon quarantine tank) and is more willing to show itself, I noticed that the gills are slit extremely far forward under the chin, is this normal for a TSN, it does not appear to be a wound or gouge and he is in all respects a very healthy and active fish. is this a problem I should be concerned with or is this normal?

Sounds pretty much like a happy shovelnose. The ventral side of the gill opening on these fish does extend quite far forward and may be an adaptation for ingesting large peices of food, (think flexibility of the buccal area). Good luck with your TSN. By the way what size tank is he moving into after quarantine?

Hes moving into a 125 for the time being then out to a heated pond that I am currently constructing, it is about 2-3 ft deep and roughly 20x30, hopefully that will suit his needs.

Wow that is a sweet ass pond. He will be a happy TNS. Good for you.

Fat Russian Guy wrote:a heated pond that I am currently constructing, it is about 2-3 ft deep and roughly 20x30, hopefully that will suit his needs.

Nice! Where you are you should also have the option of using solar energy to cut down on running costs somewhat. Is your pond going to be inside or out? Should make for a little humid oasis when everywhere else around has R.H. in single figures.

It is going to be an outdoor pond, I am considering using solar heating, I have been doing a fair amount of research on what would best suit my needs in this area since I will only have to heat it fo a few months a year and then only a few days each month as it hardly ever gets close to freezing here. Any ideas would be welcomed.